Therapeutic results of intra-arterial thrombolysis after full-dose intravenous tissue plasminogen activator administration.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: IV administration of tPA is accepted as a standard treatment for acute cerebral ischemia, but the clinical outcomes cannot be guaranteed in patients who are not recanalized after IV-tPA and in those who are not eligible for IV-tPA. In this study, outcomes from groups of patients treated with additional IA thrombolytic therapy with the use or omission of IV-tPA administration were compared. MATERIALS AND METHODS: IA thrombolytic therapy (thrombolytic agents combined with mechanical intervention) was attempted in those patients who were not eligible for IV-tPA and who showed continuous major vessel occlusion after IV-tPA. Sixty-three patients were divided into 2 groups: a tPA group (n = 29, IA thrombolysis after IV-tPA) and a non-tPA group (n = 34, IA thrombolysis without IV-tPA). These groups were subdivided according to match or mismatch DWI/PWI after MR imaging. Treatment results were compared by recanalization rate, clinical outcome, mortality, and ICH rate. RESULTS: The recanalization rate was 79.3% in the tPA group and 55.9% in the non-tPA group (χ(2) test, P < .05). Subgroup analysis between DWI/PWI mismatch in the tPA group and DWI/PWI mismatch in the non-tPA group also showed no statistical difference in recanalization rate, favorable clinical outcome, and mortality (χ(2) test, P > .05), but the significant ICH rate was high in the tPA group (χ(2) test, P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Additional IA thrombolytic treatment after full-dose IV-tPA administration might be an acceptable treatment option for patients with DWI/PWI mismatch.

Salvaging and maintaining non-maturing Brescia-Cimino haemodialysis fistulae by percutaneous intervention.

AIM: To report our experience of the salvage of non-maturing Brescia-Cimino dialysis fistulae by percutaneous intervention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-two patients (15 men, 68%; mean age: 58 years range: 42-79) with non-maturing Brescia-Cimino fistulae were treated by percutaneous angioplasty. Fistulae were created a mean of 2.7 months (range, 1-13 months) before intervention. The size of balloons used was 4mm for the arterial and anastomotic stenosis and 5mm or 6mm for the venous stenosis. RESULTS: On initial venography, venous stenosis (17 fistulae) or occlusions (five fistulae) were responsible for non-maturation. Stenoses or occlusions were adjacent to the arterial anastomoses in 18 patients and in the venous outflow (future puncture zone) in four patients. Additionally, a focal arterial stenosis was present in one and occlusion of the innominate vein in one other patient. Clinical success (initiation of dialysis) was achieved in 21/22 patients (95.5%). Twelve patients required 18 repeat angioplasties for recurrent stenosis. Two patients had small extravasation that required no further treatment. Over a follow-up period of 5-40 months (mean 14.6 months) 12 patients required repeat angioplasty. The mean interval between the initial angioplasty and subsequent intervention was 7.5 month (range 3-12 months). Primary patency after intervention at 6 and 12 months was 82 and 28%. Secondary patency at 6 and 12 months was 95 and 85%. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous intervention can effectively salvage non-maturing Brescia-Cimino fistulae. As repeat angioplasty is often necessary to maintain function, careful surveillance is necessary.

Reactivity of sera from cases of Plasmodium vivax malaria towards three recombinant antigens based on the surface proteins of the parasite.

Sera collected in South Korea, from 61 cases of Plasmodium vivax malaria and, as controls, 40 healthy volunteers, were tested in ELISA for IgG or IgM reacting with any of three recombinant P. vivax proteins. The antigens used, representing the parasite's major merozoite surface protein (MSP), circumsporozoite surface protein (CSP) and Duffy-binding protein (DBP), had all been expressed in an Escherichia coli system and purified. The ELISA results were recorded as optical densities (OD). The highest ratio observed between the mean OD for a malaria serum and that for a control serum was that for IgG against MSP, although CSP gave a higher ratio than MSP or DBP in the IgM ELISA. In the ELISA for IgG, the OD for MSP were found to be correlated with those for DBP (r = 0.53; P < 0.5) but the OD for CSP were not correlated with those for MSP or DBP. As the most intense reactions observed were those between the IgG from the malaria sera and the recombinant MSP, the latter antigen may be useful in diagnostic tests and as a component of any vaccine used to protect against P. vivax malaria.