Post mortem blood bromazolam concentrations and co-findings in 96 coronial cases within England and Wales.

Bromazolam is a newly emerging benzodiazepine drug which is not licensed for medicinal use. It may be sourced as a New Psychoactive Substance (NPS) for its desired effects or be consumed unknowingly via counterfeit Xanax® or Valium® preparations. As part of our Coronial workload, we observed an increase in the detection of bromazolam from September 2021 to November 2022.

In vitro metabolism of the new antifungal dapaconazole using liver microsomes.

Dapaconazole is a new antifungal imidazole that has been shown a high efficacy against several pathogenic fungi. This study aimed to investigate the interspecies variation in the in vitro metabolic profiles and in vivo hepatic clearance (CL) prediction of dapaconazole using liver microsomes from male Sprague Dawley rat, male Beagle dog and mixed gender human using a liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method. In addition, the produced metabolites were identified by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS).

Analysis of illicit drugs in purchased and seized electronic cigarette liquids from the United Kingdom 2014-2021.

Increasing popularity and known shortfalls in the regulation of electronic cigarettes (ECs) emphasises the urgent need for closer content monitoring and for comprehensible information on their possible health effects. This study investigated components of EC liquids in samples submitted from 2014 to 2021 and discussed the trends driven by legislation changes. Samples originating from prisoners, teenagers and 'test purchases' of commercially available ECs were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Does the new low-frequency ultrasonic debridement technology pose an infection control risk for clinicians, patients, and the clinic environment?

Background: Low-frequency ultrasonic debridement (LFUD) is a technology that uses sound waves conducted through saline mist to debride wound tissue. Whilst this technology purportedly reduces wound-healing times, the airborne mist generated is potentially problematic. Theoretically, the saline mist could carry an increased number of microbes into the surrounding environment, posing an infection control risk to the patient, clinician, and clinical environment.

Wide versus narrow excision margins for high-risk, primary cutaneous melanomas: long-term follow-up of survival in a randomised trial.

Background: The necessary margin of excision for cutaneous melanomas greater than 2 mm in thickness is controversial. At a median follow-up of 5 years, findings from our previously published randomised trial of narrow (1 cm) versus wide (3 cm) excision margins in patients with thick cutaneous melanomas showed that narrow margins were associated with an increased frequency of locoregional relapse, but no significant difference in overall survival was apparent. We now report a long-term survival analysis of that trial.

Repeat transurethral resection for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a contemporary series.

Objectives: To evaluate the depth of transurethral resections of bladder tumour (TURBT), residual cancer rates and up-staging rates in a contemporary Australian series.

Materials And Methods: Specimen reports from a single, major reporting pathology centre, servicing a group of urological oncologists in Sydney were obtained for TURBTs performed between October 2008 and February 2013. We examined the depth of TURBT, rates of repeat-TURBT (re-TUR) and residual cancer rates at the 3-6 month check cystoscopy.

Pathological evaluation and quality of surgery in radical cystectomy in New South Wales, Australia.

Background: Australian bladder cancer patients especially women are thought to have worse outcomes when compared to the other international series. The objective of this study was to assess the pathological pattern of primary bladder cancer at the time of radical cystectomy as well as assessing the quality of resection in New South Wales.

Method: Pathology reports of radical cystectomy performed for primary bladder cancer were reviewed for a period of 10 years in a single major pathology centre servicing the state of New South Wales.

Antiproliferative Effect of Lapatinib in HER2-Positive and HER2-Negative/HER3-High Breast Cancer: Results of the Presurgical Randomized MAPLE Trial (CRUK E/06/039).

Purpose: Not all breast cancers respond to lapatinib. A change in Ki67 after short-term exposure may elucidate a biomarker profile for responsive versus nonresponsive tumors.

Experimental Design: Women with primary breast cancer were randomized (3:1) to 10 to 14 days of preoperative lapatinib or placebo in a multicenter phase II trial (ISRCTN68509377).

Extra-pleural pneumonectomy versus no extra-pleural pneumonectomy for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma: clinical outcomes of the Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery (MARS) randomised feasibility study.

Background: The effects of extra-pleural pneumonectomy (EPP) on survival and quality of life in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma have, to our knowledge, not been assessed in a randomised trial. We aimed to assess the clinical outcomes of patients who were randomly assigned to EPP or no EPP in the context of trimodal therapy in the Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery (MARS) feasibility study.

Methods: MARS was a multicentre randomised controlled trial in 12 UK hospitals.

Surgical management of recurrent ureteric endometriosis causing recurrent hypertension in a postmenopausal woman.

Endometriosis is a common condition that affects as many as 10% to 20% of women of reproductive age. Because of the subtle clinical signs and symptoms and limitations of imaging methods, the diagnosis is frequently delayed or missed, with serious consequences including hypertension, hydronephrosis, and loss of kidney function. We present an unusual case of recurrent ureteric endometriosis in a postmenopausal woman to highlight the challenges of screening for and management of endometriosis.

A randomised comparative trial of infusional ECisF versus conventional FEC as adjuvant chemotherapy in early breast cancer: the TRAFIC trial.

Background: The epirubicin with cisplatin and infusional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) (ECisF) regimen was found to be highly active in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer and as neoadjuvant therapy. The UK TRAFIC (trial of adjuvant 5-FU infusional chemotherapy) trial (CRUK/95/007) compared this schedule with 5-FU, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (FEC60) as adjuvant therapy in patients with early breast cancer.

Methods: In this multicentre, open-label, phase III randomised controlled trial, 349 women were randomly assigned to receive i.

The Mesothelioma and Radical surgery randomized controlled trial: the Mars feasibility study.

Hypothesis: The effectiveness of extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) to extend quality-adjusted survival in malignant pleural mesothelioma within multimodality treatment should be proven in a randomized controlled trial if this radical surgery is to be regarded as the standard of care. The question was whether randomization to surgery versus no surgery would be possible.

Methods: The Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery trial was planned to randomize 50 patients to test feasibility.

Neoadjuvant vinorelbine/epirubicin (VE) versus standard adriamycin/cyclophosphamide (AC) in operable breast cancer: analysis of response and tolerability in a randomised phase III trial (TOPIC 2).

Background: Vinorelbine is active and well tolerated against advanced breast cancer but there are no published efficacy studies in early breast cancer. We have therefore carried out a randomised phase III neoadjuvant trial in operable breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients with > or =3 cm operable breast carcinoma were randomised to receive either vinorelbine 25 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8 and epirubicin 60 mg/m(2) on day 1, 3 weekly for six cycles (VE) or doxorubicin 60 mg/m(2) and cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m(2) i.

A novel continuous infusional 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy regimen compared with conventional chemotherapy in the neo-adjuvant treatment of early breast cancer: 5 year results of the TOPIC trial.

Background: To compare the efficacy of continuous infusional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy against conventional bolus chemotherapy in the preoperative treatment of patients with large operable early breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Four hundred and twenty-six women with histologically proven 3 cm invasive early breast cancer were randomised to receive pre-operative infusional 5-FU 200 mg/m(2) by daily 24 h continuous infusion via a Hickman line for 18 weeks with epirubicin 60 mg/m(2) intravenous (i.v.

A quality-of-life study in high-risk (thickness > = or 2 mm) cutaneous melanoma patients in a randomized trial of 1-cm versus 3-cm surgical excision margins.

A quality-of-life study was carried out to test the hypothesis that melanoma patients treated with a 3-cm margin of excision suffer greater impairment of their quality of life than those treated with a 1-cm margin. The secondary aim was to determine the predictors of a poor patient perception of their excision scar. A postal questionnaire study was carried out using Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD), Psychosocial Adjustment of Illness Scale-Self-Report (PAIS-SR), Medical Outcomes Survey-Short Form 36 (MOS-SF36), and the Cassileth Scar questionnaires.

Harmonization of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis protocols for epidemiological typing of strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: a single approach developed by consensus in 10 European laboratories and its application for tracing the spread of related strains.

Pulsed-fieldgel electrophoresis (PFGE) is the most common genotypic method used in reference and clinical laboratories for typing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Many different protocols have been developed in laboratories that have extensive experience with the technique and have established national databases. However, the comparabilities of the different European PFGE protocols for MRSA and of the various national MRSA clones themselves had not been addressed until now.

Parity violation in proton-proton scattering at 221 MeV.

The parity-violating longitudinal analyzing power, A(z), has been measured in pvectorp elastic scattering at an incident proton energy of 221 MeV. The result obtained is A(z) = [0.84+/-0.