Aortic valve replacement in the elderly.

With increasing longevity, increasing numbers of patients in their 8th decade present with symptomatic aortic valvular disease. We have examined the results of aortic valve replacement in 30 patients of 70 years or older who underwent isolated aortic valve replacement at Groote Schuur Hospital between January 1969 and January 1979. Follow-up ranged from 1 year to 10 years, with a mean of 2,5 years.

The nurse's role in developing voluntary consensus standards.

Involvement in evaluating and selecting products for patient care is an important function of the nurse. Invaluable aids in product evaluation are standards developed by the FDA or other standards-writing organizations, defining minimum levels of performance, labeling, and safety for specific devices. Compliance with a voluntary consensus standard, which has been approved by consensus of a committee of experts representing manufacturers and users, is recommended.

Aseptic barriers in surgery: their present status.

Aseptic barriers are employed in the form of surgical gowns, drapes, and wrappers for sterile goods. They possess many of the attributes of textiles, but must also protect sterile zones from microbial invasion. Surgeons rely on them to resist penetration by liquids and other bacterial vehicles.

Magnetooptical current transformer. 2: Components.

In this second part, the most important components of a magnetooptical current transformer are described and their suitability is discussed. Today He-Ne gas lasers and laser diodes seem to meet best the requirements of the light source. Single-mode optical fibers are capable of transmitting polarized light without depolarization.

Long-term survival after orthotopic and heterotopic cardiac transplantation.

Five long-term survivors of heart transplantation were reinvestigated. Two patients had undergone orthotopic heart transplantation over 11 and 9 years earlier and constitute two of the world's longest-surviving patients after this procedure. Three patients had undergone heterotopic heart transplantation (one left heart bypass alone and two biventricular bypass) four to six years earlier.

Artificial insemination with husband's semen: prognostic factors.

This retrospective review of 38 couples has considered 148 cycles of artificial insemination with husband's semen (AIH) and 178 cycles of natural insemination with husband's semen (NIH). The indication for AIH in every case was that postcoital testing had revealed less than 15 motile sperm/high-power field of endocervical mucus. Conception through AIH occurred in 12 cases; 1 couple conceived by NIH.

Endocrine studies in Blackfan-Diamond anemia: evidence for hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction under frequent transfusion therapy.

A 13 year old boy with Blackfan-Diamond anemia treated with frequent transfusions was investigated for endocrine abnormalities. Prepubertal plasms LH and FSH values, lack of sleep-related hormone rhythms of the gonadotropins, as well as prepubertal responses of LH and FSH to acute stimulation with LHRH strongly suggests that a hypothalamic-pituitary abnormality is the cause of the hypogonadotropic hypogonadism observed in this patient. As a result of impaired stimulation of the gonads plasm testosterone was prepubertal.

Ventricular tachycardia with torsade de pointes morphology induced by oral disopyramide.

The oral administration of disopyramide for the maintenance of sinus rhythm after cardioversion from atrial fibrillation resulted in prolongation of the Q-T interval and three episodes of ventricular tachycardia with the torsade de pointes morphology. This morphology is characteristic of the arrhythmias of quinidine 'syncope'. Its appearance with disopyramide is not unexpected in view of the quinidine-like effects of the latter and suggests that it should be prescribed with the same caution as quinidine.

Choosing surgical illumination.

(1) Lighting systems for the surgical task are combinations of ambient room lighting to complement the operating task light. The two must match to produce a good effect. (2) Only a few surgical task lights are available, and their characteristics and relative merits should be studied.

Diurnal variations of plasma luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and prolactin in boys and girls from birth to puberty.

Thirty-eight girls and 44 boys were evaluated for nocturnal variations in plasma LH, FSH, and PRL. The children were subdivided into 4 groups according to their stage of sexual maturation. Blood samples were collected at 1800, 2200, 0200, and 0800 h from an indwelling venous catheter.

The clinical assessment and management of patients with prosthetic cardiac valves: A review of current practice at the Cardiac Clinic, Groote Schuur Hospital.

This review deals with the clinical assessment and management of patients with prosthetic cardiac valves. The types of prosthesis available are considered, with special reference to those which have been used frequently at Groot Schuur Hospital. The common complications encountered are described, as well as the clinical features of normally and abnormally functioning prostheses.

Biochemical mechanisms in the Killmann experiment: critique of the deoxyuridine suppression test.

The degree of inhibition of [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA by exogenous deoxyuridine is assayed in a procedure known as the deoxyuridine suppression test. We report studies of the biochemical basis of this phenomenon in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocytes, which suggest that its mechanism has not been fully understood. Results show that inhibition by deoxyuridine is caused only in part by expansion of the intracellular pools of nonradioactive dTMP and dTTP, which dilutes the specific radioactivity of the [3H]dTMP and [3H]dTTP derived from [3H]thymidine.

[Postnatal development of the ovarian surface epithelium (author's transl)].

The peritoneal epithelium of the ovary on one to 49 day-old albino rats was investigated using light and electron microscopy and ultracytochemical methods. The aim of the present work was to clarify the role of the epithelium in the development of oocytes and follicles. At birth the epithelial covering of the ovary is stratified.