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Biomedical subjects

M Schiller

Publications and source records attributed to M Schiller.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Nonoperative treatment of pancreatic pseudocyst in children].

3 children with pseudocyst of the pancreas resulting from blunt abdominal trauma are described (boys 6 and 8.5 years old, and a 6.5-year-old girl). Based on abdominal ultrasound and CT findings, nonoperative treatment was elected. There was spontaneous resolution in 1 and in the other 2 the pseudocyst was successfully drained. Previous reports and our own results indicate that it is safe to treat pancreatic pseudocysts in children after blunt abdominal trauma.

Abdominal Injuries

Giant cystic hygroma associated with venous aneurysm.

Complete excision of giant cystic hygroma requires meticulous dissection of the multilocular lymphatic cysts from the adjacent vascular and neural structures. The association of venous aneurysms with cystic hygroma is extremely rare. We report two infants with cystic hygroma in whom preoperative diagnosis of venous aneurysm was helpful in planning complete excision of the lymphatic lesions.

Aneurysm

Sarcoma botryoides of the common bile duct: preoperative diagnosis by coronal CT and PTC.

Sarcoma botryoides of the extrahepatic bile ducts is a rare cause of obstructive jaundice in the pediatric population. It is rarely diagnosed preoperatively. We present a case of this tumor which was diagnosed by ultrasound, computerised tomography and PTC. Coronal CT sections were particularly useful in demonstrating the relationship of the tumor to the porta hepatis, pancreas and duodenum.

Child, Preschool

Familial Hirschsprung's disease--a report of 22 affected siblings in four families.

Twenty-two infants, belonging to four families from Gaza, presenting with typical features of Hirschsprung's disease are reported. Eight patients died at home shortly after birth, prior to 1974, due to low intestinal obstruction. Fourteen patients were referred to Hadassah University Hospital after 1974 and diagnosed, by rectal biopsy, as having Hirschsprung's disease. Thirteen underwent laparotomy and multiple intestinal biopsies. Ten had total intestinal aganglionosis, two had total or near total aganglionosis, and in only one patient was the common rectosigmoid aganglionosis found. One patient died prior to surgery. This unusual familial disease, involving very long aganglionic segments, raises the possibility that these infants suffered from a unique variant of Hirschsprung's disease.

Family

Primary Burkitt's lymphoma of the appendix.

Appendicitis is a very rare presenting symptom of abdominal Burkitt's lymphoma. Only four cases have previously been identified in the literature, all of them males. This is the first reported case of a female as well as the youngest and is representative of the therapeutic considerations in this unusual manifestation of the disease.

Abdomen, Acute

Dysphagia in a child with aggressive fibromatosis of the esophagus.

A case of a girl who developed severe dysphagia from an aggressive fibromatosis involving the cervical esophagus is reported. A 3 x 4 cm unencapsulated fibrous tumor was completely excised with the involved esophageal wall. The esophageal defect was bridged by an inverted skin tube with good functional and cosmetic results. Eight years later the patient is disease-free. Primary radical excision is the treatment of choice of aggressive fibromatosis.

Child, Preschool

Elevation by atrial natriuretic factors of cyclic GMP levels in astroglia-rich cultures from murine brain.

Atrial natriuretic factors, peptide hormones originally found in the heart, slowly but strongly elevate the level of cyclic GMP in primary astrocyte-rich cultures derived from brains of newborn rats or mice but not in neuron-rich cultures prepared from embryonic rat brain. In the absence of a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, a plateau level of cyclic GMP is obtained within 10 min. In the presence of the inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, the concentration of cyclic GMP continues to rise, even after 30 min. The elevation of the level of cyclic GMP in response to atrial natriuretic factor is much more pronounced in the rat cultures than the mouse cultures. Even at peptide concentrations of 1 microM, plateaus of the concentration-response curves are not yet reached. The potencies of the active peptides vary over a range of approximately 1.5 orders of magnitude, with atriopeptins II and III and auriculin A being the most potent ones. These results suggest (a) that atrial natriuretic factors may regulate functions of glial cells, most likely of astrocytes, in brain and (b) that such cultures may be useful tools in defining such astroglial functions.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine

Immunoresponses to Neisseria meningitidis epitopes: in vivo analysis of immunocompetent cells involved in suppression of secondary response to phosphorylcholine.

The immune response to phosphorylcholine (PC) antigens has been extensively studied in recent years. Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B M986 (NMB) was recently reported to induce a PC-specific plaque-forming cell (PFC) immuno-response in mice, a characteristic useful for the study of immunomodulating properties of N. meningitidis. With this technique, priming mice with low doses of NMB has been shown greatly to impair their ability, one month after priming, to mount an anti-PC response induced by NMB; this suppression is permanent, does not involve switching from IgM to another immunoglobulin class, transiently affects the T15 idiotype expression and is carrier specific. We report, based on an analysis of spleen cells from NMB-primed mice in an adoptive transfer model, that this suppression does not appear to be mediated by B lymphocytes nor does it seem to be under the direct control of T lymphocytes; rather, it involves radio-resistant cells. Additionally, our results show that NMB modulates the idiotype composition of the anti-phosphorylcholine response, probably by enhancing the expression of so called hapten-augmentable PFC. These results demonstrate that NMB can interfere effectively with the immune response in a variety of ways.

Animals

Hashish extract impairs retention of defeat-induced submissive behavior in mice.

The effects of hashish extract on adaptive behavior of male mice were studied in a paradigm which allows the investigation of learning mechanisms in a social context. Mice of the C3H strain, which were not submissive in a confrontation with a nonaggressive DBA mouse on day 1, were defeated on day 2 over 3 min by aggressive, isolated DBA mice, and showed conditioned submissive behavior upon mere contact with a nonaggressive DBA mouse on day 3. A hashish extract containing 38.6-39.4% delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC), 11.6-12.0% cannabinol and 47.7-48.5% cannabidiol was administered orally in all experiments. Hashish extract given 90 min before defeat on day 2, in dosages corresponding to 1, 5, and 10 mg delta 9-THC/kg, impaired retention of defensive upright, defensive sideways and immobility on day 3 (experiment 1). Experiment 2 showed that the drug (5, and 10 mg delta 9-THC/kg) had no antinociceptive potency in mice and did not modify defeat-induced analgesia. Experiment 3, with drug (5 mg delta 9-THC/kg) or solvent administration on day 2 and day 3, showed that the retention deficit was neither due to state-dependent learning, nor to impaired retrieval. It is suggested that hashish extract administered before learning may interfere with memory processing.

Aggression

Congenital colonic atresia and stenosis.

Five more cases are added to the 88 reported cases of successfully treated newborns with congenital colonic atresia and stenosis. Because colonic atresia and stenosis are lethal conditions when untreated, early diagnosis and operative treatment are major requisites for survival. A two-stage procedure consisting of an emergency colostomy for decompression as the first stage and an elective resection with anastomosis a few months later is recommended. The need for thorough exploration of the abdomen is emphasized because atresias may be multiple or may be associated with additional gastrointestinal anomalies.

Child

Ureterocele--a familial congenital anomaly.

Nonidentical twins with ectopic ureteroceles, and duplication of the urinary collecting system in two more members of the same family are described. This incidence may indicate that inborn anomalies of the urinary tract may have a genetic background.

Diseases in Twins

Euhypnos Forte (temazepam) for resistant insomnia: a clinical trial.

Seventy insomniac patients, previously unresponsive to conventional hypnotic dosage, were treated for seven nights with temazepam in 20 mg soft gelatin capsules (Euhypnos Forte). The patients adjusted the dose to suit themselves up to a maximum of 60 mg. Nineteen patients found that one 20 mg capsule suited them best in spite of previous lack of response to two 10 mg capsules, and were thus excluded from the final analysis. Out of the remaining fifty-one patients, thirty-five were best suited by 40 mg and sixteen by 60 mg of temazepam. Sleep was rated Very Good or Good by forty patients (78.4%) and significant hangover occurred in only four (7.8%), all of whom were on 40 mg. Adverse reactions were insignificant. Some observations by one author (CALM) on the significance of the results in the management of insomnia in general practice are included.

Anti-Anxiety Agents