Authors experienced fifteen cases of the pineal tumors during about 5 years from October, 1977 to September, 1982, which were diagnosed with brain C-T scanning. The details of clinical evaluation and follow up of 15 cases of the pineal tumors are presented. The following results were obtained. 1) The age group below age of 20 years in predominant and include 11 cases(73%) of 15 cases, and male is predominantly much than female. 2) On the neurological examination at admission, the RICP signs were showed in 15 cases, Parinaud's syndrome showed in 6 cases, cranial nerve palsy in 8 cases and DI symptom in 5 cases of all 15 cases. 3) In the follow up study, brain CT was more effective than any other conventional neuroradiologic technique. 4) 8 cases of all 15 cases have had normal life in follow up period with minium of 6 months and maximum of 6 months and maximum of 5 years, and one case with mild neurological deficit has been spent life for about 12 months. 5) Of 6 cases died within 2 years, 3 cases had insufficient treatment and 3 cases had sufficient treatment, of whom ond had tumor recurrence at primary site and dissemination to spinal epidural space and other two cases were suspected to have clinical dissemination to spinal cord. 6) On the basis of high survival rate in 9 cases of 12 cases who were treated completely, we thought that good survival rate in the patient with pinealoma will be resulted from a series of planed treatment, including early diagnosis, correction of hydrocepalus, surgical intervention and irradiation.
Brain ; Cranial Nerve Diseases ; Early Diagnosis ; Epidural Space ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Germinoma ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Male ; Neurologic Examination ; Ocular Motility Disorders ; Pinealoma* ; Recurrence ; Spinal Cord ; Survival Rate

In recent years, iron has been regarded as a common pathological feature of many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA). A number of genes involved in iron transport, storage and regulation have been found associated with initiation and progression of neurodegeneration. However, whether iron abnormalities represent a primary or secondary event still remains unknown. Due to the limitation in transgenic rodent model construction and transfection systems, the progress in unraveling the pathogenic role of different iron-related proteins in neurodegenerative diseases has been slow. Drosophila melanogaster, a simple organism which has a shorter lifespan and smaller genome with many conserved genes, and captures many features of human nervous system and neurodegeneration, may help speed up the progress. The characteristics that spatial- and temporal-specific transgenic Drosophila can be easily constructed and raised in large quantity with phenotype easily determined turn Drosophila into an excellent in vivo genetic system for screening iron-related modifiers in different neurodegenerative conditions and hence provide a better picture about the pathogenic contribution of different iron-related protein abnormalities. It is believed that identification of important iron-related genes that can largely stop or even reverse degenerative process in Drosophila models may lead to development of novel therapeutic strategies against neurodegenerative diseases.
Alzheimer Disease ; physiopathology ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drosophila melanogaster ; Friedreich Ataxia ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Iron ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; physiopathology ; Parkinson Disease ; physiopathology

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Essential hypertension is the most common cardiovascular disease and is involved in the development of the various cardiac arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation. Recently, several studies have shown that statins have anti-arrhythmic effects, including the prevention of atrial fibrillation. This study investigated the effects of statins on cardiac electrophysiologic remodeling in patients with essential hypertension using the signal-averaged electrocardiogram (ECG) and standard 12-lead ECG. METHODS: This prospective multicenter study enrolled 115 patients with hypertension. Various antihypertensive drugs were administered alone or in combination according to their blood pressure. Statins were administrated in 56 patients. Laboratory tests, a standard 12-lead ECG, and signal-averaged ECG were performed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Statistical analysis was performed using paired and independent t-tests and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the clinical characteristics of the patients with and without statins. After antihypertensive therapy for 1 year, the P wave dispersion, high-frequency low-amplitude (HFLA) signals in the QRS complex of less than 40 micronV, and T peak-to-end dispersion were increased significantly (p<0.001, p<0.05, and p<0.01, respectively) in the patients who were not taking statins, while these changes were not seen in the statin group. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that electrophysiologic remodeling was progressive in patients with essential hypertension, despite antihypertensive therapy. However, combination therapy with a statin may inhibit the deterioration of inhomogeneity in atrial refractoriness and conduction disturbance.
Antihypertensive Agents ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atrial Fibrillation ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Electrocardiography ; Electrophysiology ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; Hypertension ; Prospective Studies