Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia presenting as regression of left ventricular dysfunction: a case report.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia is considered to be a slowly progressive disease in which left ventricular dysfunction and congestive heart failure usually appear at the end stage. The initial clinical presentation of this 56-year-old Japanese woman was left-sided heart failure, and the diagnosis was dilated cardiomyopathy, but her left ventricular size and ejection fraction regressed during 10 years of treatment, whereas her right ventricular parameters showed no change.

Effect of medetomidine on electroencephalography and use of a quantitative electroencephalograph for evaluating sedation levels in dogs.

This study was designed to characterize the effect of medetomidine (Med) on canine electroencephalography (EEG), to evaluate the use of quantitative EEG for assessing sedation levels and to explore the correlation between the serum concentration of Med and the quantitative EEG. Four groups of dogs were given Med at doses of 20, 40, 80 and 160 microg/kg (Med-20, Med-40, Med-80 and Med-160 groups). Following Med administration, there was synchrony between each unipolar EEG lead. On EEG power spectrum analysis of the bipolar leads, all groups showed a significant depression of the 14-30 Hz components. The power of the 1-3 Hz component in the Med-80 and Med-160 groups was significantly increased, although there were few changes in the other groups. Similar results were obtained from raw data analysis. As a result of quantitative EEG analysis, spectrum edge frequency 90 analysis (SEP90) showed that the frequency was significantly reduced in all groups after Med administration. A dose-response effect was observed in all groups except for the Med-160 group. Both of these EEG analyses were significantly correlated with the serum concentration of Med. However, the result of the SPF90 analysis sugested a stronger correlation than that for median edge frequency analysis. In conclusion, care must be taken in veterinary clinical diagnoses when Med is used during EEG recording, as Med may cause increased activity in the low frequency band and a decrease in high frequency band activity. In addition, quantitative EEG analysis may be useful in assessing the depth of sedation and in further studies on Med administration.

Concurrent infection with Legionella pneumophila and Pneumocystis carinii in a patient with adult T cell leukemia.

A 48-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with high fever, chills, cough, and exertional dyspnea. On admission, the chest roentgenogram and computed tomography scan showed bilateral alveolar infiltration in the middle and lower lung fields. Microscopic examination of the bronchial lavage fluid showed flower cells typical for adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and cysts of Pneumocystis carinii, and Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 grew on buffered charcoal yeast extract (BCYE)-alpha agar. The patient was successfully treated with antibiotics including trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, erythromycin, and sparfloxacin. Remission of ATL was achieved after three courses of antileukemic chemotherapy. Mixed infection of opportunistic pathogens should be considered in patients with ATL.

[Detection of Legionella pneumophila using a nested polymerase chain reaction].

We evaluated the usefulness of a Nested PCR method for detecting Legionella pneumophila. This method resulted in L. pneumophila specific detection as far as we evaluated. The first and second step PCR achieved the sensitivity as small as 10 pg and 10 fg of the target DNA, respectively. In the detection from Legionella seeded sputa, the method could detect 0.1 cfu/ml of the bacteria, and it took about 12 hours to detect the target DNA. We demonstrated that the Nested PCR method was superior in sensitivity and rapidity for isolation of the bacteria to the conventional using low pH treatment and selective media for Legionella.

Capillary gas chromatography/negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry for the quantification of bile acids including 1 beta-hydroxylated and unsaturated bile acids in serum and urine.

12 bile acids, including 1 beta-hydroxylated and unsaturated bile acids, have been quantified by capillary gas chromatography/negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry, using the trimethylsilyl(TMS) ether derivatives of bile acid pentafluorobenzyl(PFB) esters. The analysis time is 12 min and the minimum measurable amount is 100 fg for each bile acid. Bile acids in 200 microL of serum and 50 microL of urine from healthy human adults were measured. These small sample sizes enhance the practicality of using this method as a screening test for bile acids in the serum and urine of human infants, where small sample size is a major problem.

Direct projection of cat midbrain tegmentum neurons to the medial rectus subdivision of the oculomotor complex.

This study explores neurons in the medial midbrain tegmentum of cats projecting directly to the medial rectus subdivision of the oculomotor complex, using antidromic microstimulation techniques. Many of these neurons were located in areas just lateral and dorsal to the oculomotor complex, e.g. in the medial part of the midbrain reticular formation and ventralmost part of the periaqueductal gray. These results suggest that at least some neurons in the midbrain tegmentum presumed to be the site of origin of vergence eye movements directly project to the medial rectus subdivision to control medial rectus motoneurons.

A study of EEG activities during sleep-wakefulness states in rabbits by autocorrelation and power spectrum analyses.

A polysomnography was performed on nine rabbits with electrodes chronically implanted at the sensorimotor and visual corticies and hippocampus. The physiological sleep of the rabbits was divided into three stages: awake (W), slow wave sleep (SWS) and REM sleep (REM). For autocorrelation and power spectrum analyses, a transitional zone (T) from W to SWS was added to the fundamental three stages. No essential differences between the mean frequencies of the cortical and hippocampal EEGs were seen. The mean frequencies of hippocampal EEG were as follows: 6.4 in W, 5.4 and 2.4 in T, 2.2 in SWS and 7.3 Hz in REM. The mean peak frequency of hippocampal EEG during REM was significantly higher than that during W.