Effect of a collector bag for measurement of postpartum blood loss after vaginal delivery: cluster randomised trial in 13 European countries.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the systematic use of a transparent plastic collector bag to measure postpartum blood loss after vaginal delivery in reducing the incidence of severe postpartum haemorrhage.

Design: Cluster randomised trial.

Setting: 13 European countries.

Dose-dependent pharmacokinetics of warfarin in healthy volunteers.

Purpose: To examine the pharmacokinetics of warfarin after administration of single oral doses (2, 5, and 10 mg) to healthy male volunteers.

Methods: A sensitive reverse-phase HPLC method was used to quantify warfarin plasma concentrations as low as 6 ng/ml. Blood samples were collected for up to 120 hours following administration of these doses.

Avidity of IgG antibodies to human herpesvirus-6 distinguishes primary from recurrent infection in organ transplant recipients and excludes cross-reactivity with other herpesviruses.

A newly developed IgG antibody avidity test for human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) was used in a study of primary and recurrent HHV-6 antibody responses in immunocompromised solid organ graft recipients. In a primary HHV-6 infection low avidity antibody was detected which matured to high avidity within 5 months whereas, in contrast, high avidity antibody was found in three recurrent infections thus showing the ability of the test to discriminate between primary and recurrent infection in immunosuppressed patients. Six HHV-6 seropositive transplant patients who experienced a subsequent primary human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection had high avidity concurrent HHV-6 antibody rises, thus excluding a cross-reaction from the low avidity antibodies generated in the primary CMV response and providing evidence of recurrent HHV-6 infection.

Kidney transplantation: analysis of 200 cases.

The first 200 renal allograft operations performed at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, have been analysed. At the time of writing the fractional graft survivals at one, two, and three years were 53%, 49%, and 39% respectively, and these showed no observable change through the seven years of the programme. On the other hand, the survival of patients undergoing renal transplantation steadily improved, the most recent survival rates at one, two, and three years being 83%, 78%, and 67%, whereas the overall rates were 74%, 66%, and 54% respectively.