Gastropleural fistula in metastatic ovarian cancer.

Gastropleural fistula is a rare condition, most frequently reported as a result of trauma, peptic ulcer disease or malignancy. We report a case of gastropleural fistula in a patient with metastatic ovarian cancer who presented with hydropneumothorax and mediastinal shift. She was successfully managed with an open partial gastrectomy, repair of diaphragmatic defect, and thoracoscopic washout and decortication.

Prophylactic therapy with OKT3 does not affect donor specific reactivity of peripheral blood lymphocytes from heart transplant recipients.

To avoid the nephrotoxic effect of high-dose cyclosporin A (CsA) immediately posttransplant, heart transplant recipients received as prophylactic therapy intravenous OKT3 for seven days instead of intravenous CsA. Patients receiving OKT3 were compared with patients receiving CsA with respect to specific proliferation and cytotoxicity of their peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMNC) against donor antigens, at different times within three months post-transplant. No effect of the initial immunosuppressive therapy was observed on these parameters.

Factors affecting short- and long-term outcome of a short therapeutic trial with cisapride in dyspeptic patients.

In a Dutch general practice trial conducted in 599 patients with symptoms of dyspepsia, the response to 5 mg cisapride three times daily was rated excellent or good in 61% of patients at week 2. On increasing the dose to 10 mg three times daily in 132 patients with poor to moderate response, the result at the end of treatment was rated as good or excellent in 45% of these patients, and the mean symptom score further decreased significantly (p < 0.05).

Traumatic bilateral renal artery thrombosis diagnosed by computed tomography with successful revascularization: case report.

Traumatic bilateral renal artery thrombosis is a rare injury. We found 15 cases previously reported. An additional case report of a 54-year-old man is presented with a review of the literature.

Monitoring of cardiac graft recipients: comparison of in vivo activated, committed T lymphocytes in peripheral blood and in the graft.

The proliferative and cytotoxic capacity of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and the cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes propagated from endomyocardial biopsies (EMB) towards donor cells was used to identify in vivo activated, committed T cells. A series of 39 PBL samples and 38 EMB simultaneously taken from 20 patients after heart transplantation was cultured in interleukin 2 (IL-2) conditioned medium. The cytotoxic capacity of these cultures against donor cells was tested in a 4-h chromium-51 release assay.

Vitrification of human islets of Langerhans.

Cryopreservation of human islets of Langerhans by vitrification was studied. Isolated islets were divided into four groups: (1) control islets which were cultured for 6 days, (2) islets which were vitrified after 2 days of culture, (3) control islets which were cultured for 10-13 days, and (4) islets which were vitrified after 6-9 days of culture. After warming, islets from groups 2 and 4 were cultured for 4 days.

Vitrification of mouse islets of Langerhans: comparison with a more conventional freezing method.

The possibility of cryopreservation of islets of Langerhans by vitrification using a mixture of cryoprotectants was investigated and the results were compared with a more conventional freezing method using Me2SO as cryoprotectant. Isolated mouse islets were divided into three groups: (1) control islets cultured for 6 days, (2) islets which were cryopreserved by vitrification after 2 days of culture, and (3) islets frozen in 1.5 M Me2SO after 2 days of culture.

Cryopreservation of mouse, monkey and human islets of Langerhans for transplantation purposes.

Transplantation of islets of Langerhans is a possible future therapy for insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. In contrast to total pancreas, isolated islets of Langerhans can be treated prior to transplantation to reduce their immunogenicity. Thus the success rate in allotransplantation of islets can be increased.