Differential hippocampal neuron density between inbred Roman high- (low anxious) and low-avoidance (high anxious) rats.

The inbred Roman low- (RLA-I) and high-avoidance (RHA-I) rats used in this study were initially selected and bred for extremely poor vs. rapid acquisition of active two-way avoidance behavior in the shuttle box. As a result of the selection for divergent avoidance acquisition, clear behavioral differences have been found between RHA and RLA rats in a variety of tasks related to anxiety and conflict. In rats of these two strains/lines previous brain studies have been performed, specifically in the striatum, the mesencephalic dopaminergic areas and the prefrontal cortex, as these brain areas are the classical ones for their critical role in sensitization and may play a role in the well-characterized anxiety response. In this study we analyzed, in RHA and RLA groups (N=5 each), the density of NeuN neurons counterstained with toluidine blue in the cingulate cortex (subdivision 1) and the hippocampus (CA1, CA2 and CA3). A statistical difference was found in the density of neurons of CA1 and CA2 (p=0.047 in both) and in the total density of the hippocampus (p=0.009). Contrary to our expectations, significant strain differences for the density of neurons in the cingulate cortex were not found. The relationship between those differences in the hippocampus and the between-strain differences in anxiety and in learning processes depending on anxiety are discussed.

One-year follow-up of technetium-99m-HMPAO SPECT in mild head injury.

UNLABELLED: We evaluated the predictive capacity of 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT for clinical outcome during a follow-up period of 12 mo after mild head injury. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated 136 patients with mild head injury who underwent initial SPECT imaging (SPECTO) within 4 wk after the trauma. Re-evaluations were made 2.9-3.3 mo (T3mo), 5.7-6.3 mo (T6mo) and 11.9-12.6 mo (T12mo) postinjury. All patients with an abnormal SPECT underwent a repeat study at the subsequent time of evaluation. Patients with a previously normal SPECT scan did not undergo a repeat study. Clinical reassessments (CLIN) were performed as long as the earlier study had been positive or until patients were completely asymptomatic. RESULTS: During all follow-up evaluations, SPECT had a high sensitivity and negative predictive value, increasing from 91% and 89%, respectively, at T3mo to 100% at T6mo and at T12mo. Clinical normalization occurred earlier than scintigraphic normalization. However, at 12 mo postinjury, we observed considerable improvement in the specificity and positive predictive value of SPECT (85% and 83%, respectively). The persistent lesions on the SPECT scan were related to their severity and to localization in the frontal cortex. CONCLUSION: A normal 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT scan is a reliable tool in the exclusion of clinical sequelae of mild head injury. At 12 mo postinjury, a positive SPECT study is also a reliable predictor for clinical outcome.

[Advances in the conservative treatment of acute traumatic cerebral edema. Controlled clinical trial with follow-up examination (author's transl)]. / Fortschritte bei der konservativen Behandlung des akuten traumatischen Hirnödems. Kontrollierte klinische Studie mit Nachuntersuchung.

Studies in 142 accident victims with severe craniocerebral trauma showed that the intravenous application of sodium escinate over several days considerably reduced the dangerous rise in intracranial pressure and also the total mortality in comparison with corticosteroid therapy alone. Both groups, each of 71 patients, were adjusted from an initial intraventricular pressure of 500--250 mm H2O to the same basic pressure of 150 mm H2O hydrostatically. In the same way, sodium escinate shortened the duration of unconsciousness. The renal function in patients was good. Follow-up examinations at least 2 to a maximum of 3.5 years after the accident and treatment showed a significantly higher rehabilitation rate in the sodium escinate group.

The favourable effect of adding a catalase to the treatment of syndromes due to intervertebral disc degenerations.

Over a period of one year, 648 patients suffering from 4 different but very resistant syndromes due to intervertebral disc degenerations of the cervical and lumbosacral spine were treated in an identical way, but 50% of them received also catalase (Optidase¿) injections. Half of each group were males and half of them females, the age being 30--50 years. Catalase accelerates the recovery already within the first 3 weeks and the final results after 24 weeks are still significant. In addition, the study of the ischial syndrome was extended to a group of 1208 patients over a period of 5 years, confirming again the favourable effect of catalase. Catalase is generally well tolerated; dangerous reactions have not been noticed.