Maternal support during the first year of infancy.

Background: Mental health problems among children and adolescents are becoming more visible and some research indicates that they are increasing. Several studies suggest that social support counteracts the increasing risk of ill-health in families with children. However, there is a lack of studies which focus on the support that expectant mothers and parents might need.

The social consequences of insulin-treated diabetes mellitus in patients 20-50 years of age. An epidemiological case-control study.

In order to investigate the social consequences of diabetes we sent a questionnaire to all diabetic patients aged 20-50 years and 1.125 matched non-diabetic controls living in the county of Västerbotten in Northern Sweden. The response rate was 87% and 72%, respectively.

Prospective evaluation of human chorionic gonadotropin in the treatment of cryptorchidism.

Of 158 boys consecutively referred for undescended testis, 77 were found to have true cryptorchidism. Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) was given to 60 boys (63 undescended testes) in a dose of 5,000 U (patient age 4-6 years) or 10,000 U (7-9 years). The parents of seven others preferred direct referral for orchiopexy.

Sources of improvement in between laboratory variation in estrogen and progestin receptor measurement using tissue samples during the Australian Quality Assurance Programme.

Tissue and cytosol samples were compared as quality control material for assessment of between and within laboratory error in measurement of estrogen and progestin receptors (ER and PR) in a series of four trials for a total of 17 participating laboratories during the Australasian Quality Assurance Programme. For tissue samples, a substantial reduction in between laboratory CVs for both ER and PR from about 90 to 50% was achieved during the programme. In contrast, for cytosol samples a substantially lower between laboratory CV of about 30% was obtained.

Identification of the major sources of error in estrogen receptor measurements for individual laboratories using both tissue and cytosol samples.

The major sources of error between laboratories performing estrogen receptor measurements in tissue samples were identified for 17 participating laboratories in a trial conducted by the Australasian Quality Assurance programme. Both tissue and cytosol samples were provided, and the In-House assays were compared with the ER-EIA kit (Abbott Laboratories, U.S.

Factors affecting the outcome of orchiopexy for undescended testis.

Orchiopexy was performed on 135 testes in 121 patients aged up to 15 (median 6) years who had no previous inguinal surgery or hormonal treatment. Hypoplasia at the time of orchiopexy (34/135) was significantly less common when the testis was in or peripheral to the superficial inguinal ring than when it was intracanalicular. The position did not influence the outcome of surgery or the risk of postoperative hypoplasia (9 cases).

Apical migration of oral epithelium in experimental dehiscence wounds.

The purpose of the present investigation was to determine if the placement of free mucosal grafts would delay the apical migration of oral epithelium into surgically created dehiscence wounds. Dehiscence wounds, measuring 8 x 6 mm, were surgically created on the mandibular canines of 5 beagle dogs. The exposed root surface was then curetted and horizontal grooves were made, one at a point just below the gingival sulcus and the other at the apical border of the dehiscence.

Estrogen and progesterone receptor assays in human breast cancer: sources of variation between laboratories.

The importance of cytosol preparation as a source of inter-laboratory variation in estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptor measurements was evaluated together with protein measurements and receptor assays for five laboratories in Sydney, Australia, using pooled, fragmented human breast cancer samples. Protein measurement was only a minor source of variation between the laboratories with a CV of 13%. For ER measurements, sources of variation due to either assay or cytosol preparation methods contributed 40 and 39% CV each.

Infantile autism in children of immigrant parents. A population-based study from Göteborg, Sweden.

A population-based study of infantile autism from western Sweden has been completed. Urban children with autism more often than age-matched children in the general population had immigrant parents from 'exotic' countries. No such trend was seen in rural children with infantile autism.

Effects of molybdate on classification of estrogen and progesterone receptor status in human breast cancer.

Incorporation of disodium molybdate in the homogenization buffer for breast cancer specimens was shown to inhibit a time and temperature dependent loss of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptor binding capacity in the cytosols. Since positive receptor values are correlated with response to endocrine therapy, the effect of molybdate incorporation on ER/PR classification was further investigated in two separate series of specimens. In one series of 75 consecutive specimens, ER and PR were analyzed before incorporation of molybdate in the assays, and the results compared with the next 75 consecutive specimens after incorporation of molybdate.

Cholescintiscan or infusion cholecystography in acute cholecystitis. A prospective study.

Two methods of diagnosing acute cholecystitis--cholescintigraphy and infusion cholecystography--were compared in a prospective study of 105 patients. Sensitivity and specificity were very high (96-99% and 91%, respectively), without difference between the two methods. Infusion cholecystography gave transient rise in liver enzyme levels in more than half of the patients.

Quantitative morphological studies of aging changes in the kidney of the Lewis rat.

Spontaneous aging changes in the kidneys of the rat have been previously described. In the Lewis strain, we performed semiquantitative studies of kidney histology and quantitative studies of glomerular basement membrane thickness and mesangial area in animals aged 6-30 months. There is a progressive increase in glomerular basement membrane thickness and mesangial area throughout the life of the rat.

Peritoneovenous shunting for intractable ascites.

For 5 years (1976-1981) peritoneovenous shunting has been used in 32 patients with intractable ascites--that is, in patients in whom medical therapy has failed. All operations but one were performed using local anesthesia. The LeVeen shunt was used in 29 patients and the Denver shunt in three patients.

Treatment of hypersplenism An experimental study in the rat.

Methylcellulose injected intraperitoneally into rats proved to give a splenomegaly combined with anemia and thrombocytopenia. The white blood cell count did not change during the treatment. The splenic parenchyma of the hypersplenic rats was then reduced by resection or splenic artery ligation to a different extent.

Emergency and long-term transesophageal sclerotherapy of bleeding esophageal varices. A prospective study of 50 consecutive cases.

Fifty consecutive unselected patients with endoscopically proven bleeding esophageal varices were on 76 occasions during 3 years treated with transesophageal sclerotherapy. One-week hemostasis was obtained in 89%, with a hospital mortality of 14%. Three major complications (1.

Estradiol receptors in subpopulations of breast cancer cells isolated from human primary tumors.

Cancer cells isolated from biopsy specimens from seven women with primary breast cancer were analyzed for estradiol receptors. The cells were separated into subpopulations using the techniques of velocity centrifugation, buoyant density centrifugation, and density gradient electrophoresis. It was found that only large breast cancer cells (with diameters between 10.

Limited sequence homology between porcine and rat relaxins: implications for physiological studies.

We have isolated rat relaxin as a single chromatographic component and determined its complete amino acid sequence. Comparison with porcine relaxin reveals a clear sequence homology but the extent of this is much more limited than expected, with only 21 of 53 residues (39.6%) in corresponding positions being identical.

Gastrointestinal bleeding caused by haemosuccus pancreaticus. A presentation of two cases.

Two cases of gastro-intestinal bleeding due to haemosuccus pancreaticus (hemorrhage through the pancreatic duct) are presented. Both patients had hematemesis and melena in combination with epigastric pain and hyperamylasemia. Angiography revealed aneurysms of the splenic artery as the probable source of bleeding.

Acute treatment of bleeding oesophageal varices. A retrospective study of 88 patients.

The records of 88 patients bleeding 140 times from oesophageal varices were retrospectively evaluated. The treatment consisted mainly of intravenous vasopressin and balloon tamponade. Percutaneous transhepatic and transoesophageal sclerotherapy were used as additional treatments.

Embolization of the spleen for treatment of splenomegaly and hypersplenism in patients with portal hypertension.

Splenectomy in cases of hypersplenism involves significant risk of serious complications, including infection, hemorrhage, portal systemic thrombosis, and necrosis of the stomach or small bowel. Alternative procedures such as transcatheter embolization have been associated with a high frequency of splenic or subphrenic abscess, preventing clinical use. We used partial splenic embolization under careful antibiotic protection to successfully treat thrombocytopenia in 18 patients, most of whom had hypersplenism and splenomegaly secondary to portal hypertension.