The relationship between Doppler indices from inferior vena cava and hepatic veins in normal human fetuses.

This study was conducted to determine the gestational age-related reference range of the preload index [peak velocity during atrial contraction (A)/peak velocity during ventricular systole (S)] for the inferior vena cava (IVC), the right hepatic vein, the middle hepatic vein and the left hepatic vein. The slope and the intercept of the regression line for each preload index were compared among the 4 veins using analysis of covariance. Doppler measurements were obtained for the 4 veins of 316 normal fetuses at 22-40 weeks of gestation. A and S values were measured from the recorded flow velocity waveform of each vein and the A/S ratio was calculated as the preload index. The regression lines for the preload index of the 4 veins decreased gradually throughout gestation. Analysis of covariance revealed no significant differences in the slopes of the regression lines for the 4 veins. However, the intercepts of the regression lines for all hepatic veins were significantly higher than that of the regression line for the IVC (P&#60;0.0001), with the difference ranging from 0.024 to 0.033. There were no significant differences among the intercepts of the regression lines for different hepatic veins. We concluded that the relationship between the preload index and the duration of gestation was statistically similar for all hepatic veins, and strongly resembled that for the IVC.</p

Identifying the true origin of sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia associated with dilated-phase hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A case of successful catheter ablation

AbstractThis case report describes sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) caused by a large epicardial scar, related to dilated-phase hypertrophic cardiomyopathy mimicking VT originating from the apical septum. VT resolved with epicardial catheter ablation. The exit of the VT circuit suggested that a 12-lead electrocardiogram can be remote with respect to the critical isthmus in this case. In patients with structural heart disease, it is difficult to identify the VT reentrant circuit by surface electrocardiography, which shows only the exit site. VT originating in the epicardium should be considered, even if the suspected origin is another ventricular site

Biological and Biochemical Studies on Melanogenesis and M elanoma Cells

For the previous ten years, we have been studying intracellular transport of melanosoma1 proteins and their biological and biochemical functions in melanoma cells. Melanosoma1 proteins,tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1) and TYRP2/DOPAchrome tautomerase (DCT), gp100/Pme117 are transported from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) to earlystage melanosomes via endosoma1 compartments. We suggest that Rab7 is involved in the vesicular transport of tyrosinase and TYRP1 and in the melanogenesis through the regulation of gp100/Pme117 maturation. TYRP1 and TYRP 2/DCT were shown to play an essential role in suppressing TYR-mediated cytotoxicity in melanocytic cells, possibly through interaction with TYR in melanosomes. We also studied apoptotic cell death of melanoma cells and death mediators. Among p53 family members, p51A (p63) induced apoptosis in both wild-type and mutant p53-expressing melanoma cells more significantly than p53 and 73β. Interferon(IFN) exerts anti-tumor activities possibly by regulating IFN-stimulated genes. Caspase-2 activation was commonly associated with induction of apoptosis in IFN一β一sensitive melanoma cells. The diacylglycero1 kinase (DGK) , expressed in several human melanoma cell lines but not in melanocytes, was a novel positive regulator of NF-KB, which suppresses TNF一α一induced melanoma cell apoptosis