[Primary intraosseous cavernous hemangioma of the cranium: a case report]. / Pervichnaya vnutrikostnaya kavernoznaya gemangioma kostei cherepa: obzor literatury i opisanie klinicheskogo nablyudeniya khirurgicheskogo lecheniya.

Primary intraosseous cavernous hemangioma (PICH) is a rare benign vascular tumor. This neoplasm is common in the spine and less common in skull. Toynbee J. first described this tumor in 1845. PICH of the cranium does not always have typical X-ray features and should be always differentiated with other more common skull lesions. Surgical resection is preferable since total resection is followed by favorable prognosis. We present a 65-year-old patient with asymptomatic tumor of the right parietal bone. CT revealed osteolytic lesion that required total resection and skull repair. Histopathological analysis revealed intraosseous cavernous hemangioma.

[Intraoperative ultrasound-assisted surgery of spinal tumors]. / Khirurgiya spinal'nykh opukholei s ispol'zovaniem intraoperatsionnogo ul'trazvukovogo issledovaniya.

OBJECTIVE: To improve technique of intraoperative ultrasound-assisted microsurgery of spinal tumors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: There were 68 patients with 70 spinal tumors who underwent intraoperative ultrasound-assisted resection between 2007 and 2018. Age of patients varied from 21 to 80 (mean 48.5±14.3). Intradural tumors were diagnosed in 54 (79.4%) patients (of them intramedullary in 16 (23.5%) and extramedullary in 38 (55.9%) cases). Fourteen patients (20.6%) had extradural tumors. Intraoperative ultrasound was used to determine localization, margins and structure of tumors, interrelations with neural structures, zones of dura opening and myelotomy. We also assessed quality of resection and spinal decompression. RESULTS: In surgery of spinal tumors, intraoperative ultrasound allows to localize the tumor with 95.3% sensitivity, determine the character of its growth, shape, size and internal structure. One can also differentiate the margins of neoplasm, control accuracy of approach, select the optimal zone for dura opening and myelotomy, objectively assess spinal cord and nerve roots decompression in real-time mode. Quality of intraoperative ultrasonography images is comparable to preoperative MRI, and even exceed resolution of MR scans in some cases. CONCLUSION: In our study, intraoperative ultrasound has proven to be a method complementing preoperative CT and MRI. This approach provides additional data in real-time mode to form a complete picture of surgical area, increase accuracy of manipulations and reduce surgical trauma.

[Spinal cord metastasis of anaplastic oligodendroglioma of the brain without recurrence of primary tumor. Ccase report and literature review]. / Metastaz tserebral'noi anaplasticheskoi oligodendrogliomy v spinnoi mozg bez priznakov retsidiva pervichnogo ochaga. Klinicheskoe nablyudenie i obzor literatury.

Spinal cord metastases of brain gliomas are rare. However, incidence of these tumors has been increasing recently. The vast majority of neurosurgeons and oncologists recognize spinal cord metastasis of malignant brain glioma followed by symptoms of transverse spinal cord lesion as non-curable terminal stage of malignant process. In this paper, we report a rare clinical case of metastatic spinal cord lesion in a patient after previous surgery for anaplastic oligodendroglioma of the right frontal lobe. There were no signs of local recurrence of the primary tumor. Active surgical strategy followed by radio- and chemotherapy significantly improved the patient's quality of life. Postoperative follow-up is 6 months by the moment of writing the manuscript, no clinical signs of progression are observed.

Diagnostics of thrombocytopenias.

Laboratory methods used for the diagnostics of thrombocytopenias are reviewed. Differential diagnosis is usually carried out between immune and hypoproductive forms of thrombocytopenia. Immune thrombocytopenias are caused by appearance in blood of antiplatelet abtibodies and accelerated destruction of platelets sensibilized by those antibodies, and hypoproductive thrombocytopenias - by impaired platelet production in the bone marrow. Main directions of the laboratory diagnostics of thrombocytopenias - analysis of auto- and alloautoantibodies and evaluation of platelet production and turnover in the blood stream. The following methods are used for the investigation of antiplatelet antibodies: 1) measurement of platelet associated immunoglobulins; 2) determination of circulating antibodies reacting with platelets; 3) determination of antibodies using antigen specific methods - by their reactivity with isolated platelet antigens (glycoproteins). Efficacy of platelet production could be assessed by measuring in blood the amount of "young" (reticulated) platelets. One more method for the evaluation of platelet production as well as the rate of platelet turnover - measurement of plasma soluble glycocalicin, glycoprotein Ib fragment shed from the surface of platelets upon their destruction in spleen and liver. In patients with immune thrombocytopenia autoantibodies are evaluated in all cases, the percentage of reticulated platelets is significantly increased and the amount of plasma glycocalicin is within the normal range or increased. In patients with hypoproductive thrombocytopenia autoantibodies are not detected or detected at low level, the percentage of reticulated platelets is within the normal range or slightly increased and the amount of plasma glycocalicin is lowered. Diagnostics of hapten forms of immune thromocytopenias (heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and others) and of alloimmune thrombocytopenias (neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia in particular) are considered in the separate sections of this review.

Measurement of high-birefringent spun fiber parameters using short-length fiber Bragg gratings.

Spectral polarization characteristics of short-length fiber Bragg gratings UV-written in a highly-birefringent spun-fiber have been investigated. Based on the analysis of the characteristics the technique for measuring the built-in linear phase birefringence as well as the spin period in this fiber type has been suggested. In this method the birefringence dispersion is excluded and therefore the built-in linear phase birefringence can be measured with an improved accuracy.

Furnace chemical vapor deposition bismuth-doped silica-core holey fiber.

A bismuth-doped-pure-silica holey fiber is fabricated using a fiber preform made by the furnace chemical vapor deposition method. The spectroscopic properties of the fiber are studied, and laser action at λ=1450 nm with an efficiency of 12% is demonstrated.

2.1 microm continuous-wave Raman laser in GeO2 fiber.

We report 33% efficient generation of the first Stokes in a high-concentration GeO(2) fiber Raman laser pumped by a 22 W thulium-doped fiber laser. An output power of 4.6 W at 2.105 microm is demonstrated.

Increased solubility of molecular hydrogen in UV-exposed germanosilicate fibers.

Spectral properties of photoinduced fiber Bragg gratings written in germanosilicate fibers and subjected to hydrogen loading at a pressure of 150-170 MPa have been studied. It was observed, for the first time to our knowledge, that hydrogen dissolution in the glass network at such high pressures leads not only to a Bragg wavelength shift but also to a considerable alteration of the grating reflectivity. The relative magnitude of the latter effect is independent of the dissolved hydrogen concentration and is defined mainly by the core glass properties and the UV-irradiation conditions. The alteration of the grating reflectivity observed experimentally is explained by increased solubility of molecular hydrogen in UV-exposed germanosilicate glass.

Tunable single-frequency diode laser at wavelength lambda = 1.645 microm for methane concentration measurements.

This paper deals with the development of a novel single-frequency tunable diode laser with fiber-optic output for gas-analysis applications. The approach we propose is a convenient, simple and cheap solution for spectroscopy of single absorption lines of any gases having absorption bands in the optical fiber transparency window (0.7 microm/1.7 microm). The presence of fiber-optic output is an additional advantage for remote sensing applications. The laser operation is demonstrated as applied to R7 line of 2 nu(3) methane absorption band at lambda = 1.645 microm. The mode-hop-free tuning range of 35 GHz (1.2 cm(-1)) has been achieved.

Germania-glass-core silica-glass-cladding modified chemical-vapor deposition optical fibers: optical losses, photorefractivity, and Raman amplification.

Germania-glass-core silica-glass-cladding single-mode fibers (deltan as great as 0.143) with a minimum loss of 20 dB/km at 1.85 microm were fabricated by modified chemical-vapor deposition. The fibers exhibit strong photorefractivity, with type IIa index modulation of 2 x 10(-3). A Raman gain of 300 dB/(kmW) was determined at 1.12 microm. Only 3 m of such fibers is sufficient for constructing the 10-W Raman laser at 1.12 microm with a 13-W pump at 1.07 microm.

Bandpass filters based on pi-shifted long-period fiber gratings for actively mode-locked erbium fiber lasers.

We have fabricated bandpass filters based on pi-shifted long-period gratings for application in actively mode-locked erbium fiber lasers. Introducing the pi-phase shift in the middle of the grating opens a bandpass within the core-cladding mode resonance peaks. With a 22-nm bandwidth filter inserted in an actively mode-locked erbium fiber sigma laser, solitonlike pulses are generated, with a power-dependent duration of approximately 3-5 ps , at a 3-GHz repetition rate. These all-fiber filters have the advantages of low insertion loss (<0.5 dB) and a wide bandwidth (10-20 nm), and they do not require that a circulator be inserted into the laser cavity.

Three-cascaded 1407-nm Raman laser based on phosphorus-doped silica fiber.

We report a laser-diode-pumped 1407-nm Raman fiber laser with an output power of 1 W. In this three-cascaded cw Raman laser, based on a single active phosphorus-doped silica fiber, for the first time to the authors' knowledge successive generation of Stokes components of essentially different frequency shifts (1330 and 490cm(-1)) has been realized. These Stokes components are associated with both constituents (P(2)O(5) and SiO(2)) of the fiber core glass.

Laser-diode-pumped phosphosilicate-fiber Raman laser with an output power of 1 W at 1.48 mum.

An all-fiber 1.48-mum generator based on a laser-diode-pumped Yb-doped double-clad laser and a cascaded Raman wavelength converter has been developed. Second-order Raman Stokes radiation was generated in a phosphosilicate-fiber resonator formed by two pairs of Bragg gratings. A slope efficiency of the Raman converter of 48% with respect to the power emitted by the double-clad Yb laser has been achieved. We obtained an output power of 1 W at a slope efficiency of 34% with respect to the laser-diode array power, with a total optical-to-optical efficiency of 23%.

Optical low-coherence reflectometry characterization of cladding modes excited by long-period fiber gratings.

The group refractive-index difference of cladding modes excited by a long-period fiber grating is characterized by use of the technique of optical low-coherence reflectometry, with a precision of <10(-4) . Very good agreement between theoretical and experimental results is demonstrated.

Refractive-index gratings written by near-ultraviolet radiation.

This is the first report, to our knowledge, of refractive-index grating side writing in 10 mol.% GeO(2)-doped fiber by the near-UV light of a cw Ar(+) laser (333-364 nm). An induced-index magnitude as large as 1.9 x 10(-4) at 1.7x10(5) W/cm(2) UV power density has been achieved. The observed gratings have exhibited the same temperature stability as gratings written by a KrF excimer laser (248 nm).

Deficiency of P-selectin in a patient with grey platelet syndrome.

Patient B.G. is a 29-yr-old female with a lifelong bleeding disorder characterized clinically by a highly increased bleeding time, menorrhagias, long-lasting bleeding after cuts and tooth extractions and large post-traumatic haematomas. Her coagulation tests were within normal range, platelet count was 140,000-160,000 per microliters, but platelet function was impaired as demonstrated by the absence of collagen-induced aggregation, although no abnormalities were detected in aggregation response to ADP and ristocetin. Morphologically her platelets were characterized by gigantic size-average profile area was about 2.5 times higher than that of control donors, and severe deficiency of alpha-granules-only 16% of their number in control donors. These features taken together indicated the diagnosis of grey platelet syndrome. As has been shown by quantitative immunoblotting, patient's platelets contained small amounts of alpha-granule membrane protein P-selectin-about 15% of that in control donors. The content of plasma membrane glycoproteins IIb-IIIa and Ib was not reduced, suggesting the specific deficiency of alpha-granule membrane protein. Thus, B.G. is the second patient described in the literature (see also Lages et al, J Clin Invest 1991: 87: 919-929) with combined deficiency of alpha-granules and P-selectin.

Postfabrication resonance peak positioning of long-period cladding-mode-coupled gratings.

A simple, flexible method of postfabrication positioning of resonance wavelengths of long-period cladding-modecoupled gratings is proposed. This method is based on changing the outer fiber diameter. Reducing the diameter by etching the fiber in HF acid shifts the loss peaks to higher wavelengths. A shift as large as 130 nm after 5 min of HF etching was observed for our strongest grating peak, corresponding to the cladding mode HE19. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with model calculations.

[Effect of the method of extracorporeal heparin precipitation of plasma proteins (selective plasmapheresis) on the level of immune complexes in the blood]. / Vliianie metoda ekstrakorporel'noi geparinopretsipitatsii plazmennykh belkov (selektivnogo plazmafereza) na kontsentratsiiu immunnykh kompleksov v krovi.

A study was made of the effect of selective plasmapheresis (SPP) on the concentration of circulating immune complexes (CIC). The method is based on precipitation at 4 degrees C of plasma fibronectin and associated macromolecular complexes by means of heparin. Sterile plasma of the patient is separated from the precipitate, frozen and kept at -20 degrees C till the next plasmapheresis during which it is returned to the patient instead of the donor's one. All 15 patients examined were exposed to 6 SPP with an interval made every 2 to 5 days. Six patients were diagnosed to have rheumatoid arthritis, 2 systemic lupus erythematosus, 3 hemorrhagic microthrombovasculitis, and 4 multiple sclerosis. The concentration of CIC was measured by precipitation with 3.5% polyethylene glycol before and after SPP, in some cases between sessions. All the patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus and 2 out of the 3 patients with hemorrhagic vasculitis showed an elevated content of CIC (greater than 0.150 Units OD). The CIC content appeared normal in all the patients with multiple sclerosis. After SPP 4 patients manifested a reduction in the CIC concentration, whereas in 6 it returned to normal. Such a time course correlated with the improvement of other clinical and laboratory findings. It was established that after the first session of SPP the CIC content sharply declined followed by a gradual increment and exceeded the initial values toward the beginning of the second session. After the second SPP the patients manifested the same tendencies. The CIC content reached a maximum by the third SPP and then fell from session to session.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)