We analyzed our treatment results in 153 patients with histologically verified intracranial germ cell tumors and proposed classifying them into three therapeutic groups with good prognosis, intermediate prognosis, and poor prognosis. In this work, we selected patients treated with chemotherapy (cisplatin or carboplatin combinations) in each subgroup, and we discuss the role of chemotherapy in their treatment. Our combination chemotherapy regimens are: cisplatin-vinblastine-bleomycin, cisplatin-etoposide, and carboplatin-etoposide. We delivered these chemotherapies to the last 33 patients and compared their treatment results with those obtained in the previous 31 patients, who were treated with conventional radiation therapy alone. A combination with chemotherapy and a reduced dose of irradiation with local field was given to 7 patients with germinoma to increase the cure rate and reduce radiation-induced side effects, including anterior pituitary dysfunction. We obtained an excellent initial response to chemotherapy. The chemotherapy we delivered had significantly better effects in the group with intermediate prognosis, but not in the group with poor prognosis. More aggressive chemotherapy and radiation therapy should be given as the initial treatment.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Galectin containing cells in the skin and mucosal tissues in Japanese conger eel, Conger myriaster: an immunohistochemical study.

Congerin is a beta-galactoside binding lectin (galectin) purified from the skin mucus of the Japanese conger, Conger myriaster. To clarify its tissue distribution and productive cells, several tissue samples including skin, buccal cavity wall, tang, pharynx, gills, esophagus, stomach, intestine, liver, kidney, spleen and ovary of conger were stained immunohistochemically using polyclonal rabbit anti-congerin serum. In the epidermis, a number of club cells were strongly stained. Because no agglutinating activity was detected in plasma, it appears evident that congerin is produced and secreted into mucus by those cells. In addition, congerin-positive club cells were distributed in the mucosal epithelium lining the digestive tract preceding the stomach and in the gills. These findings suggest that congerin participates in innate immunity on the intra- and the extra-body surface of the conger. The putative functions of club cells in fish and their contained lectin are discussed.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Real-time imaging of two-photon-induced fluorescence with a microlens-array scanner and a regenerative amplifier.

A real-time two-photon fluorescence microscope with a microlens-array scanner using a regenerative amplifier is presented. The regenerative amplifier generates pulsed laser lights with extremely high peak power and produces brighter two-photon-induced fluorescence compared with that produced without the amplifier. Experimental results obtained from the observation of some biological samples with the proposed microscope are given.

Amplifiers, Electronic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A wireless near-infrared energy system for medical implants.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Computed tomographic measurement of local cerebral blood flow by xenon enhancement.

The present technique was developed to overcome some of the disadvantages of measuring cerebral blood flow by radionuclide methods, such as poor localization of flow values and errors that result if the brain is pathological and local partition coefficients are altered. Serial CT scanning in humans was carried out during and after inhalation of 50 to 70% non-radioactive xenon. This diffusible gas with high atomic number enhanced gray matter first by 19 +/- 4 Hounsfield Units (HU) and later white matter by 24 +/- 4 HU. The regionality of flow values were cursored on CT pictures with a high spatial resolution of 4 X 4 mm (64 pixels) or 0.16cm2 X 0.5cm. In seven normal subjects, blood flow in gray matter was 82 +/- 11 ml/100gm/min and that in white matter 24 +/- 5ml/100gm/min. The partition coefficient (lambda), which is not obtainable in vivo by radionuclide scanning, was 0.9 +/- 0.1 for normal gray matter, 1.4 +/- 0.2 for normal white matter. Reduced flow, 13% in gray matter and 46% in white matter, was found in a large infarct secondary to complete occlusion of middle cerebral artery. In edematous tissue, blood flow was not significantly impaired in gray matter but was reduced to 29 to 54% in white matter. Local lambda values were reduced to 0.6-0.9 in edematous tissue, and 0.3-0.7 in infarction. This method appears to have several advantages over conventional isotope methods of measuring cerebral blood flow and provides useful clinical and research information.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Responsiveness of subcutaneous human glioma xenografts to various antitumor agents.

Responsiveness of seven human glioma xenografts to seven antitumor agents was investigated by an sc-iv system and the efficacies of these agents against human glioma were evaluated in terms of response rate. When their maximum tolerated doses were used, experimental response rates of nimustine (ACNU), vincristine (VCR), adriamycin (ADR) and vinblastine (VLB) were as high as 86-100%, while that of mitomycin (MMC) was 57%, and those of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and methotrexate (MTX) were 0%. On the other hand, when the doses pharmacokinetically equivalent to their clinical doses were employed, the response rate of ADR was the highest, followed by VCR and ACNU in this order. These results suggest that gliomas are significantly responsive to various antitumor agents in this sc-iv system.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cavernous angioma of the middle fossa: a case report and characteristic MRI findings.

Cavernous angioma of the middle fossa is a rare lesion that is considered to originate from the cavernous sinus. Because of its profuse bleeding during surgery, it is crucial to make the correct diagnosis before an operation is performed. We report here a case of cavernous angioma occurring in the right middle fossa. MRI demonstrated an extracerebral mass extending from the middle cranial fossa into the cavernous sinus which showed low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and high signal intensity on T2-weighted images. Right carotid angiography demonstrated a faint vascular stain supplied by the meningohypophysial trunk. These findings suggested an extradural cavernous angioma originating from the cavernous sinus and extending into the middle-fossa.

Brain Neoplasms↗