Case-control analysis of clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea on a gynecologic oncology service.

Objective: The incidence, morbidity, and risk factors associated with Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) were studied in a group of gynecologic oncology patients.

Methods: A case-control analysis of gynecologic oncology patients with CDAD was carried out from August 1986 through January 1989 in a university medical center.

Results: One hundred twenty-three stool samples were tested for C.

Insertion of Groshong central venous catheters utilizing fluoroscopic techniques.

Groshong central line indwelling catheters are extensively used in gynecologic oncology patients for administration of chemotherapy, intravenous fluids, and pain medications. They are easy to maintain and have a good safety record. We report on the placement of these central venous catheters under direct fluoroscopic visualization as a method which is safe, inexpensive, and efficacious in high-risk patients.

The expressed L1 proteins of HPV-1, HPV-6, and HPV-11 display type-specific epitopes with native conformation and reactivity with neutralizing and nonneutralizing antibodies.

Previous studies demonstrated that the human papillomavirus (HPV) type 1 L1 protein, expressed in cos cells by an SV40-based vector, displays conformational epitopes characteristic of native virions. In this study, we analyzed the expression of HPV-1, HPV-6, and HPV-11 L1 proteins in order to determine the forms of conformational epitopes expressed by recombinant L1 proteins. Using both immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation techniques, polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) generated against native HPV-11 virions reacted with expressed L1 proteins of HPV-6 and/or HPV-11, but not HPV-1.

Determinants of genital human papillomavirus infection in low-income women in Washington, D.C.

Objectives: To confirm the risk factors for genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.

Goal Of This Study: To investigate risk factors for HPV detection independent of the correlated risk factors for cervical neoplasia, in a high-risk population.

Study Design: We investigated 404 cytologically normal women attending medical assistance clinics in the Washington, D.

Epidemiologic evidence for a causal relation between vaccination and fibrosarcoma tumorigenesis in cats.

Within the past 2 years, a putative causal relationship has been reported between vaccination against rabies and the development of fibrosarcomas at injection sites in cats. A retrospective study was undertaken, involving 345 cats with fibrosarcomas diagnosed between January 1991 and May 1992, to assess the causal hypothesis. Cats with fibrosarcomas developing at body locations where vaccines are typically administered (n = 185) were compared with controls (n = 160) having fibrosarcomas at locations not typically used for vaccination.

In vitro assays of Staphylococcus epidermidis characteristics and outcome in an endocarditis model.

Objective: Staphylococcus epidermidis adherence to indwelling polymers is important in prosthetic valve endocarditis. Earlier studies have related streptococcal endocarditis to isolates with high levels of cell-associated hexoses. The objective of the present study was to determine if a relationship exists between an S epidermidis isolate assay score and production/severity of experimental endocarditis.

Effects of Ca(2+)-channel drugs on K(+)-induced respiration in skeletal muscles.

When skeletal muscles are exposed to elevations in extracellular K+, they experience a significant and long-lasting increase in O2 uptake. The basis for this response is unknown but may be related to an influx in extracellular Ca2+ ions during sarcolemmal depolarization. The purpose of this study was to determine if altering Ca2+ entry, either by removal of Ca2+ from the bathing fluid or by exposing muscles to selective Ca(2+)-channel agonists or antagonists, would affect K(+)-induced respiration.

Colonic surgery in gynecologic oncology. Risk factor analysis.

Colonic surgery is a critical part of gynecologic oncology care. A 12-year review of colonic surgery on a gynecologic oncology service was performed evaluating risk factors and their impact on postoperative morbidity. There were 124 procedures performed on 92 patients; 9 patients had no prior surgery, chemotherapy or radiation.

Femoral lengthening with the Barnes device.

Twenty femoral lengthenings were performed with a staged lengthening technique with the Barnes device. After the plate is attached to the femur, the femur is lengthened 2 cm initially and at two or more subsequent stages. Average length gained was 5.

Prognostic significance of polymerase chain reaction detected human papillomavirus of tumors and lymph nodes in surgically treated stage IB cervical cancer.

This study describes the prognostic role of polymerase chain reaction detected human papillomavirus (HPV) in Stage IB cervical cancer patients treated with radical hysterectomy and pelvic and paraaortic node dissection. All tumors were confined to the cervix and all margins and nodes were disease free. Twenty-one patients were analyzed: 6 patients recurred within 20 months of initial therapy, while 15 had no evidence of disease with a minimum follow-up of 36 months.

Effect of acute changes in glomerular filtration rate on Na+/H+ exchange in rat renal cortex.

Studies were undertaken in Munich-Wistar rats to assess the influence of changes in filtered bicarbonate (FLHCO3), induced by changes in GFR, on Na+/H+ exchange activity in renal brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV). Whole-kidney and micropuncture measurements of GFR, FLHCO3, and whole-kidney and proximal tubule HCO3 reabsorption (APRHCO3) were coupled with BBMV measurements of H+ gradient-driven 22Na+ uptake in each animal studied. 22Na+ uptake was measured at three Na+ concentration gradients to allow calculation of Vmax and Km for Na+/H+ exchange.

The fidelity of Taq polymerase catalyzing PCR is improved by an N-terminal deletion.

KlenTaq DNA polymerase is an N-terminally truncated Thermus aquaticus (Taq) DNA polymerase I. As expressed from a gene construct in Escherichia coli, translation initiates at Met236, bypassing the 5'----3' exonuclease domain of the DNA polymerase-encoding gene. A sensitive forward mutation assay was used to measure the relative number of mutations introduced into the entire lacZ gene by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) under various conditions which allow the amplification of such a large DNA span.

Dexamethasone iontophoresis: effect on delayed muscle soreness and muscle function.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pain alleviating effect of dexamethasone iontophoresis on delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) produced via an eccentric exercise bout, and to determine the effect on muscle function. Baseline data were collected on 18 female subjects for maximum isometric knee extension contraction (MVC), knee extension peak torque (PT), knee extension work (W), and muscle soreness perception (SP). All values were subsequently reassessed 24 and 48 hours after a 10-min bout of bench stepping.

Correlates of Habituation of a Polysynaptic Reflex in Crayfish In Vivo and In Vitro.

Reflex leg levation habituates during repeated electrical stimulation of mechanosensory afferents in the dactyl of the fifth walking leg of the crayfish, Procambarus clarkii. This was investigated in decerebrate crayfish, and reproduced in an isolated thoracic ganglion preparation. In vivo, trains of stimuli delivered every 2.

Radiotherapy of malignant subdiaphragmatic implants in advanced ovarian carcinoma: a new technique.

We report the development of a new technique using remote afterloading intraoperative radiation therapy to deliver a tumoricidal dose to diaphragmatic tumor implants. A multi-positional lucite applicator was designed based on anatomic studies of the diaphragmatic surface to accommodate a high dose rate iridium source in a series of needles placed 1.5 cm apart.

Utility of late N-isopropyl-p-(iodine-123)-iodoamphetamine brain distribution in predicting outcome following cerebral infarction.

Background And Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine utility of late N-isopropyl-p-(iodine-123)-iodoamphetamine distribution in predicting neurological and language outcome.

Methods: We prospectively studied 29 patients with unilateral hemispheric ischemic cerebral infarction using the neuroimaging method of single-photon emission computed tomography and the above tracer. Four different imaging measures reflecting late tracer distribution or redistribution and three measures indicative of the patients' overall neurological or language outcome at 3 months were used in the data analysis.

Reverse hysterocolposigmoidectomy (RHCS) for resection of panpelvic tumors.

Lateral retroperitoneal approaches to abdominopelvic masses are commonly employed; the reverse hysterocolposigmoidectomy (RCHS) in addition utilizes transabdominal entry of the vaginal and rectovaginal spaces to provide medial access to the uterosacral and cardinal ligaments as well expose a tumor-free segment of the rectosigmoid for en bloc resection of panpelvic tumors. Thirty-one patients underwent reverse hysterocolpectomy for extensive, symptomatic pelvic malignancies. All patients had complete resection of pelvic tumor, and there were no perioperative deaths.

Manometric characterization of rectal dysfunction following radical hysterectomy.

Bladder dysfunction thought to be due to partial denervation has been described following radical hysterectomy. Some patients experience acute and chronic rectal dysfunction characterized by difficulty with defecation and loss of defecatory urge. To define this abnormality, anorectal pressure profiles were examined in 15 patients with Stage I carcinoma of the cervix before and after radical hysterectomy.

Radical hysterectomy morbidity in relation to age.

The complications of radical hysterectomy in patients 65 years and older were compared with those in women younger than 65. There was no statistical difference in complication rates between the two groups, although the older women had a significantly higher incidence of preoperative medical problems. No surgical deaths occurred in either group.

Identification of human papillomavirus type 16 in primary and recurrent cervical cancer following radiation therapy.

Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from 13 women with cervical carcinoma that recurred following radiation therapy were evaluated for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) by in situ hybridization using ribonucleic acid 35S-labeled probes for HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18. Ten of thirteen patients also had pretreatment biopsies from their primary tumors available for analysis. HPV 16 was detected in both primary and recurrent lesions in 4 women.

Evaluation of cerebral perfusion reserve using 5% CO2 and SPECT neuroperfusion imaging.

Anatomic features of carotid artery stenosis, as defined angiographically, do not necessarily correlate with the hemodynamic significance of the narrowing. The concept of regional cerebral vasodilatory (or perfusion) reserve has been advocated as a means of defining the hemodynamic compromise associated with carotid lesions. We evaluated the feasibility of using SPECT imaging with 5% CO2 using I-123 IMP (N-isopropyl iodoamphetamine) or Tc-99m HMPAO (hexamethylpropylene amineoxime) to measure cerebral perfusion reserve.