A case of Duchenne muscular dystrophy with multifocal hamartomatous glial nodules in the cerebral cortex is reported. The patient had suffered severe mental retardation since boyhood, dying of aspiration pneumonia at the age of 23 years. Post‐mortem examination revealed an atrophic brain with normal gyri. Microscopically, multifocal small nodules composed of bizzare astrocytic cells, multinucleated cells, neuron‐like cells, small astrocytes and glial fibers were found in the first, fifth and sixth layers of the prefrontal cortex. Some of the bizarre cells showed intense immunoreactivity for glial fibrillary acidic protein and moderate to very weak reactivity for ubiquitin, tau protein and αB crystallin but no immunoreactivity for neurofilament and synaptophysin, suggesting that these cells were of astrocytic origin. The nodules were considered to be due to hamartomatous changes that had occurred in the early stage of brain development, and that might have been partly responsible for the pathogenetic mechanisms of mental retardation.

PurposeCurrently, the foreign surfaces of various extracorporeal circulation devices are coated with a biocompatible polymer coating agent (BPA), which creates a hydrophilic blood-contacting layer to reduce thrombogenicity, while the membranes in hemodialyzers are not. We aimed to clarify other side effects of BPA-coated membranes by examining the diffusion performance in in vitro experiments.MethodsWe used a polyethersulfone membrane (sieving coefficient of albumin is ≤0.01) coated with BPA product, SEC-1™ (Toyobo), in a hemodialyzer. To estimate the diffusion rates of a wide range of molecules, 2 L of saline containing vancomycin, lysozyme, and albumin were recirculated in the circuit configured with a hemodialyzer, and dialyzed continuously using water. The concentrations of sodium, vancomycin, lysozyme, and albumin were measured every 5 minutes for 30 minutes and compared in experiments with BPA-coated (n = 4) and BPA-noncoated (n = 4) membranes.ResultsThe removal rates of sodium and vancomycin after 5 minutes of dialysis (n = 24) were significantly higher in BPA-coated than noncoated membranes, while those of lysozyme and albumin were not significantly different. The removal rates of sodium and vancomycin after 30 minutes of dialysis (n = 4) were significantly higher, and those of lysozyme were significantly lower in BPA-coated than noncoated membranes, while those of albumin were not significantly different.ConclusionsThe preliminary study suggests that BPA-coated membranes enhanced the diffusion rate of molecules with low and middle molecular weight without affecting the sieving coefficient of albumin. Thus, BPA coating can enhance the dialysis performance of membranes.

Purpose Extracorporeal circulation circuits used in cardiopulmonary bypass surgeries are increasingly being coated with polymer materials to reduce the thrombogenicity of extracorporeal devices. However, a haemoconcentrator, which corrects haematocrit and electrolyte imbalances, is not coated with polymers. In this study, we sought to assess the filtration performance of polymer-coated haemoconcentrators in order to obtain insight into their prospects for use in clinical applications. Methods In vitro experiments were performed to evaluate the water pressure and flow properties of polymer-coated haemoconcentrators by comparing 3 polymer-coated haemoconcentrators with 3 non-coated haemoconcentrators. The cross-sectional surfaces of both types of haemoconcentrators were observed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results The slopes of the regression lines for estimating the filtrated fluid flow as a function of the transmembrane pressure were 6.286 ± 0.320 for polymer-coated haemoconcentrators and 3.712 ± 0.170 for non-coated haemoconcentrators. These slopes were found to be significantly different and indicate that the filtration velocity is enhanced in polymer-coated haemoconcentrators over that in non-coated haemoconcentrators. However, the hollow fibre damage observed by SEM was not shown to contribute to higher filtration flow in the polymer-coated haemoconcentrator. Taking these results into consideration, we hypothesise that a polymer coating makes a foreign surface on a hollow fibre slippery, owing to the hydrophobicity of the polymer, thereby enhancing the velocity of the filtration. Conclusions The results of this preliminary investigation suggest that a polymer coating can enhance the filtration performance of a haemoconcentrator and that polymer-coated haemoconcentrators might be useful in clinical applications.