Hepatic infarction following abdominal interventional procedures.

To clarify the incidence, background, and progress of hepatic infarction following interventional procedures, cases of hepatic infarction following interventional procedures at our department during the last decade were identified by reviewing the clinical records of 1982 abdominal angiography and interventional procedures and records of abdominal CT. Nine episodes (0.5%) in 8 patients were identified as hepatic infarction following an interventional procedure. Five episodes were preceded by embolization of the hepatic or celiac artery at emergency angiography for postoperative bleeding with hemorrhagic shock. Three episodes followed the elected interventional procedure for hepatocellular carcinoma, and the remaining episode occurred after 12 months of chemoinfusion through an indwelling catheter in the hepatic artery and portal vein. Hepatic arterial occlusion in all episodes and portal venous flow abnormality in 5 episodes were observed on angiography. Four patients whose liver function was initially impaired died of hepatic infarction, although the extent of the disease on CT did not appear to be related to the mortality. Multiple risk factors, including arterial insufficiency, were observed in each patient. The incidence of hepatic infarction following interventional procedures in this series was low but sometimes fatal, and occurred most frequently in emergency embolization in hemorrhagic shock.</p

Motion of individual red blood cells in a concentrated suspension flowing through micro-channels

In this study, we use a confocal micro-PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) system to investigate red blood cell motions flowing in micro-channels. This system enables us to visualize the individual RBCs even in the high Hct blood by exciting the labeled RBCs by the laser. We measure individual trajectories of RBCs in a micro-channel with stenosis or bifurcation under high Hct conditions. Our results clearly demonstrate that the trajectories of RBCs strongly depend on the hematocrit, the RBC property and the position in the micro-channel. This information is important for a better understanding of mass transport in the microcirculation

Suppressive influence of surgical stress on the graft-versus-host reaction in mice.

The influence of surgical stress on the local graft-versus-host reaction (GVHR) in F1 mice was studied. Skin incision 1 day prior to injection of parental spleen cells produced impairment of popliteal lymph node enlargement; however, this effect was not observed when GVHR was induced 3 and 5 days after operation. Strong GVHR suppressive activity of spleen cells was observed three hours after leg amputation before a decrease in thymus weight became evident. The GVHR suppressive activity declined by six hours later, but a second peak of 60% inhibition was observed after 24 h. This suppressive activity completely disappeared by treatment with anti-Thy 1.2 and complement. This shows that the GVHR is suppressed by surgical stress, and that this suppression is due to suppressor T lymphocytes.</p

Effect of low dose cyclophosphamide on the synthesis of acute phase protein and its significance for cancer chemotherapy.

Patients with far advanced colorectal cancers received chemotherapy consisting of low-dose cyclophosphamide (LDCY) 333 mg/m2 every four weeks intravenously and by oral administration of 5'-DFUR (a masked compound of 5-Fluorouracil). Serum levels of immunosuppressive acidic protein (IAP), an acute phase protein, were measured every four weeks for a total of thirty-one LDCY trials of ten patients. LDCY chemotherapy significantly decreased the IAP levels in cancer patients with high IAP levels. These results suggested that LDCY chemotherapy could counteract host responses against tumors and could have decreased immunosuppressive responses in cancer patients.&#60;/P&#62;</p

Individual motions of red blood cells in high-hematocrit blood flowing in a microchannel with complex geometries

Blood flow in a microchannel with complex geometries has been investigated to develop biomedical microdevices (e.g. Faivre et al., 2006) or to understand pathology in small vessels, such as lacunar infarcts. In a small channel, say 100 μm in diameter, the blood is no longer assumed to be a homogeneous fluid because the size of the red blood cells (RBCs) cannot be neglected compared to the generated flow field (the diameter of a RBC is about 8 μm). In such a case, we must treat the blood as a multiphase fluid, and investigate the motion of individual cells in discussing the flow field. In this study, we investigated the motion of RBCs in a microchannel with stenosis or bifurcation using a confocal micro-PTV system. We measured individual trajectories of RBCs under high Hct conditions (up to 20%), when the interactions between RBCs become significant. We discuss the effect of Hct on the flow field and cell-free layers, as well as the effect of deformability of RBCs on the cell-free layer thickness by hardening RBCs using a glutaraldehyde treatment

Validity of the frame subtraction method in dynamic postural stability

Background The movement of targeted subjects can be calculated using the frame subtraction method. However, the validity of this evaluation method of dynamic postural stability has not been clarified yet. This study aimed to verify the validity of the evaluation method for jump landing using the frame subtraction score based on the ground reaction force (GRF). Methods Twenty subjects performed single-leg jump landing, and their dynamic postural stability index (DPSI), medial-lateral stability index (MLSI), anterior-posterior stability index, and vertical stability index (VSI) were calculated from the GRF. Simultaneously, motion images were captured using digital video cameras in the sagittal and frontal planes. After the motion images were analyzed using the frame subtraction method, the frame subtraction scores in the frontal, sagittal, and combined planes were calculated. To confirm its validity, the relationship between the frame subtraction scores and GRF parameters was investigated using Pearson's correlation analysis. Results The frame subtraction scores in the frontal and combined planes were significantly correlated with the DPSI, MLSI, and VSI (r = 0.46-0.75, P < 0.05). Conclusions Therefore, the frame subtraction method could be applied to the evaluation of dynamic postural stability. Markerless systems are deemed useful in clinical practice