Significantly improved accuracy of diagnosis of early Lyme disease by peptide enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on the borreliacidal antibody epitope of Borrelia burgdorferi OspC.

Highly specific borreliacidal antibodies are induced by infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, and the immunodominant response during early Lyme disease is specific for an epitope within the 7 amino acids nearest the C terminus of OspC. We evaluated the ability of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on a synthetic peptide (OspC7) that matched the region to detect the response and compared the sensitivity during early Lyme disease to that for an FDA-approved Western blot. When the optical density value was adjusted to 98% specificity based on the results from testing normal or uncharacterized sera (n = 236) or sera from patients with blood factors or illnesses that commonly produce antibodies that cross-react with B.

Circulating endothelial cells in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Angiogenesis is increased in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). We wanted to quantify and characterize the circulating endothelial cells (CECs) in patients with B-CLL and correlate with plasma angiogenesis-related factors. Using a four-color flow cytometry, we prospectively analyzed the CEC in the whole blood of 20 healthy controls and 20 patients with B-CLL.

Borreliacidal OspC antibody response of canines with Lyme disease differs significantly from that of humans with Lyme disease.

Humans reliably produce high concentrations of borreliacidal OspC antibodies specific for the seven C-terminal amino acids shortly after infection with Borrelia burgdorferi. We show that dogs also produce OspC borreliacidal antibodies but that their frequencies, intensities, and antigenicities differ significantly. The findings therefore confirm a major difference between the borreliacidal antibody responses of humans and canines with Lyme disease.

Premedication for out-patient endoscopy of the upper gastro-intestinal tract.

Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed on 342 out-patients. The patients were allocated to four groups according to premedication given. The premedication used was atropine 0.

Streptokinase and concomitant oral anticoagulants in the treatment of deep venous thrombosis.

Fourty-four patients with deep venous thrombosis of the leg diagnosed by phlebography and not more than five days old were treated with streptokinase. Oral anticoagulant therapy was started at the same time. Complete lysis of thrombi was obtained in 6 cases and partial one in 25 cases.

A comparison of naproxen, indomethacin and acetylsalicylic acid in pain after varicose vein surgery.

Oral naproxen in doses of 500 mg and 750 mg daily was compared with oral indomethacin, 75 mg daily, in a double-blind, completely randomized study of patients with post-operative pain after out-patients varicose vein surgery. Altogether, 120 patients were studied. In the study 750 mg naproxen proved to be equal in respect of analgesic efficacy to 75 mg indomethacin, and it was clearly superior to 1500 mg acetylsalicylic acid.

Short-stay varicose vein surgery.

From 1967 patients attending for varicose vein surgery at the Meilahti Hospital Helsinki University Central Hospital, have been operated on on the day of admission, spend the following night in the bed ward and are discharged the morning after the operation. The operation is performed under general anaesthesia with as radical approach as possible stripping the long saphenous vein and, if required, the short saphenous vein, excising the superficial side branches and ligating incompetent perforators. In the study a follow-up examination was carried out on 2334 patients.

Short-stay varicose vein surgery.

From 1967 patients attending for varicose vein surgery at the Meilahti Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital, have been operated on on the day of admission, spend the following night in the bed ward and are discharged the morning after the operation. The operation is performed under general anaesthesia with as radical approach as possible stripping the long saphenous vein and, if required, the short saphenous vein, excising the superficial side branches and ligating incompetent perforators. In the study a follow-up examination was carried out on 2334 patients.

Clinical diagnosis and prognosis of deep venous thrombosis.

The reliability of the diagnosis made on the basis of symptoms of deep venous thrombosis and the development of a post-thrombotic state were studied in 53 patients. Pain in the leg was present in 93% and swelling in 82% of the series, both figures are considerably higher than those reported before. The clinical diagnosis was correct in 74% of cases.