A hyperthyroid patient with bloody pericardial effusion is presented. He was hospitalized for severe dyspnea. Pericardiocentesis yielded 1.2 liters of bloody fluid. Biochemical, cytologic, and radiologic examinations failed to identify the etiology of the effusion. Upon normalization of thyroid function using antithyroid drugs, the pericardial effusion resolved without recurrence. The patient was diagnosed as Graves' disease, which rarely is complicated by bloody pericardial effusion. As it is rarely reported and not widely known, this association may be underdiagnosed. (Internal Medicine 44: 1064-1068, 2005)

Weobserved an unusual case ofinterventricular septal wall dissection in a patient with a prior myocardial infarction. Echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging, and left ventriculography revealed separation of the right-side and left-side walls of the interventricular septum with an accessory chamber between the two walls. Morphologic findings were consistent with interventricular septal dissection. (Internal Medicine 35: 33-35, 1996)

No abstract

Two years or more after 35 patients (29 men and six women) with chronic hepatitis B were treated by interferon, we studied relationships of age, ALT activity, activity of serum DNA polymerase associated with the hepatitis B virus, serum levels of hepatitis B e antigen and activity of 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase in peripheral blood mononuclear cells when treatment started in comparison with treatment results. Seventeen patients were given human lymphoblastoid interferon-alpha; the other 18 patients were given interferon-beta. We measured the activity of 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase in these mononuclear cells and found the rate of increase in vivo and in vitro; the correlation between the two was r = 0.68. This enzyme activity in the patients who became negative for DNA polymerase after interferon treatment increased more both in vivo and in vitro than in patients who did not became negative. Also, both the in vivo and in vitro activity increased more in patients who became negative for the e antigen after interferon therapy than in those who remained positive. In the first group, interferon was considered to be effective; in the second, ineffective. Of the patients who became negative, some developed e antibodies and some did not; the increase in this enzyme activity in the two groups was not significantly different. The increase in the activity of 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase activity could be used to predict the results of interferon treatment and is an index that can be used before treatment to predict the response.

1'-Acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA) is naturally obtained from the rhizomes and seeds of Alpinia galangal. Here, we examined the effect of ACA on learning and memory in senescence-accelerated mice prone 8 (SAMP8). In mice that were fed a control diet containing 0.02% ACA for 25 weeks, the learning ability in the Morris water maze test was significantly enhanced in comparison with mice that were fed the control diet alone. In the Y-maze test, SAMP8 mice showed decreased spontaneous alterations in comparison with senescence-accelerated resistant/1 (SAMR1) mice, a homologous control, which was improved by ACA pretreatment. Serum metabolite profiles were obtained by GC-MS analysis, and each metabolic profile was plotted on a 3D score plot. Based upon the diagram, it can be seen that the distribution areas for the three groups were completely separate. Furthermore, the contents of β-hydroxybutyric acid and palmitic acid in the serum of SAMP8-ACA mice were higher than those of SAMP8-control mice and SAMR1-control mice. We also found that SAMR1 mice did not show histological abnormalities, whereas histological damage in the CA1 region of the hippocampus in SAMP8-control mice was observed. However, SAMP8-ACA mice were observed in a similar manner as SAMR1 mice. These findings confirm that ACA increases the serum concentrations of β-hydroxybutyric acid and palmitic acid levels and thus these fuels might contribute to the maintenance of the cognitive performance of SAMP8 mice.

No abstract

SUMMARYWe describe a 66-year-old Japanese man in whom central retinal artery occlusion followed cardiac catheterization. After the procedure, blurred vision was noted in the right eye, and ophthalmological examination revealed an occlusion. Central retinal artery occlusion is a very rare but serious complication of cardiac catheterization. We should anticipate this potential risk to ensure prompt detection and treatment. (Jpn Heart J 2002; 43: 187-192)

A 72-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with a renal infarction. On admission, computed tomography (CT)