Spinocerebellar ataxia type 17 in the Yugoslav population

OBJECTIVES

(1) Analysis of Spinocerebellar ataxia type 17 (SCA17) locus in a group of ataxic patients excluded on other known SCAs; (2) assessment of frequency distributions of SCA17 alleles in the Yugoslav population.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Study includes 115 non-related Yugoslav patients belonging to autosomal-dominant cerebellar ataxias or to sporadic idiopathic adult-onset ataxia and 115 controls. Analysis of SCA17 locus was performed using polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS

None of the analyzed patients show the presence of mutation in SCA17 locus. In the group of patients 12 different alleles in the range of 30-42 repeats were observed, while in healthy population eight alleles in the range of 30-40 repeats were detected.

CONCLUSION

(1) None of 115 non-related Yugoslav ataxic patients belong to any known SCAs nor to DRPLA gene; (2) the distribution of SCA17 alleles in the Yugoslav population is consistent with the distribution in other populations and (3) the paucity of alleles with more than 39 repeats could suggest that SCA17 is very rare in the Yugoslav population.

Incorporation of Mn, Co and Zn cations into large-pore aluminophosphate molecular sieves MeAPO-50

Large-pore metal modified aluminophosphate molecular sieves MeAPO-50 (Me=Co,Zn,Mn) were synthesised by hydrothermal crystallisation using di-n-propylamine as structure directing agent. EXAFS and XRD analysis show that cobalt(II), manganese(II) and zinc(II) are incorporated into the non-phosphorus tetrahedral framework sites of MeAPO-50 on the threefold-axis site, and on a site in a general position in the unit cell. Results of both methods on distribution of the metal over the two sites are compared.

Myocardial catecholamines in primary heart muscle disease: fact or fancy?

The pathophysiological role of myocardial catecholamines in cardiomyopathies is still not completely understood. We there-fore assessed myocardial catecholamine concentrations (MCC) in 34 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) (76.5% males; mean age 46.7 +/- 11.6 years; left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] 75.3 +/- 9.8%) and in 32 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) (87.5% males, mean age 43.1 +/- 12.5 years, LVEF 34.9 +/- 8.3%). Initial assessment included clinical work up, cardiac catheterization and endomyocardial biopsy. Myocardial norepinephrine (MNEC), epinephrine (MEC), and dopamine (MDC) concentrations in endomyocardial biopsy samples were measured using the catechol-O- methyl transferase radioenzymatic method. Significantly higher MNEC and MEC were demonstrated in HCM than in DCM patients (MNEC: 781.9 +/- 125.8 ng.g-1 fresh myocardial tissue (ft) HCM vs 262.6 +/- 68.9 ng.g-1 ft DCM, p < 0.01; and MEC: 91.6 +/- 13.9 ng.g-1 ft HCM vs 35.8 +/- 6.2 ng.g-1 ft DCM, P < 0.01). The difference in MDC did not reach statistical significance (76.1 +/- 8.3 ng.g-1 ft HCM vs 70.1 +/- 11.8 ng.g ft DCM; P > 0.05). In addition, we compared the MCC levels in 24 patients, clinically presented as dilated cardiomyopathy categorized according to the various aetiologies: 12/24 with primary DCM (75.0% males, mean age 49.6 +/- 9.5 years; LVEF 25.8 +/- 63%), 7/24 with alcohol-induced heart disease (85.7% males, mean age 46.8 +/- 7.1 years; LVEF 26.4 +/- 4.6%), and 5/24 with hypertensive heart disease (100% males, 45.1 +/- 10.6 years; LVEF 25.6 +/- 9.1%), but no significant difference was found among them (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in tissue dopamine concentrations.

[Method of information synthesis--meta analysis of endomyocardial biopsy complications]

The "information explosion" in the last 20 years has created a need for technique that synthesizes information from various sources. One of the methods for synthetasing information from various independent but similar studies is meta analysis. The aim of this study was to estimate complication rate of endomyocardial biopsy and therefore to assess its routine clinical applicability. In order to identify published studies regarding endomyocardial biopsy between 1980-1993, we performed computer and manual literature search. A total of 255 papers were retrieved but only 18 studies fulfilled separately predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria for meta analysis of complications. For each study, numerical weights were calculated according to the sample size and magnitude of effect size (proportion of each of the observed diagnostic categories). Weighted average of proportions was used to obtain a 95 posto study-specific confidence interval (CI) for each category. To compare incidence of complications of endomyocardial biopsy of the right to the endomyocardial biopsy of the left ventricle, modified Mantel-Haenszel test of the effect size for summarizing data from individual studies was used. Complication rate in analyzed studies was compared to the Poisson's rule of rare events and showed no significant difference (Chi2=2.02, p>0.05). Mild complications were present in 1.55 posto pts (95% CI 1.27-1.87%) while severe complications were present in 0.62% (95% CI 0.47-0.88%). Heart perforations, included in severe complications, were present in 0.31% pts (95% CI 0.16-0.46%). Overall complication rate was 1.68% (95% CI 1.41-1.96%). According to the results obtained, the overall complication rate was demonstrated to be significantly higher following the right (prv=6.5%) than following the left (plv=3.7%) ventricular endomyocardial biopsy (Chi2 =8.784, p<0.05). Thus, using meta analysis complication rate was estimated objectively. These pooled data suggest that endomyocardial biopsy is a safe procedure with infrequent complications. They were estimated to occurred more often during endomyocardial biopsy of right ventricle.