Intraluminal shunt for the thoracic aorta: spinal cord and visceral blood flow in acute studies.

Aortic cross-clamping during surgery of the thoracic aorta may result in paraplegia or kidney failure. Difficulties associated with external shunts and bypasses have limited their use. Therefore we compared intraluminal shunting to the nonshunting method of repair in neonatal pigs.

Passive exposure to cocaine in medical personnel and its effect on urine drug screening tests.

This report studies the importance of passive exposure of medical personnel to cocaine hydrochloride and its impact on urine screening testing. Eleven medical staff members were exposed to cocaine hydrochloride by means of aerosol and cutaneous application, similar to that which may occur in medical practice. Urine drug screening tests were negative for everyone tested.

Protected bronchoalveolar lavage. A new bronchoscopic technique to retrieve uncontaminated distal airway secretions.

We tested the effectiveness of protected bronchoalveolar lavage (PBAL), performed through a protected transbronchoscopic balloon-tipped (PBT) catheter, in collecting distal airway secretions with a minimal degree of contamination. The PBAL had less than or equal to 1% squamous epithelial cells in 91% of specimens and an absence of bacterial growth in 59% of patients without pneumonia. Using a threshold of 10(4) cfu/ml we had one false positive result in 33 patient without pneumonia and one false negative in 13 patients with pneumonia.

Extramedullary hematopoiesis within the hypotympanicum presenting as a glomus tympanicum.

We discuss the case of a 22-year-old black woman who presented with a mass in the left hypotympanicum. Both the pre- and postoperative diagnosis of the lesion was a glomus tympanicum. Histopathologic examination revealed the "tumor" to be a nodule of extramedullary hematopoiesis.

Uterine arteriovenous fistula. A case report.

Arteriovenous malformation of the uterus is rare. It is potentially lethal because profuse, uncontrollable bleeding may occur with diagnostic dilatation and curettage. Several cases of localized uterine arteriovenous malformation have been reported on.