[Medical gas humidifier UMG-1].

Problems of development of medical gas humidifiers of new generation are discussed. It is concluded that many of these problems can be solved using general purpose microprocessors. Basic structures, functional diagrams, and specifications of these devices are considered taking the medical gas humidifier UMG-1 as an example.

[A controller for medical equipment]. / Kontroller dlia meditsinskikh priborov.

The structure and parameters of a universal module designed for the control systems of medical devices are presented in the paper. An example of applying the module with an actual medical device, i.e. the humidifier of medical gases, is described.

Results of vascular reconstructions for a associated lesion of the brachiocephalic arteries and paroxysmal disorders of cardiac rhythm.

Annually, about 400,000 new patients with strokes are recorded in Russia. Of these, 80% of patients may develop ischemic brain infarctions. In approximately 30-40% of cases, ischemic lesion of the brain eventuates in lethal outcome; the same number of patients remain heavily disabled and only 15-20% of patients return to the previous level of work fitness. In 30-50% of cases, the development of ischemic stroke and other forms of cerebrovascular insufficiency is caused by stenotic and occlusive lesion of aortic arch branches, being more frequently of atherosclerotic origin. Patients with brachiocephalic artery (BCA) lesion face an important problem of the origin and progression of different forms of cardiac rhythm disorders. In the presence of hemodynamically significant stenotic and occlusive lesion of brain vessels, even transient changes in cardiac rhythm may induce an additional deterioration of cerebral flow. In turn, the origin of arrhythmias in the immediate postoperative period in patients after reconstructions on the BCA is a serious complication which may lead to sudden death. The aim of the present study was to examine the long-term results of the surgical treatment in patients with associated BCA lesion and paroxysmal disorders of cardiac rhythm (PDCR). The treatment results were analyzed in 89 patients aged 35 to 70 years. There were 66 (74.2%) men and 23 (25.8%) women. All the patients had undergone different BCA reconstructions. In the long-term period, this resulted in the lowering of the death rate. Besides, in the long-term period, vascular reconstructions carried out in patients with associated BCA lesion and PDCR not only improved the neurologic status but also favoured the positive course of changes in arrhythmias in 36.4% of patients.

[Roentgenosurgical treatment lesions of the brachiocephalic arteries]. / Rentgenokhirurgicheskoe lechenie porazhenii brakhiotsefal'nykh arterii.

Being the main cause of the lethality and permanent loss of work fitness, cerebrovascular diseases are assumed to be one of the most pressing problems of neurology and vascular surgery. It is to be noted that precisely stenotic and occlusive processes occurring in aortic arch branches induce ischemic lesions of the brain in half the cases. The multicenter cooperative randomized studies (MASCET, BCST, 'Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program', VACT and ACAS) finalized the problem of the necessity of surgical treatment of patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic cerebrovascular insufficiency. However, despite the speedy progress in the cardiovascular surgery trend under consideration, a number of the fairly important problems remain unsolved. One of the important problems lies in the use of balloon angioplasty, stenting and thrombolysis of the precerebral arteries. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the results of roentrgenosurgical treatment of patients with hemodynamically significant lesion of the brachiocephalic arteries (BCA). Analysis was made of the treatment results in 19 patients aged 26 to 61 years. There were 13 (68.4%) men and 6 (31.6%) women. All the patients were provided different roentgenosurgical interventions on the BCA. Analysis of the results of roentgenosurgical interventions allowed to 7 establish that in the given patient group, the neurologic syinptomatology regressed, to an appreciable measure, with an improvement in the quality of life. It is noteworthy that roentgenosurgical interventions considerably shortened the patients' stay at hospital. The advantages of the technology are as follows: a possibility of the contact with the patient for the whole period of the procedure, minimization of the time of brain hypovolemia due to instrumental examinations. However, the risk of intraoperative complications requires a careful selection of the patients and impeccable technical performance.

[Pharmacokinetics and efficacy of phenazepam after transdermal and enteral administration in rats]. / Otsenka farmakokinetiki i éffektivnosti fenazepama u krys pri transdermal'nom i énteral'nom sposobakh vvedeniia.

The concentration of fenazepam in the blood plasma of rats upon application of the transdermal therapeutic system (TTS) fenapercuten was very low, incomparable to the drug concentration (recalculated to equal input doses) upon intravenous or enteral administration. Nevertheless, the TTS exhibited a pronounced anxiolytic and weak sedative action in the absence of any side myorelaxant effect. The agent responsible for adverse side effects (3-hydroxyfenazepam) was not determined in the blood plasma upon the TTS application. A steady-state concentration of fenazepam in the blood plasma of rats was observed between 2nd and 8th hours upon fenapercuten application, which agrees with the duration of anxiolytic action of the parent drug.

[Monitoring the changes of the lesion and of the patient's health condition in the course of radiotherapy]. / Kontrol' za izmeneniem patologicheskogo ochaga i sostoianiia zdorov'ia bol'nogo v protsesse vypolneniia luchevoi terapii.

The effect of therapy of malignancies is at present monitored by X-ray procedures on the basis of the dynamics of the size of lesion. Since such approach fails to provide data on the structure of lesion changes and response to treatment, it is suggested that structural changes in cells of exposed tissues can by monitored by using densitometric data obtained from mammograms and (computed) tomograms, to assess density changes in tumor and adjacent normal tissues. Recovery involves certain systemic changes which can be identified using certain peripheral blood indices; the latter are evaluated using non-statistical applications of the theory of pattern recognition and cluster analysis.

[Cytisine pharmacokinetics when used in a transdermal therapeutic system in rabbits]. / Farmakokinetika tsitizina pri primenenii ego v vide transdermal'noi terapevticheskoi sistemy u krolikov.

Experimental study of pharmacokinetics of transdermal system with cytisin in rabbits showed a possibility of controlled intake of the drug over a 4-day period. The two stages of attaining the stationary levels of cytisin concentrations are revealed. The first stage lasted during first 24h and the second stage during succeeding 3 days. Using the data on intravenous cytisin injection we found that the stationary concentrations and the rate of cytisin intake in the first stage is twice as large as in the second stage. Thus cytisin can be classed as a short-living drug.

[The comparative structural-functional characteristics of the cytoskeleton of animals and higher plants]. / Sravnitel'naia strukturno-funktsional'naia kharakteristika tsitoskeleta zhivotnykh i vysshikh rastenii.

The peculiarities of structure, location and dynamics of microtubules (Mts) and microfilaments (Mfs) in cells of animals and of higher plants (growing by elongation and apical growth) are discussed. It is shown that in animal cells Mt-skeleton located mainly in the depths of the cytoplasm is responsible for directed intracellular movement and characteristic position of cell components. Animal Mf-skeleton forming a dense network is most often aggregated at the cell periphery. Its primary function is the shaping and locomotion of the cell. In contrast, one of the most characteristic features of the cytoskeleton in the elongating plant cells is the presence of only cortical Mts closely linked to the plasmalemma. Higher plant Mt-skeleton is involved primarily in the orientation of newly depositing cellulosic cell wall microfibrils and thus it controls the direction of cell growth which determines the cell shape. It also mediates (by means of preprophase Mt-band) the orientation of cytokinesis. Thus in plants the principal role of the Mt-skeleton is the control of morphogenesis. Far less important is supporting function of plant Mts. The nuclear envelope is main Mt organizing center in plant cells. Unlike Mts, plant Mf-skeleton is concentrated in the cell depths and is the involved in the intracellular transport and characteristic positioning of the cell components. Apically growing cells such as root hairs typically contain deeply distributed Mts in addition to cortical ones. The former may participate in the transfer of nucleus and/or plastids.

[The pharmacokinetics of propranolol when used with the propercuten transdermal therapeutic system (experimental data)]. / Farmakokinetika propranolola pri primenenii transdermal'noi terapevticheskoi sistemy properkutena (éksperimental'nye dannye).

The pharmacokinetic studies of propranolol following the application of the propercuten transdermal therapeutic system were performed in conscious rabbits previously assigned to 3 groups. Different forms of propercuten (forte and mite) were used in different groups, different areas of its application being employed. Pulsed intravenous injections of propranolol were given to Group 1 rabbits to conduct another series of pharmacokinetic studies. The rate of drug administration to the systemic bed was 0.08 mg/h per cm propercuten. The constant injection rate was maintained during 5 days, but when propercuten was withdrawn the elimination time of propranolol was 24 hours.

[The evaluation of the possibility of using a perfluorocarbon emulsion for the normothermic perfusion of the isolated heart]. / Otsenka vozmozhnosti ispol'zovaniia émul'sii perftoruglerodov dlia normotermicheskoi perfuzii izolirovannogo serdtsa.

Complex study of isolated heart preparations according to some electromechanical, biochemical, gas transport, and morphofunctional criteria showed that a perfusion medium based on an emulsion of perfluorocarbons ensures an essentially better survival of a heart perfused in a recirculation regimen than with the traditionally used Krebs-Henseleite solution. The analysis shows that the use of perfluorocarbon emulsions as a perfusion medium for prolonged storage of isolated organs is promising.

[Pharmacokinetic study of dextran conjugates with catecholamines possessing hypotensive activity]. / Farmakokineticheskoe izuchenie kon''iugatov dekstrana s katekholaminami, obladaiushchikh gipotenzivnoi aktivnost'iu.

The experiments on albino female rats given 125I-labelled conjugates of dextran with noradrenaline and dopamine possessing various hypotensive activity revealed correlation between the hypotensive activity of the conjugates under study and the level of their accumulation in the liver.

[Function of the mononuclear phagocyte system after administration of emulsions of perfluorinated carbon compounds]. / Sostoianie sistemy mononuklearnykh fagotsitov pri vvedenii émul'sii perftorirovannykh uglerodnykh soedinenii.

Morpho-functional characteristics of mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) have been studied in experimental animals upon the infusions of perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsions. It has been established that the infusion of high doses of PFC emulsions following massive hemorrhage causes the reduction in the histoenzymatic activity in MPS of PFC-accumulating organs. Low doses of PFC emulsions increase histochemical activity in PFC-containing macrophages, suggesting a stimulating effect of PFC emulsions on MPS.

[Case of cholesterol xanthomatous pericarditis with an unusual pathogenesis]. / Sluchai kholesterinovogo ksantomatoznogo perikardita s neobychnym patogenezom.

Exudative cholesterol xanthomatous pericarditis was found at autopsy of a patient aged 57 who had suffered from the edematous form of thrombophlebitis of the deep crural veins complicated by thromboses of the iliac veins, vena cava inferior, recurring thromboembolism of the pulmonary artery, and pulmonary infarctions. The clinical picture of the main disease was interpreted as cardiac failure; numerous thromboembolic episodes were regarded as myocardial infarctions. The presence of cholesterol crystals in the exudate indicated a prolonged course of pericarditis. Laboratory findings confirmed the aseptic allergic genesis of pericarditis.

[Morphological analysis of the rat organs after massive blood substitution with perfluorotributylamine emulsion]. / Morfologicheskii analiz organov krys posle massivnoi zameny krovi émul'siei perftortributilamina.

Four--eight months after 60--70% substitution of the blood of rats with perfluorotributyl amine emulsion (PFTBA) multiple separate and confluent vacuoles containing PFTBA were detected in cells of the macrophage system in the liver, spleen, lymph nodes, bone marrow, and reticular layer of the adrenal cortex. The macrophages containing perfluorocarbon had a low functional activity confirmed histochemically. Accumulations of macrophages at remote intervals after blood substitution are replaced by polymorphocellular granulomas. The morphofunctional properties of parenchymatous cells of the organs outside of these accumulations as well as other organs not accumulating PFTBA remain normal.