Pathologic hip fractures secondary to amyloidoma. Case report and review of the literature

Amyloidoma primarily involving bone and lymph node is described in a 60-year-old male patient. The patient had pathologic fractures of both hips through a deposit of amyloid in the neck of the femur. The prolonged insidious course of the disease was uncomplicated by hypercalcemia, hematologic abnormalities, or renal failure so characteristic of untreated myeloma. The bone marrow contained less than 10 percent plasma cells in different stages of maturity. Radionuclide bone scanning demonstrated other osseous amyloid lesions that were not detected by routine radiologic examination. This is the first reported case of pathologic fractures of both hips secondary to amyloidoma.

Circannual variations in serum concentrations of pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, gonadal and adrenal hormones in male laboratory rats

Seasonal effects were studied on basal levels of hormones in the serum of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats, which were born and raised under rigorously controlled laboratory conditions. Groups of 90-day-old rats were killed at monthly intervals by rapid decapitation. Significant fluctuations were observed throughout the observation period of 19 months in serum levels of TSH, prolactin, androgens, tri-iodothyronine and LH. Minor fluctuations were observed in serum levels of FSH, corticosterone, parathyroid hormone and thyroxine. The results indicate that male laboratory rats exhibit circannual and semi-annual fluctuations in serum levels of several hormones even though the animals were born, raised and maintained in constant laboratory conditions.

Influence of age, strain and season on diurnal periodicity of thyroid stimulating hormone, thyroxine, triiodothyronine and parathyroid hormone in the serum of male laboratory rats

The influence of age, strain and season on the diurnal pattern of serum hormone levels from the pituitary-thyro-parathyroid complex was studied in male laboratory rats. Distinct 24 h periodicity in the serum levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and triiodothyronine (T3) was observed in all groups of rats. There was no influence of age (40, 60 and 90 days old Sprague-Dawley rats), but a significant influence of strain (Sprague-Dawley vs. BH/Ztm rats) and season (summer vs. winter) on the diurnal pattern of serum TSH and T3 levels. Significant 24 h periodicity in serum thyroxine (T4) levels existed during winter in BH/Ztm rats, but not in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats of any age. Adult SD rats demonstrated 24 h periodicity in serum levels of T4 only in summer. No diurnal periodicity in serum levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) was observed in any group of rats. There were significant changes in 24 h mean serum levels of TSH and T3 throughout pubertal development. Twenty-four h mean serum levels of T3 and T4 were significantly higher in summer than in winter. Twenty-four h mean serum levels of T4 were significantly lower in BH/Ztm rats than in SD rats. Significant correlation was observed between serum concentrations of T3 and T4, TSH and T4, and between TSH and T3 in some groups of rats, but not in all. The results indicate that 24 h periodicity of serum hormone levels from the pituitary-thyroid complex of male laboratory rats may vary with age and strain of the animals and with the season of experiment performance.

Influence of age, strain and season on circadian periodicity of pituitary, gonadal and adrenal hormones in the serum of male laboratory rats

The influence of age, strain and season on the circadian pattern of serum levels of LH, FSH, prolactin androgens and corticosterone was studied in five groups of male laboratory rats. Significant 24-hour periodicity was observed for serum levels of corticosterone in all five groups, for androgen levels in four, for prolactin levels in three, for LH levels in two and for FSH levels in one group of rats. There were significant influences of age, strain and season on the temporal patterns and/or on 24-hour mean serum hormone levels. The results indicate that some of the disagreements on existence or nonexistence of circadian rhythms and on rhythm patterns in serum hormone levels may be explained by the fact that animals of different ages or strains had been used or that experiments were performed at different times of the year.

Effects of shade on some factors influencing nutritive quality of green panic and Siratro pastures

The effect of illumination at 100, 60 and 40% sunlight over 4 months on herbage quality was studied in the legume, Siratro, and the grass, green panic, grown in small plots in the field in pure and 50 : 50 mixture swards, defoliated every 4 (D4) or 8 (D8) weeks. Laminae and stems of defined ages were harvested periodically from the D8 treatment, and after 8 and 16 weeks the D4 and D8 canopies were sampled in 10-cm strata for analysis of dry matter digestibility (DMD). Shading to 60 and 40% sunlight decreased the DMD of the green panic and the mixed swards by up to 10-12 percentage units in the D8 treatment. The shade effect on DMD was smaller in the D4 treatment. Shading increased leaf bulk density in the upper strata of the grass and mixed swards. The shade effect on sward DMD was due to a decrease in DMD of lamina and stem of green panic and, in the lower canopy, also to a decrease in leaf : stem ratio of the grass. The lower DMD of green panic was associated with lower total soluble carbohydrate and higher lignin in the shaded tissues. The concurrent decrease in cell wall content of green panic under shade (as a balance to higher crude protein) indicates that shade must have greatly reduced the digestibility of the cell wall material. The chemical composition and DMD of Siratro was largely unaffected by shade.

Effects of tri-iodothyronine, thyroxine and isopropyl-di-iodothyronine on thyroid-stimulating hormone in serum and pituitary gland and on pituitary concentrations of prolactin, growth hormone, luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone in hypothyroid rats

Replacement of the 3'-halogen of the tri-iodothyronine (T3) molecule by a propyl-group produces a thyromimetic analogue, 3'-isopropyl-3,5-di-iodo-L-thyronine (T2iPr), with high biological potency. A serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression test with one single intraperitoneal injection of 3 or 30 nM-T3 or T2iPr or with 30 or 300 nM-thyroxine (T4) per kg body weight was performed on 56 adult male Lewis rats which were maintained for 3 weeks on an iodine-deficient diet containing 0.2% 6n-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU). Blood was withdrawn from each rat by cardiac puncture 24 h before and 3, 7, 24 and 48 h after application of the iodothyronines. Raised serum levels of TSH, due to the treatment with PTU, were significantly reduced within 3 h of treatment with 30 nM-T3, 300 nM-T4, 3 or 30 nM-T2iPr and they remained low throughout the observation period. Treatment with 3 nM-T3, or 30 nM-T4 per kg body weight was less effective. Pituitary concentrations of growth hormone, TSH, prolactin and FSH were significantly reduced by the treatment with PTU. There was also a slight, but insignificant reduction of pituitary concentrations of LH. Treatment with T3, T4 or T2iPr stimulated the reaccumulation of growth hormone, TSH, prolactin, LH and FSH in the pituitary gland.

Transcutaneous electrostimulation in the management of postoperative pain: initial report

A study was undertaken to investigate recent reports concerning the use of transcutaneous electrostimulation (TES) for relief of postoperative pain. Thirty patients undergoing elective herniorrhaphy were subjected to a standard perianaesthetic protocol. The patients were divided into three groups of ten, designated control, sham TES and TES. Postoperative analgesic requirements for each group were compared. The number of intravenous doses of meperidine given to each group in the first three hours after operation was control group 46 doses; sham TES group 38 doses; TES group 10 doses (p less than 0.0005). The number of intramuscular doses of meperidine in the 3-24-hour period was control group 21 doses; sham TES 22 doses; TES group 17 doses (no statistical difference between groups). A subjectively beneficial effect of TES was also established. Despite a number of difficulties encountered during this study, primarily concerned with the subjective nature of pain and its assessment, a useful trend which warrants further investigation has been established in the use of transcutaneous electrostimulation (TES) for postoperative analgesia.

Effects of shading on the growth and nitrogen content of green panic and Siratro in pure and mixed swards defoliated at two frequencies

A study was made of the effect of illumination at 100, 60 and 40% of sunlight on the growth of Macroptilium atropurpureum cv. Siratro and Panicum maximum var. trichoglume cv. Petrie (green panic) in pure and 50150 mixture swards, dcfoliated every 4 (D4) 01 8 (D8) weeks. The plants were grown without nitrogen fertilizer on a soil of moderate nitrogen status. Shading to 60 and 40% of full sunlight increased the shoot yield of green panic in pure sward by 30 and 27% respectively in the D8, but reduced it in the D4 treatment by 3 and 14%. Shade (40% full sunlight) reduced the shoot yield of Siratro in pure swards by 38 and 33 % in the D4 and D8 treatments. Nitrogen accumulation in green panic was markedly improved by shading: the increase in shoot nitrogen yield in pure sward under 60 and 40% light levels was 29 and 32% for the D4 and 45 and 76 % for the D8 treatment. All plant fractions of green panic increased in percentage nitrogen with increasing shade. The nitrogen yield of Siratro in pure sward declined with shading in proportion to dry weight. Shaded green panic swards had a higher leaf area index, better distribution of leaf area with height, and lower light extinction coefficients. The individual leaves had greater photosynthetic activity than those from the full sunlight swards. Shade-grown Siratro swards had a lower leaf area index and their leaves had a lower photosynthetic potential than in the full sunlight treatment. Nodulation was reduced under shade. Competition between green panic and Siratro was most severe in relation to shoot yield, and was accentuated by shading, frequent defoliation, and time. The proportion of Siratro in the mixture declined from 40 % initially to as low as 4-6 %. The extra competitiveness of the tropical grass, green panic, under shade in this experiment was due to a substantially increased ability to accumulate nitrogen and also to changes in canopy structure. In soils of markedly different nitrogen status or with nitrogen fertilizer the shade response might be modified.

Myocardial infarct imaging after cardiac surgery

One hundred and nineteen patients undergoing cardiac surgery had postoperative myocardial imaging performed with technetium pyrophosphate in order to assess the incidence of perioperative myocardial infarction. Fifty-six patients had only coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, of whom 13(23%) had a positive scintigram. Thirteen patients had CABG with other cardiac surgery and six (46%) had a positive scintigram. Fifty patients had other cardiac surgery but no CABG, and of these eight (16%) had a positive scintigram. The overall incidence of positive scintigrams was 23%, whereas definite or probable ECG diagnosis of infarction was present in 14 patients (12%). Serum levels of cardiac enzymes were higher in patients with positive scintigrams, but this finding did not consistently reach statistical significance. The use of a left ventricular vent during surgery did not correlate with a positive scintigram, nor did the total time on cardiopulmonary bypass or aortic cross-clamping. Patients having cardiac surgery, including CABG and valve replacement, have a 23% overall incidence of positive scintigrams. This suggests that the incidence of infarction after cardiac surgery is higher than can be recognized from the conventional criteria of ECG and enzyme changes.

Site of blood sampling in rats as a possible source of error in hormone determinations

Abteilung für Klinische Endokrinologie, Department für Innere Medizin und Zentrales Tierlabor, Medizinische Hochschule, 3000 Hannover 61, Federal Republic of Germany

(Received 8 May 1978)

The application of a blood sampling technique which by itself has little or no influence on the concentrations of hormones in the circulation of the rat is of utmost importance in experimental hormone research. It has recently been demonstrated that the type of anaesthesia and probably also the site of withdrawal of blood from the body may become critical parameters when the determination of unaltered hormone levels is required (Döhler, von zur Mühlen, Gärtner & Döhler, 1977b). That the site of blood sampling may act as an interfering parameter is questionable, since cage transport, handling and possible differences in the intensity of anaesthesia may also influence the variability of individual hormone levels (Baldwin, Colombo & Sawyer, 1974; Krulich, Hefco, Illner & Read, 1974; Euker, Meites &

Imaging of acute myocardial infarction using technetium 99m labelled phosphate compounds

Technetium 99m pyrophosphate or polyphosphate administered intravenously soon after acute myocardial infarction produces positive images of the area and extent of myocardial necrosis. Forty-four patients have been studied of whom 39 had myocardial infarction. There was good correlation of the site and extent of infarction as indicated by the scintigram with electrocardiogram and cardiac enzyme criteria.