Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to V Reinhardt.
A 48-year-old man had a 3-year history of progressive sensory and motoric disturbance of the lower extremities. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed an extensive epidural lipoma reaching from T2 to T10 level. After hemilaminectomy the dorsally located epidural fat was removed. Ten months later the neurological deficit had greatly improved.
It is a routine practice to subject captive groups of primates to single-file movement; yet no records on the sequences of such progressions have been published. The present study analyzes the progression sequence during prompted single-file movement for the purpose of routine weighing in a captive troop of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). The animals had to overcome fear before leaving their home pen; nonetheless, they left in a well-defined, stable sequence. An individual's position in this progression order as well as the consistency with which it retained its place were dependent on its age but not on its dominance status. It was suggested that the monkeys gradually learned with age to master their fear with the prospect of quickly returning to their home pen.
Nonspecific diarrhea was successfully treated with metronidazole in 76% (13/17) of cases in adult rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Effective treatment was achieved by oral administration of metronidazole daily at a low dose of 250 mg for at least eight days or at high daily doses of 500-1,500 mg for one to four days. Minimal effective total dose was 1500 mg. Apart from occasional vomiting, no side effects were observed.
The clinical course and computed tomographic findings in two patients suffering from multiple sclerosis and coincidental gliomatous brain tumor are presented. Both diagnoses were proven by surgical biopsy; autopsy findings of one case are reported as well. Our results demonstrate that a differentiation of both diseases is not possible by computed tomography or by clinical data alone. Surgical biopsy to establish the diagnosis is indicated during the course of suspected multiple sclerosis when computed tomographic alterations and clinical signs of a space-occupying lesion last for some weeks.
Interferences in aggressive disputes were recorded in a captive troop of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) comprising 19 mature females, 2 mature males and 12 immatures. The top ranking animal - the oldest female, Alpha, 23 years of age - was the only one who consistently interfered in favor of victims, never of aggressors. This protective, dispute-breaking strategy was distinguished by the following facts: None of the supported monkeys shared genes with Alpha; Alpha had no preference for aiding particular individuals; Alpha's high-risk interference (against aggressors) was never reciprocated; and (4) there was no evidence that Alpha's strategy aimed at the improvement of dominance standing. It was concluded that Alpha's behavior may represent an example of altruism.
The relationship between dominance and intermale mounting was analyzed in two troops of captive rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). The data did not support the assumption that mounting among males functions as a dominance demonstration as described in the literature because mounting commonly (63% of 65 dyads) occurred in a bidirectional fashion, and mounting not only was performed by dominant males but also was shown with regularity (36% of 521 cases) by subordinate males. Intermale mounting was often (37% of 521 cases) associated with amicable interactions--commonly preceding them--but it was only rarely (2%) associated with dominance-subordination behaviors. It was concluded that intermale mounting may serve as a socially cohesive behavior in rhesus monkeys by promoting nonagonistic contact.
Hair pulling and eating has not yet received attention in the nonhuman primate literature. Hair pulling and eating was recorded 388 times in two heterogeneous troops of healthy rhesus monkeys that were kept according to modern management practices. The behavior in question consists of the following sequence: pulling with the fingers (1/3 of cases) or with the teeth (2/3 of cases) tufts of hair from one's own or from a partner's coat; chewing the hair and finally swallowing it; the undigested material is excreted in the feces. Hair pulling was almost exclusively (378/388) partner-directed. It was observed 364 times between animals whose dominance relationships were known; it was performed in 96% (349/364) of observations by a dominant but only in 4% (15/364) of observations by a subordinate monkey. The recipient of hair pulling showed typical fear and/or avoidance reactions. In both troops young animals (2-8 years of age) engaged in hair pulling and eating significantly more often than old animals (10-26 years of age). There was no evidence that nutritional, toxicological or climatic factors were responsible for the manifestation of this behavior. It was concluded that, similar to trichotillomania in man, wool pulling and eating in sheep and muskox, and feather picking in poultry, hair pulling and eating is an aggressive behavioral disorder in rhesus monkeys reflecting adjustment problems to a stressful environment.
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From all the available radiodiagnostic procedures for diagnosing spinal disorders (conventional tomography, myelography, CT), high-resolution, thin-slice computer tomography presents the highest radiation exposure as represented by the somatic dose index. It allows, however, the retrospective computer reformatting of axial slices into secondary slices of any projection desired. To obtain this extra information with conventional tomography would require further exposures in the desired projections and/or thinner slices. But there is a great amount of important diagnostic information that plays a decisive role in the choice of the form of therapy and the preoperative planning of surgical which cannot be obtained by conventional radiological procedures.
Causes of head injury in childhood depend on age. In contrast to the adults there are differences in pathophysiological mechanisms and in the site of lesions. Brain stem disorders are more frequent, superficial brain damage is less frequent than in children. Multiple lesions of the limbic system are as well important as those ones of the mesencephalon. Most of the cases of apallic syndromes in childhood can be due to these lesions.
To obtain criteria for assessing the "suitability" of an extracranial artery to be used as a donor artery in extracranial-intracranial bypass operations we examined first of all the histological changes in 103 temporal arteries of patients on whom EC/IC bypass surgery had been performed. The intima, which consists of one to two cell layers in adolescents, thickens in the course of the following decades locally or concentrically, in some cases incorporating elastic elements during the process. No arteriosclerotic plaques were seen. The originally continuous, plicated lamina elastica interna shows increasing defects in continuity in the course of the aging process, as well as loosening up to the point of fragmentation, especially in the field of the intima padding. The tunica media which is at first 30-80 mu thick, continuous to thicken in the course of life; in 60-year old persons it attains a thickness of approximately 200 mu. The changes described here occur 1.) in men in a particularly characteristic age-dependent manner; 2.) not earlier than in healthy persons, as far as the patients studied by us seem to show; and 3.) do not show any dependence on the vascular process described in this article.
The case of a 35-year-old woman with a cystic astrocytoma of the cervical spinal cord is presented. The use of CT investigations is stressed. The value of reformatting procedures in regard to the differential diagnosis is discussed.
In 14 cases of diffuse astrocytoma, glioblastoma and cerebral lymphoma CT was compared to the gross anatomy and their histology at corresponding levels. Diffuse spread of tumor even in areas of considerable increase of cellular density are not recognizable in CT including application of contrast medium. Circumscribed and frequently multiple foci inside of diffuse areas of gliomatosis may have necrosis and extensive vascular changes including haemorrhage. These foci alone are demonstrable by pathological changes in CT and may suggest multiple metastatic growth or vascular lesions. True unconnected multiple lesions in gliomas are rare as can be demonstrated by intensive histological investigations but occur in cerebral lymphomas.
9 cases of malignant tumors of the peripheral nerve sheaths have been observed and their morphology including ultrastructures have been studied. 5 cases could be classified as neurofibrosarcomas, I as a Schwann cell sarcoma. Another cases may be grouped with the melaninproducing Schwann cell sarcomas and 2 cases with the "epitheloid Schwann cell sarcomas". The latter group, their separation or their connection to soft tissue sarcomas and to the "medullo-epitheliomas" of peripheral nerves are discussed.
Three clinically and histologically verified cases of "traumatic aneurysm" concerning the a. basilaris, a. communicans posterior, and a. lenticulostriata have been used to demonstrate that these acute and subacute lesions do not belong to the true aneurysms, as defined pathologically and anatomically. They can be considered as acute traumatic lesions of arteries with periarterial hematoma (aneursyma spurium) and should be designated as pseudoaneurysms. Such pseudoaneurysms must not only be differentiated from true aneurysms by radiological and clinical findings but also by histological investigation. An intracranial artery rupture with formation of an pseudoaneurysm due to a blunt injury can also exist without a fracture of the base of the skull. Since traumatic lesions of the striatum arteries are caused especially in children and young adults, the localization of an acute hemorrhage in the basal ganglia does not exclude a traumatic etiology. Early closure of the injury in the artery wall and surroundings by fibrin and thrombotic material with following repairing processes are important for latency between injury and rupture of the pseudoaneurysm.
Spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage as the presenting symptom of a clinically asymptomatic medulloblastoma was observed ina 10-year-old boy. Four similar cases were published in the literature. Morphological characteristics of the tumour, aetiological factors of the haemorrhage and prognosis of the disease are discussed. Symptom-free tumours in the posterior fossa have to be considered as possible causes of subarachnoid haemorrhage unrelated to intracranial aneurysm or a-v malformation.
Thirty patients with histologically established medulloblastoma were postoperatively irradiated at the radiological center in Essen. The patients were divided into two groups. Treatment was nonuniform in the first group consisting of 12 patients irradiated between 1969 and 1973. The second group of 18 patients was treated uniformly as regards the combined neurosurgical and radiological concept, and a new irradiation technique at the 5.7-MeV linear accelerator was employed there. While none of the patients in the first group survived longer than three years, in the second group 12 of 18 patients are in a good general state after a follow-up period between 19 and 60 months.
The potential of computerized tomography (CT) in diagnosis and follow-up of intracerebral hemorrhage is demonstrated. The study is based on 37 patients suffering from medical diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetics, generalized arteriosclerosis, valvular heart disease and anticoagulation therapy. Ensuing complications, such as rupture into the ventricles and hydrocephalus, are being discussed. Special effort is made to explain the finding of the hyperdense ring structure occuring after contrast enhancement.