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A Mackey

Publications and source records attributed to A Mackey.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Lack of effect of aspirin in asymptomatic patients with carotid bruits and substantial carotid narrowing. The Asymptomatic Cervical Bruit Study Group.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of aspirin in preventing ischemic events in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis. DESIGN: Double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: University-affiliated hospitals. PATIENTS: 372 neurologically asymptomatic patients with carotid stenosis of 50% or more in at least one artery as determined by luminal diameter reduction on duplex ultrasonography. INTERVENTION: Patients were randomly assigned to receive either enteric coated aspirin, 325 mg/d, or identically appearing placebo. Duration of therapy was 2.0 years for the aspirin recipients and 1.9 years for the placebo recipients. OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients were scheduled for a clinical examination every 6 months for assessment of the occurrence of any clinical event in the composite end point, which consisted of transient ischemic attack, stroke, myocardial infarction, unstable angina, or death. RESULTS: At baseline, the 188 patients receiving aspirin and the 184 patients receiving placebo had similar demographic, ultrasonographic, and laboratory characteristics. The median duration of follow-up was 2.3 years. The annual rate of all ischemic events and death from any cause was 12.3% for the placebo group and 11.0% for the aspirin group (P = 0.61). The Cox proportional hazards analysis yielded an adjusted hazard ratio (aspirin-placebo) of 0.99 (95% CI, 0.67 to 1.46; P = 0.95). The annual rates for vascular events only were 11% for the placebo group and 10.7% for the aspirin group (P = 0.99). The multivariate analysis yielded a hazard ratio of 1.08 (CI, 0.72 to 1.62; P = 0.71). CONCLUSION: Aspirin did not have a significant long-term protective effect in asymptomatic patients with high-grade (> or = 50%) carotid stenosis.

Aged

CNS vasculitis.

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Central Nervous System Diseases

Hemostatic markers in acute transient ischemic attacks.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hemostatic abnormalities have been shown previously in stroke patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the activity of selected parameters of the coagulation system in acute reversible cerebral ischemia. METHODS: We measured fibrinopeptide A, thrombin-antithrombin III, and D-dimer in 36 patients in both the acute (< 7 days) and postacute stage (1 and 3 months) after a transient ischemic attack (TIA). The results were compared with those of 20 asymptomatic patients with a history of remote TIA and 65 age- and sex-matched controls. RESULTS: Mean fibrinopeptide A and thrombin-antithrombin III values were elevated in the acute stage after a TIA (P < .02) compared with levels at 1 month. In contrast, D-dimer was significantly increased at all three times points after the event when compared with remote TIA (P < .05) or control subjects (P < .001). No association could be found between marker levels and clinical outcome or the degree of cervical atherosclerosis as assessed by duplex ultrasonography. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that after acute reversible cerebral ischemia, there is early transient activation of thrombogenesis and ongoing fibrinolysis.

Aged

The subcortical afferents to caudate nucleus and putamen in primate: a fluorescence retrograde double labeling study.

The cellular origin and degree of collateralization of the subcortical afferents to the caudate nucleus and the putamen in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) were studied using the following combinations of fluorescent retrograde tracers: Evans blue and DAPI-Primuline, Fast blue and Nuclear yellow, True blue and Nuclear yellow. After the injections, cells containing the tracer delivered in caudate nucleus (caudate-labeled cells) and others labeled with the complementary tracer injected in putamen (putamen-labeled cells) occur in large number in intralaminar nuclei, substantia nigra pars compacta, midbrain raphe nuclei and central midbrain tegmentum. In addition, a small to moderate number of putamen-labeled cells is found in external pallidum, pulvinar and laterodorsal thalamic nuclei, and basolateral amygdaloid nucleus, whereas some caudate and putamen-labeled cells are scattered in ventral tegmental area and locus coeruleus. However, ver few double-labeled cells are present in all these structures. In rostral intralaminar nuclei, the labeled cells are not confined to the know cytoarchitectonic boundaries of the nuclei but impinge slightly upon ventrolateral and mediodorsal nuclei. At this level, the caudate-labeled cells lie more dorsally and medially relative to putamen-labeled cells, but a high degree of intermingling exists and some double-labeled cells occur particularly in nucleus centralis lateralis. In caudal intralaminar nuclei, caudate-labeled cells are strictly confined to parafascicular nucleus and putamen-labeled cells present only in centre median, without any overlap between the two neuronal populations. In substantia nigra pars compacta, clusters of caudate-labeled cells are closely intermingled with clusters of putamen-labeled cells according to a complex mosaic-like pattern that varies along the rostrocaudal extent of the structure. Overall, however, caudate-labeled cells predominate rostrodorsally and putamen-labeled cells are more abundant caudoventrally in substantia nigra pars compacta, with only a few double-labeled cells. Some caudate and putamen-labeled cells are also scattered in contralateral substantia nigra pars compacta. In dorsal raphe nucleus, putamen labeled cells tend to occupy a more lateral position relative to caudate-labeled cells, with again very few double-labeled neurons. The caudate and putamen-labeled cells are less numerous and more closely intermingled in nucleus centralis superior. Numerous striatal afferent cells are also found bilaterally in the peribrachial region of midbrain tegmentum, comprising the pedunculopontine nucleus area.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Afferent Pathways

The output organization of the substantia nigra in primate as revealed by a retrograde double labeling method.

The cellular origin and degree of collateralization of the efferent projections of the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) in the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) were studied using the following combinations of fluorescent retrograde tracers: Evans blue and DAPI-Primuline, Fast blue and Nuclear yellow, True blue and Nuclear yellow. In a first series of experiments one tracer was injected in the ventral anterior (VA) and ventral lateral (VL) thalamic nuclei, and the complementary tracer was delivered in the peribrachial area of midbrain tegmentum. After thalamo-tegmental injections numerous nigrothalamic neurons occur in clusters, particularly in rostrolateral part of SNr, whereas the nigrotegmental neurons prevail in caudomedial segment of SNr. However, a significant overlap exists between these two populations. The nigrothalamic and nigrotegmental neurons are present in about equal number in SNr with as much as 60% of these neurons being double-labeled. In a second series of experiments injections were made concomitantly in VA/VL nuclei and in superior colliculus. After thalamo-collicular injections the nigrothalamic neurons are found in larger number than the nigrocollicular neurons which are mostly confined to the middle third of SNr. About 15-20% of all SNr positive neurons are double-labeled, although this proportion climbs to 30-40% in certain sections taken through the middle third of SNr. Finally, injections were made concomittantly in superior colliculus and in midbrain tegmentum. In contrast to the findings obtained after thalamo-tegmental and thalamo-collicular injections, only about 10% of SNr neurons appear to be double-labeled after colliculo-tegmental injections. All injections made in present study have produced retrograde cell labeling in contralateral SNr. However, by far the largest number of contralateral labeled neurons is found after superior colliculus injection. These findings reveal that the SNr neurons in primate, as those in rat and cat, display a high degree of axonal branching. As such, the output organization of SNr appears to differ markedly from that of the substantia nigra pars compacta, but is remarkably similar to that of the internal pallidum which is the other major output structure of the basal ganglia.

Animals