Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis or multiple sclerosis: can the initial presentation help in establishing a correct diagnosis?

The differential diagnosis of CNS white matter disease is broad, and can be divided into vascular, metabolic, infective, or inflammatory aetiologies. Isolated inflammatory disorders of the CNS are often associated with demyelination, and the two terms (inflammatory and demyelinating) are often used in conjunction. When the disease is monophasic, the term acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is used. ADEM typically occurs as a post-infectious phenomenon, and by definition, must be an isolated (monophasic) episode. If a relapse occurs shortly after the ADEM presentation in association with a further infection or steroid withdrawal, the term MDEM (multiphasic disseminated encephalomyelitis) is used. When there are relapses or progressive disease, the term multiple sclerosis (MS) is used (for full recommended diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis refer to McDonald and colleagues).

Contribution of left ventricular contraction to the generation of right ventricular systolic pressure in the human heart.

To determine whether left ventricular (LV) contraction contributes to the generation of right ventricular (RV) systolic pressure in humans, LV and RV pressures and their first derivative (dP/dt) were recorded simultaneously with micromanometer-tipped catheters in 11 conscious subjects. Seven subjects had normal LV and coronary angiograms. Four subjects had moderate LV dysfunction (resting ejection fraction 0.40 to 0.50), and three of these had coronary artery disease. During normal sinus rhythm, LV contraction slightly preceded RV contraction (mean 20 msec), and LV and RV dP/dt recordings showed single positive systolic peaks that were coincident. During endocardial pacing of the RV free wall, RV contraction preceded LV contraction (mean 23 msec) and two systolic RV dP/dt peaks were recorded, the first (peak I) occurring significantly before (mean +/- SD = 67 +/- 23 msec, p less than .01), and the second (peak II) coincident with the single systolic LV dP/dt peak. RV ectopic beats produced a similar RV dP/dt pattern, with peak I occurring 63 +/- 11 msec (p less than .01) before, and peak II coincident with the single LV dP/dt peak. Conversely, during LV ectopic beats, LV contraction preceded RV contraction (mean 63 msec) and two systolic RV dP/dt peaks were recorded, but peak I was coincident with the single LV dP/dt peak, while peak II occurred significantly later (63 +/- 26 msec, p less than .01). In two subjects right bundle branch block produced similar findings. In three subjects left bundle branch block produced little ventricular asynchrony (mean 14 msec), but did delay the development of peak LV dP/dt after LV contraction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Atheromatous coronary artery ectasia.

Of 431 consecutive patients who underwent coronary arteriography during the twelve month period ending December 1976, 23 (5%) had angiographically documented coronary artery ectasia. Of these only five had "pure" or isolated ectasia, whilst 18 had ectatic disease combined with coronary artery stenoses. Clinical findings that are significantly associated with ectasia are male predominance (96%), abnormal lipid patterns (64%), a positive family history of coronary artery disease (57%) and previous hypertension (50%). Anatomically, ectasia most often involved the right coronary artery (96%), then the circumflex artery (75%) and the left anterior descending artery (57%). Only seven (five with severe proximal stenoses) of the 28 patients had coronary artery bypass grafts. Care should be taken not to overdiagnose narrow segments between ectatic, dilated segments as being obstructions. Failure to appreciate this resulted in two patients with isolated coronary artery ectasia having bypass grafts performed with little relief of their symptoms.