Interaction between patient and test administrator may influence the results of edrophonium provocative testing in patients with noncardiac chest pain.

Edrophonium is a widely used provocative agent in the evaluation of noncardiac chest pain, with reported positivity rates of 30-55%. The influence of a subjective response and psychological factors on test results have not been examined previously. A retrospective analysis was performed to compare positivity rates for three physicians in the same laboratory.

Deceptive liver histology delays diagnosis of cardiac ascites.

Cardiac ascites is a rare condition. Diagnosis is aided by liver histology, which characteristically shows diffuse hepatic congestion affecting the centrilobular region. In our case of refractory ascites due to constrictive pericarditis, diagnosis was delayed because centribular hepatic congestion was absent histologically.

[Possible relation between viruses and oromaxillofacial tumors. II. Research on the presence of the SV40 antigen and specific antibodies in patients with oromaxillofacial tumors].

SV40 antigen was detected on sections through malignant oromaxillofacial tumors in 47.8% of the cases, with a higher incidence among the epithelium originating tumors. Anti-SV40 CF antibodies were detected in 83.

[Possible relation between viruses and oromaxillofacial tumors. I. Demonstration of herpes antigens and anti-herpes antibodies].

Herpes virus type 1 and 2 antigens were detected in cells originating from malignant tumors with oromaxillofacial localization. A higher incidence of type 1 antigens was noted, as compared to the type 2. Investigated antigens were detected more frequently in the tumors of ectodermal origin.

Abnormal lower esophageal sphincter pressure responses in patients with orange juice-induced heartburn.

The mechanism of orange juice-induced heartburn is unclear. One previous uncontrolled study showed only a transient fall in lower esophageal sphincter pressure (LESP) after orange juice and suggested that orange juice-induced heartburn was caused by a direct effect on the esophageal mucosa. We studied the effect of orange juice on LESP by comparing symptomatic patients with asymptomatic controls.