Lancet
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Apolipoprotein E (apoE) is associated with Alzheimer's neurofibrillary tangles and beta-amyloid protein in senile plaques. It also appears to play an important part in the redistribution of lipids that follows deafferentation and neurodegeneration in the brain. The gene for apoE is on chromosome 19, within the genomic region previously associated with late-onset familial Alzheimer's disease (AD). ⋯ The epsilon 4/AD association was more pronounced in women. Octogenarians with AD had an epsilon 4 allele frequency that was 3 times higher than one reported, in a different study, in healthy octogenarians. ApoE may be an important susceptibility factor in the aetiopathology of sporadic AD.
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Six patients undergoing routine coronary artery bypass surgery were examined by magnetic resonance imaging of the brain before surgery, immediately afterwards, and 6-18 days later. Brain swelling was visible in all six patients on the immediate postoperative scan. ⋯ No major neurological deficits were seen, and the patients were extubated successfully within 3 h of the operation. The mechanism of the cerebral swelling is uncertain, but it may provide insight into the cause of neurophysiological deficits seen after coronary artery surgery.