The legal and ethical frameworkgoverning Body Donation in Europe - Areview of current practice andrecommendations for good practice

Discussions at the inaugural meeting of aTrans-European Pedagogic Research Group forAnatomical Sciences highlighted the fact thatthere exist considerable variations in the legaland ethical frameworks throughout Europeconcerning body bequests for anatomicalexamination. Such differences appear to reflectcultural and religious variations as well as differentlegal and constitutional frameworks. Forexample, there are different views concerningthe “ownership” of cadavers and concerningthe need (perceived by different societies andnational politicians) for legislation specificallyrelated to anatomical dissection. Furthermore,there are different views concerning the acceptabilityof using unclaimed bodies that have notgiven informed consent. Given that in Europe (AU)

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[Peripheral neuropathic pain relieved by somatosensory rehabilitation]. / Diminution des douteurs neuropathiques périphériques par la rééducation sensitive.

The femoral neuralgia is a rather frequent and invalidating clinical disorder. It takes on many clinical forms because of the anatomical variations of the cutaneous branches of saphenous and femoral nerves. The neuroplasticity of the somato-sensory system has now been determined which allows for a better understanding of the techniques of somatosensory rehabilitation. The authors precisely explain the various stages necessary in the care of patients suffering from femoral neuralgia. The various strategies of somatosensory rehabilitation are mentioned. The authors also present a brief review of the pharmacological treatments of peripheral neuropathic pain. Lastly, the result of the somatosensory rehabilitation of femoral neuralgia (NNT = 1.8) is documented on the basis of a prospective study done on 59 patients.

Segmental anatomy of the liver: a review and a proposal for an international working nomenclature.

The segmental anatomy of the human liver has become a field of increasing interest to radiologists during the past few years. The number of different terminologies which have been used since the topic has been systemically investigated is, however, a source of serious confusion. The present paper describes the reasons why the authors plead for an international working nomenclature which distinguishes a right hemiliver consisting of a right posterior and a right anterior segment, formed by subsegments 6 and 7, and 5 and 8, respectively, and a left hemiliver consisting of a left medial and a left lateral segment, the former corresponding to segment 4, and the latter to subsegments 2 and 3. This basic concept, however, must be carefully tailored to the highly variable individual anatomy of each patient. Furthermore, some aspects of hepatic segmentation are not yet understood and require additional anatomical investigation.

Effect of neurotropin on cerebral edema, calcium and other elements in mice subarachnoidally injected with carrageenan.

Neurotropin, an inhibitor of the kallikrein-kinin system, was therapeutically i.p. administered to mice with brain inflammation induced by subarachnoidal injection of carrageenan. Brain water content was determined by the wet/dry weight ratio. The concentrations of cerebral Ca, K, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Se, Rb, and Sr were measured by particle-induced X-ray emission. It was found that neurotropin dose dependently reduced brain water content. The mean concentration of cerebral calcium was significantly lower in the neurotropin-treated group than that in the non-treated group, suggesting less cell damage. Since it has been reported that dexamethasone and some prostaglandin inhibitors have no effect on brain swelling in this model and that, in contrast to these drugs, neurotropin has only a weak inhibiting activity on carrageenan-induced paw swelling, it is hypothesized that the kallikrein-kinin system is differently implicated in cerebral and peripheral inflammation.

Morphometrical quantification of brain edema related to experimental multiple micro-infarcts in mice: assessment of neurotropin effect.

Cerebral micro-infarcts were induced in mice by injecting a standardized suspension of latex microbeads into one internal carotid artery. The animals were sacrificed after either 2 or 4 days. The importance of the lesions induced in each brain was morphometrically quantified on stratified samples of microscopic serial sections, whereas edema was evaluated in the same sections by comparing the section area of the injected hemisphere with that of the non-injected side. Lesion density and brain edema were found to significantly correlate. Neurotropin, an inhibitor of kinin release, was curatively administered twice a day to 20 experimental animals which were compared to 20 saline-treated counterparts. In the neurotropin-injected mice, after 4 days the global amount of cerebral edema was significantly smaller than that of the controls and the slope of the lesion/edema regression line was reduced, indicating a lower amount of edema for a given lesion. These findings support the theory that the kallikrein-kinin system plays a major role in the development of the vasogenic late phase of ischemic brain edema.

[Autoradiographic demonstration of the passage of vincamin through the blood-brain barrier]. / Autoradiographischer Nachweis für die Passage von Vincamin durch die Blut-Hirn-Schranke.

Autoradiographies of the brain and of the cerebellum were performed in 8-month old rats after intraperitoneal injection of 3H-labelled vincamine. Only those samples that were processed by freezedrying or by freezesubstitution gave interpretable results. Some specifically labelled cells were found in the molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex as well as in the internal granular and in the deeper layers of the cerebral cortex. they did not belong to the vascular system. It was concluded that vincamine or its metabolites crosses the blood-brain barrier. Any attempt to explain a possible action of the substance on the brain function should thus also consider the cellular components of the central nervous system and not only the haemodynamics of the cerebral circulation.

A minicomputer-based package enabling determination of particle size distribution from sectional profile size distribution (Wicksell's correction).

Up to now a rather large computing system was needed to perform a Wicksell's correction, enabling the deduction of the distribution of corpuscle sizes from the distribution of the sizes of their transected profiles. This paper describes the possibility to perform the same correction on a minicomputer with a free-access memory of only 8 kilobytes. A considerable time-saving may be obtained still by linking the minicomputer to a digital planimeter.

Autoradiographic evidence for passage of vincamine through the blood-brain barrier.

Autoradiographies of the brain and of the cerebellum were performed in 8-month old rats intraperitoneal injection of 3H-labelled vincamine. Only those samples that were processed by freeze-drying or by freeze-substitution gave interpretable results. Some specifically labeled cells were found in the molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex as well as in the internal granular and in the deeper layers of the cerebral cortex. They did not belong to the vascular system. It was concluded that vincamine or its metabolites crosses the blood-brain barrier. Any attempt to explain a possible action of the substance on the brain function should thus also consider the cellular components of the central nervous system and not only the haemodynamics of the cerebral circulation.

[Influence of L.5-hydroxytryptophan (L.5-HTP) on the development of chick embryo]. / Influence du L.5-hydroxytryptophanne (L.5-HTP) sur le développement de l'embryon de Poulet.

L.5-hydroxytryptophan (L.5-HTP) injections provoke, in the chick embryo, some malformations of the nervous system, when treated at 24 hours of incubation. The same treatement after 48 hours of incubation does not lead to malformations, but to a reduction in size which is as much obvious as the embryos are treated at a later stage. It seems that there could be some relation between the serotonin metabolism and the growth hormon secretion.

Ovarian follicles of normal NMRI mice and homozygous "nude" mice. 1. Quantitative methodological study in the pubescent "nude" mouse.

It is possible to determine statistically the repartitions of shapes or sizes in a population of particles from the recurrence of shapes or sizes of their outlines in microscopical sections. This method was applied to a population of 1326 follicular profiles randomly sampled from 30 ovaries of pubescent homozygous "Nude" mice. Under experimental conditions, the follicles were not spherical but could be assimilated to prolate ellipsoids with a mean eccentricity of 0.81. The average radius of the follicles taken as a whole was 20.2+/-0.7 (S.E.) mum. From these, the average radius of only the non-primary follicles was 58+/-1.3 (S.E.) mum. The volumetric repartition of the ovarian follicles indicated that 62% of the total follicular mass was made of follicles with a radius greater than 115 mum, although these represent only 2% of the total number of follicles.