To investigate the role of 5-HT in the development of the somatosensory cortex, this amine was depleted in newborn (P-0) rats with a single subcutaneous injection of the toxin 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT) and thalamocortical organization was assayed by application of the carbocyanine dye Di-I to the thalamocortical radiations or ventrobasal thalamus, or by staining cortical sections for AChE or cytochrome oxidase (CO). High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of cortices from animals killed on P-6 or P > 60 demonstrated that 5,7-DHT treatment resulted in 85.04 +/- 12.6% and 72.5 +/- 1.5% reductions in cortical 5-HT, respectively. Alternate cortices from the brains of animals killed on P-6 processed for 5-HT immunoreactivity demonstrated a complete absence of the vibrissa-related pattern of immunoreactivity and only a small number of coarse immunoreactive axons. The 85% depletion of 5-HT did not alter the somatotopic organization of thalamocortical afferents in animals killed on P-6 or P > 60, but it did cause 30.5 +/- 7.3% and 19.1 +/- 3.7% reductions in the cross-sectional areas of the patches of thalamocortical afferents corresponding to the long mystacial vibrissae (p < 0.05). These reductions were not associated with significant reductions in either brain or cortical weight or with decreases in the dimensions of the thalamic representation of the vibrissa follicles. These results indicate that 5-HT plays a significant role in the development of the thalamic innervation of the primary somatosensory cortex.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Heart, Lung and Circulation CSANZ 2012 Abstracts 2012;21:S143-S316 (31.7%) SVG to circumflex artery, and 79 (39.7%) SVG to right coronary artery. 72.8% patients required one stent and 4% of patients required three or more stents. 50.8% of stents were drug eluting stents (DES). When stratified according to year of implant, there was a significant increase in DES usage (p = 0.017). There was no statistical difference in in-hospital procedural outcomes between DESs and bare metal stents. Distal embolic protection (DEP) was utilised in 115 (57.79%). No-reflow was observed in 10.6% of patients with DEP compared to 13.1% of patients without DEP (p = 0.433). Conclusions:In this large contemporary registry, DEP appeared underutilised. The overall incidence of no reflow is inline with published data but nonetheless reflects the high risk nature of SVG-PCI. The increase in use of DES to treat SVG failure likely reflects the higher risk of restenosis. Further research is needed to optimise SVG-PCI outcome. http://dx.Background: Little is known of clinical outcomes after the treatment of STEMI in New Zealand, and in particular, whether outcomes have changed in response to changes in treatments received. Methods: Retrospective audit of STEMI patients treated from Oct 1 to Dec 31 in 1997-2002, 2006 and 2010. Baseline characteristics, in-hospital investigations, discharge medications and one year outcomes were compared between yearsResults: In 2010, 68 patients with STEMI were treated by direct PCI (90%) or thrombolysis (10%). Mean age was 61yrs, 33% were current smokers, with previous MI in 7% and angina in 13%. two died in-hospital. Ninety-seven percent were discharged on aspirin, 91% on b-blocker and 96% on lipid modifier. At one year, freedom from death was 91% in 2010 compared with 82% in 1997/98 (p = 0.017 for trend over time), and there were significant reductions in death or MI (p = 0.004), death, MI or revascuarisation (p = 0.001), or death, MI, revascularisation or cardiac admission (p = 0.017), see Table.