Accumulation of urinary cancer-related glycoprotein, EDCl, in psoriasis.

EDCl is a novel glycoprotein, mol wt 27,000, isolated in 1976 from leukemic urine. It inhibits the serine proteases trypsin and chymotrypsin and is antigenically related to interalpha trypsin inhibitor (IATI), mol wt 170,000, a normal plasma antiprotease. Since psoriasis is a non neoplastic hyperproliferative state, we have now measured EDCl by a specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) in plasma and urine of 24 untreated psoriatic patients.

Use of antithymocyte globulin (dose by rosette protocol) in pediatric renal allograft recipients.

Total rosette-forming cells (TRFCs) and percentage of rosette-forming cell (RFC) levels were measured in patients undergoing dialysis and in recipients following renal transplantation. The percentage of RFCs of the dialysis patients was not different from the percentage of RFCs of normal subjects, whereas the TRFCs were significantly lower in the dialysis patients. After transplantation, the percentage of RFCs and TRFCs was significantly lower in recipients treated with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) than in those of the control group; however, there was no difference in allograft survival between the ATG-treated and control recipients when using ATG in the dose by rosette protocol.

Somatomedin and growth hormone studies in pediatric renal allograft recipients who receive daily prednisone.

Plasma somatomedin (SM) activity and growth hormone (GH) concentration were measured in ten growth-retarded, well-nourished pediatric renal allograft recipients who received daily prednisone therapy. The SM activity ranged from 0.21 to 1.

Focal glomerulosclerosis and renal transplantation.

Eighteen patients with corticosteroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome developed end-stage renal disease and received one or more renal allografts. The lesion of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and/or of focal glomerular obsolescence was demonstrable in the native kidneys of each patient. Following transplantation, nephrosis developed in three recipients.

Renal retransplantation in children.

Evaluation of 75 cadaver donor retransplants revealed that the primary factor influencing allograft survival is patient responsiveness as reflected by sensitization with preformed cytotoxic antibodies. Actuarial allograft survival rates for nonpresensitized (less than 5%) and moderately presensitized (5 to 50%) recipients were significantly (P less than 0.01) better than those of highly presensitized (greater than 50%) recipients.

Poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis: fact and controversy.

Poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis is prototypic of the immunologic glomerulonephritides. It most commonly follows streptococcal infection of the pharynx or skin. The diagnosis is usually not difficult when a nephritic clinical presentation (with such manifestations as hematuria, edema, and hypertension) is associated with serologic evidence of recent streptococcal infection and a depressed serum complement concentration.

Lung elasticity in regional and diffuse pulmonary fibrosis.

Static deflation air and saline pressure-volume (PV) curves were performed on five normal excised baboon lungs, four with radiation-induced upper lobe fibrosis, and two with diffuse bleomycin-induced fibrosis. Curves were compared visually and using half-inflation pressures (h). When plotted as percent of observed vital capacity vs.

Long-term cadaver allograft survival in the recipient with a positive B lymphocyte crossmatch.

Over a 2 1/2-year period, prospective standard, T, and B lymphocyte crossmatches were performed in 45 cadaver renal transplants using the microlymphocytotoxicity technique. Twenty-three of the 45 recipients had a positive B lymphocyte crossmatch. Cumulative graft survival rates did not differ between recipients with a positive and negative B lymphocyte crossmatch.

Antibodies to donor B lymphocytes and autoantibodies in renal transplantation.

A positive CDC B-lymphocyte XM is not deleterious to long-term graft outcome. A positive unfractionated CDC XM is not a contraindication to transplantation if the positive crossmatch is due entirely to anti-B-lymphocyte antibody. B-lymphocyte autoantibodies are common in hemodialysis patients, but may account for only a minority of positive B-lymphocyte XMs.

A beneficial effect of the in situ kidney on in vitro marrow erythropoiesis in chronic renal failure.

The effect of the in situ kidney on transfusion requirements and in vitro erythropoiesis was investigated in 20 patients with end stage renal disease undergoing hemodialysis. 6 of the 12 patients with in situ kidneys did not require transfusion, whereas the other 6 had an average monthly transfusion requirement of 277 ml of sedimented RBCs. All 8 anephric patients required transfusions with an average requirement of 352 ml of sedimented RBCs per month.

Pretransplant T cell levels and renal allograft survival.

Total rosette forming cell (TRFC) levels were measured in 50 paediatric patients awaiting cadaveric renal transplantation. Preliminary data show a statistically significant difference in allograft survival in patients with low TRFC levels pretransplant as compared with patients with medium or high TRFC levels. Pretransplant TRFC levels may be predictive of a non-responder status and portend a favourable renal allograft outcome.

Long term followup of cataracts in children after renal transplantation.

In reviewing the course of 218 renal transplantation recipients 55% have developed PSC of which eleven patients have had surgery on one or both eyes; The operations in general have been uncomplicated, and the visual results have been excellent with the exception of one case that had a detached retina. The cataracts were probably induced by heavy corticosteroid therapy as the larger the dosage and the younger the recipient, the more prone were they to the development of lens changes. Phacoemulsification was preferred in this series as the more expeditious technique, leading to a clearer anterior chamber with less chance of developing a secondary cataract.