Isradipine prevents global and regional cocaine-induced changes in brain blood flow: a preliminary study.

The L-type calcium channel antagonist, isradipine, reduces brain ischemia in animal models of ischemic stroke. These effects of isradipine appear more pronounced in dopamine (DA) rich brain regions. These same DA-rich brain regions have also been shown to be the areas most affected by cocaine-induced ischemic changes.

Presenting signs of retinoblastoma.

A retrospective chart review was performed on the charts of 1265 patients with retinoblastoma who were on file at New York Hospital and whose conditions had been diagnosed between the years 1960 and 1990. The mean follow-up was 90 months, ranging from 0 to 409 months. Thirty-two distinct presenting signs of retinoblastoma were identified, the most common of which were leukocoria (56.

Second nonocular tumors in survivors of bilateral retinoblastoma: a possible age effect on radiation-related risk.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship in bilateral retinoblastoma survivors between the incidence of second tumors and the age when external beam radiation (EBR) was used.

Design: A retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with retinoblastoma was performed by examining records for background information and treatment information as well as reviewing documentation of patients with second nonocular tumors. Two telephone interviews were conducted for follow-up as well as inquiries directed to tumor registries and state databases.

Demonstration of dose-dependent global and regional cocaine-induced reductions in brain blood flow using a novel approach to quantitative single photon emission computerized tomography.

Ischemic stroke is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in cocaine addicts. Because the previous semiquantitative single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) method for measuring brain blood flow does not quantify blood flow, the magnitude and specificity of cocaine's effects during drug taking has not been well established. Here, using a novel quantitative approach to SPECT, we established that intravenous cocaine administration to nine recently abstinent cocaine-dependent subjects was associated with significant decreases in global and regional brain blood flow to dopamine-rich areas such as the prefrontal, frontal temporal, and subcortical gray matter.

The characterization of chicken antibodies raised against Fusarium spp. by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblotting.

Immunoassays for the detection of three Fusarium species have been developed. Chickens were immunized with the soluble antigens from within the mycelia (mycelia-soluble antigens) and the exoantigens of Fusarium sporotrichioides, Fusarium poae and Fusarium graminearum and the antigens were characterized using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, immunoblotting and sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The cross-reactivities of antisera with eleven species of Fusarium, eleven species of fungi from other genera and the buffer-extracts of grain were determined.

External beam radiation therapy for choroidal neovascularization.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of external beam radiation therapy on choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Design: The study design was a nonrandomized clinical trial with an historic control group.

Participants: A total of 91 patients were treated with external beam radiation.

Single-stage, multimodality treatment of soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremity.

The present study describes the techniques available for single-stage sarcoma resection, soft-tissue reconstruction, and radiotherapy for limb preservation in patients who are unable to undergo primary wound closure after a complete soft-tissue resection of their primary sarcoma. From 1989 to 1994, 19 patients (age range, 18-79 years; mean, 51.2 years) underwent radical resection of extremity sarcomas followed by immediate reconstruction.

Outcome of patients with a history of bilateral retinoblastoma treated for a second malignancy: the Memorial Sloan-Kettering experience.

Background: Patients with bilateral retinoblastoma are well recognized to have a high risk of developing a second malignancy, but there are little published data regarding the outcome of these patients following treatment.

Patients And Methods: We identified 15 patients with a history of bilateral retinoblastoma who received treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for a newly diagnosed second malignancy. The median age of second tumor occurrence was 18 years (range 10-32 years).

Cancer incidence after retinoblastoma. Radiation dose and sarcoma risk.

Context: There is a substantial risk of a second cancer for persons with hereditary retinoblastoma, which is enhanced by radiotherapy.

Objective: To examine long-term risk of new primary cancers in survivors of childhood retinoblastoma and quantify the role of radiotherapy in sarcoma development.

Design: Cohort incidence study of patients with retinoblastoma followed for a median of 20 years, and nested case-control study of a radiation dose-response relationship for bone and soft tissue sarcomas.

Perioperative hypercoagulability in uremic patients: a viscoelastic study.

Study Objective: To examine whole blood coagulation in uremic patients presenting for surgery with the thromboelastogram and the Sonoclot analyzer.

Design: Prospective, observational study.

Setting: Operating rooms of a university-affiliated hospital.

Robin sequence: obstructive sleep apnea following pharyngeal flap.

Objective: We reviewed 24 children with Robin sequence who underwent cleft palate repair.

Method: All patients were 5 years of age or older at the time of review, allowing for accurate assessment of speech in relation to velopharyngeal function. All infants had palatal closure between 9 and 14 months of age, either V-Y repair (n = 16) or von Langenbeck repair (n = 8).

An inexpensive method of intraoperative skin stretching for closure of large cutaneous wounds.

A simple and inexpensive method for closure of large wounds is presented. A rib approximator and two spinal needles, which are readily available in most operating rooms, have been utilized to close large cutaneous wounds of the chest and thigh after flap harvest.

Vendor agreements offer cost savings for cardiac catheterization.

Hospitals continue to search for ways to save money at the same time they provide their physicians and clinical staffs with the variety and quality of supplies needed to do their jobs. St. Joseph's Medical Center in Stockton, Calif.

Orbital avitene granuloma formation after enucleation for intraocular retinoblastoma.

Purpose: To report a case of orbital foreign body granuloma formation, mimicking tumor recurrence, secondary to the use of Avitene after enucleation for intraocular retinoblastoma.

Methods: Eight months after undergoing enucleation for retinoblastoma, a 21-month-old boy underwent a biopsy of an orbital mass.

Results: Histopathologic examination of the orbital biopsy specimen disclosed a proliferative granulomatous foreign body reaction surrounding multiple foci of a coarse fibrillar intercellular substance consistent with Avitene.

Tissue expansion in children: a retrospective study of complications.

We retrospectively reviewed 105 consecutive children in whom 191 tissue expanders were placed by the Plastic Surgical Service at The Children's Hospital from 1987 to 1995. The age range was 1 month to 28 years. The series included 68 females and 37 males.

Use of a Heterologous Solid-Phase Antigen in an Indirect Competitive Antibody-Capture Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for T-2 Mycotoxin.

Anti- T-2 toxin (T-2) antibodies raised in chicken hosts were isolated as total IgY (chicken immunoglobulins of IgY isotype) from serum and the egg yolk. They were used for quantitation of T-2 toxin in an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) which employed molecularly distinct toxin-carrier conjugates as solid-phase assay antigens. The sensitivities of the assays utilizing any of the purified IgY or unfractionated serum were similar but varied with respect to the type of conjugate used and could be improved by lowering the concentration of assay antigens or antibodies.