The utility of muscle biopsy in patients with modest elevations of serum creatine kinase (CK) level but normal neurological examinations and nondiagnostic electrodiagnostic studies is uncertain. We ...performed systematic, extensive studies on muscle biopsies of 20 such patients. A definitive diagnosis was arrived at in only 1 by histochemical studies, although 4 others demonstrated minor myopathic changes. Biochemical evaluation led to a diagnosis in an additional 5. Muscle biopsy is useful for evaluating such patients, but extensive studies of the muscle are necessary. Muscle Nerve 27: 242–244, 2003
We present a proof-of-principle experiment in which the population of an atomic level is spatially localized using the technique of electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT). The key idea is to ...utilize the sensitive dependence of the dark state of EIT on the intensity of the coupling laser beam. By using a sinusoidal intensity variation (standing-wave), we demonstrate that the population of a specific hyperfine level can be localized much tighter than the spatial period.
Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is associated with both skeletal and cardiac muscle involvement. The aim of the present study was to determine whether familial clustering is observed in the severity ...of muscle involvement in DM1. We evaluated 51 sibling groups constituting 112 patients with genetically‐verified DM1. The siblings were similar to each other in age, cytosine‐thymine‐guanine (CTG) repeat length, age at disease onset, muscular impairment rating score, and electrocardiographic markers of cardiac conduction disease. After adjusting for the similarities between siblings in age and CTG repeat length, the siblings remained similar to each other in measures of both skeletal and cardiac muscle involvement. These results suggest that factors other than CTG repeat length play a role in the severity and progression of the degenerative skeletal and cardiac muscle disease in DM1. Muscle Nerve, 2005
Recognition of pleural effusions in acute pancreatitis is important since it carries prognostic implications. This study evaluates the incidence and characteristics of pleural effusions on computed ...tomography (CT) of patients with mainly an alcohol ingestion etiology of acute pancreatitis. A review of medical records and abdominal CT scans in 50 patients with clinical and laboratory evidence of acute pancreatitis was carried out. All patients were referred for abdominal CT scanning based on an initial clinical presentation consistent with acute pancreatitis and had confirmatory elevation of the corresponding serum enzyme levels. The presence, laterality, and size of any pleural effusions were recorded from the initial sections through the lung bases. Based on a review of medical records, 36 patients (72%) had an alcohol-related etiology of acute pancreatitis. Overall, 10 patients (20%) with acute pancreatitis had pleural effusions on abdominal CT imaging. Five of the effusions were bilateral, three were unilateral right sided, and two were unilateral left sided. Nine of the effusions were small (<1 cm in maximal height) or medium (1-2 cm) in size. Small and medium-sized pleural effusions are not uncommon in acute pancreatitis. The higher incidence in this study compared to that in earlier reports likely represents the increased sensitivity of cross-sectional imaging for small amounts of pleural fluid. The absence of left-sided effusion predominance in our study group is contrary to much of the earlier literature and may reflect demographic factors, such as etiology and previous history of pancreatitis, although statistical variability must also be considered.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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