Neuroradiological study of human brain in the fetal period.

Craniocerebral CT scans were performed on 50 subjects including embryos, fetuses and newborns. Fetuses were divided into three stages based upon CT findings. The first stage ranged from the 8th gestational week to the 12th week, and the second stage from the 13th to 23rd week. Beyond 24 gestational weeks, fetuses were classified as the third stage. In the first stage, it is difficult to recognize the intracranial structure on CT scans. In the second stage, the intracranial structures on CT scans become clearer. Around the lateral ventricle a symmetrical high-density area appears, which corresponds to the germinal matrix. However, at the third stage, the high-density area disappears. The morphological changes of the ventricular system with growth are ascribed to a remarkable development of the cerebral parenchyma.

[Simultaneous, bilateral hypertensive intracranial hematomas].

The reported incidences of bilateral intracerebral hemorrhages due to systemic arterial hypertension are exceptionally rare in Japan. Unilateral hemorrhages, on the other hand, are less uncommon. Recently, we have examined two patients with bilateral intracerebral hemorrhages due to hypertension. The first case involved bilateral thalamic hemorrhages; and in the other, a contralateral hemorrhage developed postoperatively, subsequent to the evacuation of a primary hematoma. The characteristic neurological manifestation of bilateral intracerebral hemorrhages include quadriparesis, bilateral Babinski's signs, stupor, and coma. Published information regarding the anatomy of intracerebral hemorrhages due to hypertension is inconclusive, but the bilateral basal ganglias are believed to be most frequently involved. One school of thought explains the pathomechanism of bilateral hemorrhages as a symmetrical rupture of cerebral microaneurysm. However, it is possible that an unilateral hematoma was formed by a ruptured microaneurysm, and subsequently, a contralateral hemorrhage developed in relatively short time due to circulatory disturbance. As in the case of general cerebral hemorrhage, a craniotomy is also indicated for hypertensive bilateral intracerebral hemorrhage.

[Multiple meningioma].

Meningiomas are the most popular benign intracranial tumors, but they are rarely seen as a multiple growth. The incidence of multiple meningiomas, defined by Cushing and Eisenhardt, is about 1 to 2 per cent of all meningioma cases. Though many cases of the multiple meningiomas were reported previously in the world, some of them were concomitant with von Recklinghausen's disease or acoustic neurinoma. Most of the cases of the multiple meningiomas reported showed multiple lesion at the time of operation or after a few years of the initial operation. We have encountered two patients with multiple meningioma without the stigmata of von Recklinghausen's disease in our clinic. Case 1. A 58-year-old female visited the hospital complaining of headache and occasional nausea on February 6, 1980. Plain and enhanced cT confirmed a large tumor in the right parietal region and three small tumor nodules in the right occipital region. Carotid angiogram detected only two tumors of frontal falx. Apparent two tumor stains were seen on the region, and they were fed by meningeal frontal and parietal region, and they were fed by meningeal arteries through the right ophthalmic artery. A large tumor of parietal and a small tumor of frontal region on the right side of falx were removed. Three nodular tumors of right occipital convexity were extirpated at the same time. Histological examination of the tumors disclosed all extirpated tumors were fibroblastic meningioma. Case 2. A 61-year-old male developed convulsive seizure of the right upper limb and right side of the face was diagnosed as having convexity meningioma in the left parietal region.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[A histopathological study of the brain of patients who died of cerebral vasospasm after rupture of cerebral aneurysm (author's transl)].

It is said that cerebral angiospasm affects very seriously the prognosis of the patient with ruptured aneurysm. Of 44 patients with ruptured aneurysm who died from cerebral ischemia due to cerebral angiospasm, we performed histopathological studies of brains of 18 patients without iatrogenic factors (radical surgical operation, prolonged artificial breathing and so on). In all of the cases, cerebral infarctions were observed in the area fed by the artery with angiospasm. The size and extent of the cerebral infarction were various. In 12 cases who died in the acute stage (within 3 weeks after subarachnoid hemorrhage), those who survived longer showed more severe and wide cerebral infarction, while those who died earlier showed more localized infarction in the basal ganglia and thalamus. In 6 cases who died in the chronic stage (more than 3 weeks after subarachnoid hemorrhage), the cerebral infarction was slight. No ischemic changes were observed in the brain stem, except for secondary petechial hemorrhage due to incisural herniation in cases with extensive cerebral infarction.

Histopathological studies on renal tubular cell tumors in rats treated with N-ethyl-N-hydroxyethylnitrosamine.

Administration of a diet containing 0.2% N-ethyl-N-hydroxyethylnitrosamine (EHEN) for 2 weeks induced hepatocellular carcinoma in 3 and renal tubular cell tumors in 7 of 9 Wistar rats. Diet containing 0.1% EHEN induced renal tubular cell tumors in 6 of 10 rats, but no hepatocellular carcinomas. Both diets induced atypical cell population of tubules in the kidney, but no nephroblastoma.