Interaction between patient and test administrator may influence the results of edrophonium provocative testing in patients with noncardiac chest pain.

Edrophonium is a widely used provocative agent in the evaluation of noncardiac chest pain, with reported positivity rates of 30-55%. The influence of a subjective response and psychological factors on test results have not been examined previously. A retrospective analysis was performed to compare positivity rates for three physicians in the same laboratory.

Deceptive liver histology delays diagnosis of cardiac ascites.

Cardiac ascites is a rare condition. Diagnosis is aided by liver histology, which characteristically shows diffuse hepatic congestion affecting the centrilobular region. In our case of refractory ascites due to constrictive pericarditis, diagnosis was delayed because centribular hepatic congestion was absent histologically.

[Possible relation between viruses and oromaxillofacial tumors. II. Research on the presence of the SV40 antigen and specific antibodies in patients with oromaxillofacial tumors].

SV40 antigen was detected on sections through malignant oromaxillofacial tumors in 47.8% of the cases, with a higher incidence among the epithelium originating tumors. Anti-SV40 CF antibodies were detected in 83.

[Possible relation between viruses and oromaxillofacial tumors. I. Demonstration of herpes antigens and anti-herpes antibodies].

Herpes virus type 1 and 2 antigens were detected in cells originating from malignant tumors with oromaxillofacial localization. A higher incidence of type 1 antigens was noted, as compared to the type 2. Investigated antigens were detected more frequently in the tumors of ectodermal origin.

Abnormal lower esophageal sphincter pressure responses in patients with orange juice-induced heartburn.

The mechanism of orange juice-induced heartburn is unclear. One previous uncontrolled study showed only a transient fall in lower esophageal sphincter pressure (LESP) after orange juice and suggested that orange juice-induced heartburn was caused by a direct effect on the esophageal mucosa. We studied the effect of orange juice on LESP by comparing symptomatic patients with asymptomatic controls.

Return of peristalsis in achalasia after pneumatic dilatation.

Distally progressive contraction waves were demonstrated in seven of 34 (20%) patients with achalasia, successfully treated with pneumatic dilatation. There was no correlation between the appearance of such waves and clinical status, the decrease in lower esophageal sphincter resting pressure, or in the radiographically measured diameter of their esophagus. Return of these waves cannot be adequately explained by the "common cavity phenomenon.

An aggressive approach to the medical management of peptic ulcer disease.

Studies indicate that endoscopy provides the best index for accurate diagnosis of peptic ulcer and for evaluating results of therapy. The use of cimetidine or frequent administration of a potent liquid antacid ensures initial healing of duodenal ulcers in 75% to 90% of patients. A similar, but not so clearly statistically significant, trend toward healing exists when cimetidine is used in gastric ulcers.

Cimetidine and placebo in the treatment of benign gastric ulcer: a multicenter double blind study.

A randomized, prospective, multicenter trial of the effects of cimetidine on benign gastric ulcer was conducted in 60 outpatients. Endoscopic assessment was used as the criterion for healing. Although none of the differences was statistically significant, mean healing rates were higher and mean decreases in ulcer size were greater with cimetidine than they were with placebo.

Effects of parenteral secretin--cholecystokinin and of duodenal acid perfusion on gastric secretion in duodenal ulcer patients.

The effect of parenteral secretin-cholecystokinin and duodenal acid perfusion on broth-stimulated gastric acid secretion was studied in 11 duodenal ulcer patients. Statistically significant inhibition occurred in both experimental conditions. The effect of secretin-cholecystokinin was more marked than the effect of duodenal acid perfusion.

Sodium dependency of L-alanine absorption in canine Thiry-Vella loops.

The effect of sodium on the absorption of L-alanine in vivo was tested by measuring the absorption of L-alanine from Thiry-Vella loops in dogs. Solutions containing L-alanine (10 or 50 mM) sodium at concentrations of 0, 74, or 145 m-equiv/1 and mannitol, as needed to maintain isotonicity were instilled into the loops for 10 minutes. Similar studies were done with L-alanine 50 mM and either 0 or 145 m-equiv/1 of sodium for five minutes.