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Biomedical subjects

I Meissner

Publications and source records attributed to I Meissner.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

HLA class II associations with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome in children.

The occasional familial occurrence of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (NS) points to a genetic predisposition. Reports on associations with certain HLA class II antigens support this hypothesis. In order to define the immunogenetic background of NS more precisely, HLA class II allele frequencies in 161 children with NS were studied by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing. The patient cohorts consisted of 87 children from Southwest-France and 74 from Southwest-Germany. The control group consisted of 118 French and 101 German unrelated individuals from the same geographical areas. HLA alleles were defined in patients with steroid-sensitive (SS) and steroid-resistant (SR) NS and in controls. RFLP typing revealed that the previously reported association between SSNS and HLA-DR7 is confined to the RFLP split 7.1 (DRB1*07) with a combined relative risk (RRcomb) of 6.2. HLA-DQB typing showed an increased frequency of the allele DQB2b (DQB1*0201) (RRcomb = 7.8). HLA-DQA typing showed an association of SSNS with DQA3 (DQA1*0201,0301,0302) (RRcomb = 4.1). The highest RR (16.5) for SSNS was found in German patients who carried the two DRB1 specificities 17.1 (DRB1*0301) and 7.1 (DRB1*07). All associations were stronger in SS patients with frequent relapses or steroid dependency than in non- or infrequent relapsers. SR patients exhibited no significant associations with HLA class II alleles.

Alleles↗

Carotid stenosis and carotid endarterectomy.

This review focuses on the natural history of symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid stenosis and on the risk/benefit ratio of carotid endarterectomy. Five randomized trials for symptomatic stenosis and four trials for asymptomatic carotid occlusive disease are reviewed. Carotid endarterectomy has been proved effective in reducing stroke risk in symptomatic 70-99% stenosis. Conclusive results are still pending for moderate symptomatic stenosis and the asymptomatic lesion. Surgical controversies and techniques are discussed. Algorithms for management of symptomatic and asymptomatic stenosis are offered.

Aging↗

Impact of unruptured intracranial aneurysms on public health in the United States.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Unruptured intracranial aneurysms constitute a significant public health problem that has not been quantified. The purpose of this study is to document the magnitude of this problem in the United States. METHODS: National Hospital Discharge Survey data from 1979, 1984, and 1989 served as the basis for calculating patient numbers and frequency distributions. Cost estimates included the direct costs of hospitalization and surgery for those who had surgery, disability and lost income from morbidity, and lost income from mortality. RESULTS: The estimated lifetime cost (including hospitalization, surgery, morbidity, and mortality) for annual cases of patients hospitalized with unruptured intracranial aneurysms in the United States is $522,500,000 compared with $1,755,600,000 for patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: These data underscore the need to better understand unruptured intracranial aneurysm as a risk factor for subarachnoid hemorrhage, to define other subarachnoid hemorrhage risk factors, and to optimize the management of patients with these conditions.

Aged↗

Carotid endarterectomy in elderly patients.

Between 1971 and 1989, 749 carotid endarterectomies were performed at our institution for symptomatic carotid occlusive disease in patients older than 70 years of age. Of these procedures, 693 were done in patients 71 through 80 years of age, and 56 were done in patients between the ages of 81 and 90 years. The neurologic morbidity and perioperative mortality in the former group were 2.9% and 1.4%, respectively, whereas in the latter group the corresponding values were 5.4% and 0%, respectively. For the entire group, the neurologic morbidity was 3.1% and the mortality was 1.3%. Of the 23 new postoperative neurologic deficits, 19 (83%) occurred in high-risk patients with severe preoperative neurologic or medical risks, and 14 (61%) of these deficits were minor. In selected elderly patients with symptomatic hemodynamically significant carotid occlusive disease, endarterectomy seems to be a safe procedure that is associated with acceptably low perioperative morbidity and mortality.

Age Factors↗

Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography: clinical applications in cerebrovascular disease.

Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography was introduced in 1982 as a noninvasive procedure for assessment of the intracranial cerebral circulation. The lightweight and portable equipment used for transcranial Doppler examination facilitates its use in the bedside assessment of critically ill hospitalized patients and outpatients. Clinical applications include the diagnosis of vasospasm in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage, assessment of intracranial collateral flow in patients with extracranial arterial occlusive disease, detection of intracranial arterial stenosis, identification of the feeding arteries of arteriovenous malformations and monitoring the hemodynamic effects of their treatment, confirmation of the clinical diagnosis of brain death, intensive-care unit monitoring of brain-injured patients, and intraoperative and postoperative monitoring of neurosurgical patients. Transcranial Doppler technology is also providing new insights into the pathophysiologic mechanisms of a variety of cerebrovascular conditions. Clinicians will find transcranial Doppler technology most helpful if they have a specific question about the status of the intracranial circulation. Further investigations may expand the clinical and research utility of this technology.

Adult↗

Hypertension management and stroke recurrence in a community (Rochester, Minnesota, 1950-1979).

The purposes of this study were to determine the trend in stroke recurrence over time and the effect of the prestroke blood pressure and management of hypertension on stroke recurrence in 1,680 incidence cases of stroke in residents of Rochester, Minnesota. Recurrent, primarily ischemic, stroke occurred in 267 cases. Stroke recurrence rates did not change during the 30-year period 1950-1979, in contrast to the decline in initial stroke incidence rates during this time. The overall stroke recurrence rates were less than 5%/yr, with cumulative rates of 5.7%, 19.3%, and 28.8% at 1, 5, and 10 years, respectively. Neither level of blood pressure before the first stroke nor management of hypertension had any apparent effect on stroke recurrence rates throughout the follow-up.

Aged↗

The natural history of asymptomatic carotid artery occlusive lesions.

The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the long-term prognosis of patients with asymptomatic pressure-significant (hemodynamically significant) internal carotid system lesions. Of 640 neurologically asymptomatic patients, 292 had pressure-significant internal carotid artery occlusive lesions as determined by ocular pneumoplethysmography, while 348 had a carotid bruit only without a pressure-significant lesion. The annual stroke rate for the first three years on a Kaplan-Meier life-table basis was 3.4% and 1.5% in the abnormal and normal ocular pneumoplethysmography groups, respectively, as compared with a rate of 0.5% in a normal age- and sex-matched population. The annual total event rate (transient ischemic attack and stroke) was 5.2% in the abnormal vs 2.3% in the normal group, with 56% of all events ipsilateral to the ocular pneumoplethysmography abnormality. These results indicate that patients with asymptomatic pressure-significant carotid system occlusive lesions are at greater risk for stroke than a normal ocular pneumoplethysmography group (twofold) and a general population (sevenfold).

Adult↗

The natural history of drop attacks.

We grouped 108 patients with drop attacks, according to potential mechanisms based on predominant associated medical conditions, as follows: unknown, 69 (64%); cardiac, 13 (12%); cerebrovascular insufficiency, 9 (8%); combined cardiac and cerebrovascular disease, 8 (7%); seizures, 5 (5%); vestibular, 3 (3%); and psychogenic, 1 (1%). Fifty-four percent of the patients received no treatment, but similar percentages of treated (82%) and untreated (84%) patients were symptom-free at follow-up. The stroke rate in the overall group, approximately 0.5% per year, was not significantly different from that in a normal age- and sex-matched population. The favorable long-term outcome in drop attack patients with unrevealing medical and neurologic workups suggests that treatment is unwarranted for an isolated drop attack.

Adult↗

The paramedian diencephalic syndrome: a dynamic phenomenon.

The paramedian diencephalic syndrome is characterized by a clinical triad: hypersomnolent apathy, amnesic syndrome, and impaired vertical gaze. We studied 4 cases with computed tomography evidence of bilateral diencephalic infarctions. Each case began abruptly with hypersomnolent apathy followed by fluctuations from appropriate affect, full orientation, and alertness to labile mood, confabulation, and apathy. Speech varied from hypophonia to normal; handwriting varied from legible script to gross scrawl. Psychological testing revealed poor learning and recall, with low performance scores. In 3 patients the predominant abnormality was in downward gaze.

Affective Symptoms↗