Ross River virus (RRV) causes an age-dependent myositis in mice. Infected 4-week-old mice develop no clinical signs, but 1-week-old mice develop weakness and myositis. Humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to RRV in the two age groups are comparable, and immunosuppression does not alter age-dependent resistance to clinical disease. Immunosuppression of 1-week-old mice protracts clinical signs and reduces muscle inflammation but does not alter muscle necrosis or regeneration. These studies suggest that immune responses do not determine age dependency of RRV myositis and that muscle necrosis results from direct viral lysis of muscle fibers.

We review the records of 153 infants weighing 2,500 gm or less admitted consecutivtly to the University of Utah Medical Center Newborn Intensive Care Unit. Thirty-one (20.2%) infants had seizures and 28 (90%) of these died. In comparison, only 17% (21 of 122) of patients without seizures died. The diagnosis of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) was made in 27 (87%) of the seizure patients. These findings differ significantly from those studies in which no distinction was made between the birth weight of neonates with seizures. Anticonvulsant medication had little effect on clinical seizure activity and did not significantly alter the outcome.

No abstract

No abstract

Reports have suggested that the pattern of CSF IgG differentiates neurosarcoidosis from multiple sclerosis. We examined CSF and serum of 7 patients with neurosarcoidosis to determine concentrations of IgG and albumin and the presence of oligoclonal bands. Our results showed that neurosarcoidosis may have associated abnormalities of IgG synthesis and oligoclonal bands present in CSF, but without a consistent pattern.