The transforming force of laughter, with the focus on the laughing meditation.

Laughter is a very special phenomenon. Unfortunately, its (psycho)therapeutic value is underestimated and its transforming force is not used to its full extent. Next to spontaneous laughter, there is also a laughing meditation, a structured exercise of 15 min with 3 stages: stretching, laughing (and/or crying), silence.

Repair of a subvalvular left ventricular aneurysm following mitral valve replacement.

Left ventricular aneurysms are a frequent complication of myocardial infarction. Some aneurysms occur secondary to trauma, previous operation, or infection. This report presents the case of a patient with a posterior submitral left ventricular aneurysm, which occurred following mitral valve replacement.

Vascular complications as a result of intra-aortic balloon pumping.

Intra-aortic balloon conterpulsation (IABP) was used to assist 109 patients with extensive myocardial infarcts, unstable angina, cardiogenic shock, and unstable cardiodynamic states after cardiopulmonary bypass over a six year period. Severe vascular occlusion occurred in three patients (3%) which required an above the knee amputation. Each patient had a long history of smoking.

On the diagnosis of minimal breast cancer in a screenee population.

As a result of screening of 8100 consecutive volunteers, 67 breast cancers have been detected. Fourteen percent of these cancers were found in women aged 35-44 years. Eighty percent of the cancers found in this age group were minimal breast cancer.

Breast cancer screening. Preliminary report of 207 biopsies performed in 4, 128 volunteer screenees.

Thirty-six carcinomas of the breast were pathologically verified in the first 207 biopsies performed to date on women attending the Breast Cancer Detection Center at The University of Cincinnati. Fifty-three percent of these have been minimal breast cancer, 14 being totally in situ. This is compared with a similar number of breast biopsies performed prior to the opening of the Breast Cancer Project.