Neurogenesis persists in the adult rat rostral forebrain subventricular zone (SVZ) and is stimulated by status epilepticus (SE). More caudal SVZ (cSVZ) neural progenitors migrate to the hippocampus after ischemic injury and contribute to CA1 pyramidal cell regeneration. Because SE also damages the hippocampus, we examined the effects of SE on cSVZ precursors. SE was induced in adult rats with pilocarpine, and cell proliferation in cSVZ and hippocampus was examined by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and retroviral reporter labeling. Neural precursors were assayed by immunostaining for specfic markers between 1 and 35 days after SE. BrdU-positive cells labeled prior to SE markedly increased in numbers within 1-2 weeks in the cSVZ and infracallosal region, but not in the corpus callosum. Doublecortin-, polysialic acid neural cell adhesion molecule-, and TUC-4 (TOAD/Ulip/CRMP family-4)-immunostained cells with migrating morphology increased with a similar time course after SE and extended from the cSVZ to CA1 and CA3 regions. Retroviral reporters injected into the cSVZ of controls showed labeled cells with oligodendroglial morphology located in the cSVZ and corpus callosum; when injected 2 days prior to SE, many more reporter-labeled cells appeared several weeks later and were located in the cSVZ, corpus callosum, and hippocampus. Labeled cells showed glial morphologies and expressed astrocyte or oligodendrocyte markers. Neither BrdU- nor retroviral reporter-labeled cells coexpressed neuronal markers in controls or pilocarpine-treated rats. These results indicate that SE increases cSVZ gliogenesis and attracts newly generated glia to regions of hippocampal damage. Further study of seizure-induced gliogenesis may provide insight into mechanisms of adult neural progenitor regulation and epileptogenesis.

A n 83-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with a 2-hour history of sudden chest pain and dyspnea. An initial ECG demonstrated nonspecific ST changes, and a portable chest x-ray suggested a widened mediastinum. A thoracic multidetector helical computed tomography (CT) angiogram was obtained to assess the possibility of aortic dissection (GE LightSpeed Plus, 2.5-mm collimation with 1.25-mm reconstructions, 700-ms rotation time; 140 mL Optiray 320 nonionic iodinated contrast injected using Smartprep algorithm, pitch of 1.5:1). The CT angiogram demonstrated a low-density filling defect in the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), which suggested a thrombus ( Figure 1). Coronary angiography then demonstrated a 95% stenosis of the proximal LAD with evidence of a thrombus ( Figure 2).These findings highlight the potential utility of CT angiography in the diagnosis of an acute coronary syndrome. New multidetector, helical CT scanners with timed, rapid contrast boluses can image the chest with high resolution in a single breath-hold. In addition, multiplanar reconstructions make detailed angiographic evaluation possible and extend the utility of CT in cardiac imaging well beyond calcium scoring in electron-beam CT. Such scanners are already routinely used for the emergent evaluation of pulmonary embolism and aortic dissection. With advancements such as cardiac gating, perhaps CT angiography could be used as a screening tool in the evaluation of chest pain and help in identifying unstable thrombotic coronary lesions.