Neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis in a Holstein steer.

A young, partially blind Holstein steer was affected by mild cerebral atrophy. Formalin-fixed cerebral gray matter was diffusely yellow brown. Microscopically, there were eosinophilic, autofluorescent granules primarily in the cytoplasm of cerebral neurons. There was also extensive retinal atrophy with complete loss of the rod and cone layers. Ultrastructural examination of affected cerebral neurons revealed a mixture of granular osmiophilic and lamellar patterns in the cytoplasmic storage bodies. This suggests the existence of neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis in the Holstein breed.

Syphilis exposure in patients with uveitis.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to determine the frequency of syphilis exposure in patients with uveitis, identify patient characteristics associated with serologic fluorescent treponemal antibody assays (FTA-ABS) reactivity, and examine the clinical implications of syphilis exposure in patients with uveitis. METHODS: A retrospective review of the records of 552 consecutive patients examined in the referral uveitis clinic of an urban eye hospital between January 1989 and January 1994 was performed. RESULTS: Forty-four (8%) of 552 consecutive patients with uveitis had serologic evidence of syphilis exposure on the basis of a strongly reactive serum FTA-ABS. Syphilis was presumed to be the sole cause of uveitis in 24 patients (4.3%) over the 5-year period. The racial demographic profile of those patients with serologic evidence of syphilis was consistent with the reported distribution of syphilis cases, but there were relatively few identifiable risk factors for sexually transmitted disease (including only three patients who were positive with human immunodeficiency virus). The choice of antibiotic treatment of these patients was variable and sometimes suboptimal. CONCLUSIONS: This study implicates syphilis exposure as a more common etiology of uveitis than did previous reports, advocates routine serum FTA-ABS testing of patients with uveitis, and indicates a need for a more aggressive role of the ophthalmologist in antibiotic treatment of patients with uveitis and syphilis exposure.

Communication between the subretinal space and the vitreous cavity in the morning glory syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to describe a pathogenic mechanism for a rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in a 69-year-old man with the morning glory syndrome. METHODS: During vitreous surgery for a retinal detachment, a membrane was removed that covered the optic disc anomaly and produced traction on the peripapillary retina. A retinal hole was found in tissue lying within the optic cup, and the hole was sealed using a autologous plasma-thrombin mixture. Silicone oil was used for retinal tamponade. RESULTS: A retinal hole in tissue lying within the optic cup provided a fluid pathway between the vitreous cavity and the subretinal space. Following vitrectomy surgery, bubbles of silicone oil passed through the retinal hole into the subretinal space of the macula. CONCLUSION: This case demonstrates that a retinal hole in tissue lying within the optic disc anomaly of the morning glory syndrome provides a communication for fluid between the subretinal space and the vitreous cavity, resulting in a rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Vitreous replacement with silicone oil resulted in the migration of silicone bubbles into the subretinal space.

Topography of remyelinated chronic spinal cord lesions in herpes simplex virus type 2 infections of mice.

Six-week-old outbred mice were infected intracerebrally with a low dose of the MS strain of herpes simplex virus type 2. About 1% of neurologically abnormal survivors developed paralysis or severe leg weakness during the first three weeks of infection. Weakness persisted with little subsequent improvement. Five to 8 months later, 4 such mice were killed, and each spinal cord was examined in Epon sections in a series of transverse sections along their lengths. All cords had 2 or more major white matter lesions which were typically greatly elongated in the rostrocaudal dimension, as seen in multiple sequential sections. While a lesion's appearance frequently suggested some degree of tract association, its size, contour and position frequently varied from level to level in a manner which is not characteristic of tract degeneration. Further, axons were preserved in these lesions, and had been remyelinated. This was accomplished by a combination of oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells. The only evidence of Wallerian degeneration in these spinal cords was a modest reduction in the cross-sectional area of a white matter column associated with the most severe lesions. These pathological findings are consistent with previous ones in this model. Rostrocaudal elongation of spinal cord lesions may be seen in other animal models of virus-induced demyelination; this and other features reported here have been described in multiple sclerosis.