Constrictive pericarditis due to ingestion of a toothpick.

A case of a 53-year-old man with constrictive pericarditis due to the ingestion of a toothpick is presented. Computed tomography was unable to show the toothpick, and the diagnosis was made during the operation. Ingested toothpicks have often been reported as a cause of gastrointestinal injuries but in this rare case a toothpick actually migrated into the pericardium.

Is adjuvant treatment with vinblastine effective in reducing the occurrence of distant metastasis in limited squamous cell lung cancer? A randomized study.

In order to study the usefulness of treatment with vinblastine (VLB) in the prevention of cancer metastasis in squamous cell lung cancer, 50 patients with locoregional disease were randomized to receive either locoregional RT alone (group A) or a weekly intravenous bolus injection of VLB (6 mg/m2) concurrently with and after locoregional radiotherapy (RT) (55 Gy in 6 weeks) until the appearance of metastases (group B). Neither the incidence of death with metastases, metastasis-free survival (MFS) nor overall survival (S) were significantly affected by treatment with the drug. However, due to the limited number of patients in each group, the power of the statistical test was such to allow only the detection of differences in MFS and S to or more than 80 per cent at the P = 0.

Mitral valve replacement in a patient with mitral valve prolapse complicated by severe ventricular arrhythmias.

A 52 years old woman with mitral valve prolapse and a history of 3 cardiac syncopes occurring during antiarrhythmic therapy underwent mitral valve replacement. Antiarrhythmic drugs had to be continued postoperatively but no major ventricular arrhythmias occurred after surgery.

Indomethacin and platelet aggregation in chronic glomerulonephritis: existence of non-responders.

Indomethacin given to adults with glomerulonephritis usually reduces their urinary excretion of protein and fibrinogen/fibrin-related (F.R.) antigen.