The volume of primary angioplasty procedures and survival after acute myocardial infarction. National Registry of Myocardial Infarction 2 Investigators.

Background: There is an inverse relation between mortality from cardiovascular causes and the number of elective cardiac procedures (coronary angioplasty, stenting, or coronary bypass surgery) performed by individual practitioners or hospitals. However, it is not known whether patients with acute myocardial infarction fare better at centers where more patients undergo primary angioplasty or thrombolytic therapy than at centers with lower volumes.

Methods: We analyzed data from the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction to determine the relation between the number of patients receiving reperfusion therapy (primary angioplasty or thrombolytic therapy) and subsequent in-hospital mortality.

Elective stenting of symptomatic middle cerebral artery stenosis.

Percutaneous balloon angioplasty has been found to be useful for the treatment of intracranial atherosclerotic arterial stenosis. Nonetheless, an ongoing risk of this procedure is arterial dissection, which increases the hazards of acute closure, stroke, and restenosis. Stenting of the intracranial vasculature recently has been shown to be feasible in a variety of circumstances.

HIV seroprevalence & awareness about AIDS among pregnant women in rural areas of Pune district, Maharashtra, India.

The present unlinked anonymous study was done among sexually active rural women to assess the extent of spread of HIV and its awareness. Peripheral blood samples were collected on filter paper strips from 1251 pregnant women residing in villages in three Primary Health Centres in Pune district of Maharashtra. Elutes were tested for HIV antibodies in two different ELISA systems.

Testicular biopsy in infertility.

Eighty-eight infertile couples attended the infertility clinic. Semen analysis was abnormal in 64 cases. The cases were divided into 3 groups according to sperm count:Group I (count zero), group II (count < 20 million/ml) and group III (20-50 million/ml).

Elective stenting of symptomatic basilar artery stenosis.

Background And Purpose: Percutaneous angioplasty of the intracranial arteries still carries the risk of dissection, with acute closure and embolization. Stenting has been shown to improve the safety and durability of angioplasty in every circulatory bed in which it has been applied. However, stenting of the intracranial arteries has been limited by the availability of stents that can be reliably deployed intracranially.

Potential role for luman, the cellular homologue of herpes simplex virus VP16 (alpha gene trans-inducing factor), in herpesvirus latency.

The cascade of herpes simplex virus (HSV) gene expression that results in viral replication begins with the activation of viral immediate-early (IE) genes by the virion-associated protein VP16. VP16 on its own is inefficient at associating with complexes formed on IE gene promoters and depends upon the cellular factor HCF for its activity. In this respect VP16 mimics the host basic leucine zipper (bZIP) protein Luman, which also requires HCF for activating transcription.

Effect of esophageal variceal sclerotherapy on hemorrhoids, anorectal varices and portal colopathy.

Background And Study Aims: Endoscopic sclerotherapy (EST) results in an increase in the prevalence of portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG). However, the effects of sclerotherapy on hemorrhoids, anorectal or colonic varices and portal hypertensive colopathy are not known. The aim of this study was to investigate these effects.

The interpretation of Mg(2+) binding isotherms for nucleic acids using Poisson-Boltzmann theory.

Magnesium ions play a crucial role in the structural integrity and biological activity of nucleic acids. Experimental thermodynamic descriptions of Mg(2+) interactions with nucleic acids in solution have generally relied on the analyses of binding polynomials to estimate the energetic contributions of diffuse and site-bound ions. However, since ion binding is dominated by long-range electrostatic forces, such models provide only a phenomenological description of the experimental Mg(2+) binding data and provide little insight into the actual mechanism of the binding equilibria.

What is primary lateral sclerosis?

Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) is a rare degenerative disorder of the upper motor neuron. Its nosological status and relationship to other motor neuron syndromes, especially amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is uncertain. Diagnostic criteria have been proposed.

Effect of a carbon dioxide laser on periodontally involved root surfaces.

Background: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of CO2 laser on the periodontally involved root surface, and to compare its efficacy with citric acid, EDTA and hydrogen peroxide in removal of root surface smear layer after root planing.

Methods: The study was conducted on 50 periodontally involved single rooted human teeth with poor prognosis. Immediately after extraction the teeth were scaled and root planed with Gracey curets; 50 specimens were obtained from the proximal side of each tooth which were assigned randomly to 1 of the 4 groups.

Evaluation of the one-minute ultra-rapid urease test for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori.

To determine the diagnostic accuracy of the one-minute ultra-rapid urease test for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection, two biopsies were taken from both the gastric corpus and antrum from 1000 patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. All the biopsies were subjected to the one-minute ultra-rapid urease test before imprint smears were prepared from them. Thereafter, the biopsies were fixed in 10% formalin and histological sections were examined for the presence of H pylori by a pathologist who was not aware of the clinical details or the results of the urease test.

Colonic tuberculosis: clinical features, endoscopic appearance and management.

Background: Although rare in the West, colonic tuberculosis is not an uncommon disease in developing countries. However, the clinical manifestations and radiological appearance of the disease are non-specific. In recent years, colonoscopy has been found to be very useful in diagnosing patients with colonic tuberculosis.

Diagnostic value of fine needle aspiration biopsy of palpable colonic masses.

Objective: To assess the role of fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in patients with palpable colonic masses.

Study Design: FNAB was performed on 32 patients with palpable colonic masses before subjecting them to colonoscopic examination. Smears prepared from the material obtained by aspiration biopsy were examined.

On the role of magnesium ions in RNA stability.

Divalent cations, like magnesium, are crucial for the structural integrity and biological activity of RNA. In this article, we present a picture of how magnesium stabilizes a particular folded form of RNA. The overall stabilization of RNA by Mg2+ is given by the free energy of transferring RNA from a reference univalent salt solution to a mixed salt solution.

Oesophageal subepithelial fibrosis: an extension of oral submucosal fibrosis.

Fifty-five patients with oral submucosal fibrosis and an equal number of patients with no evidence of the disease were studied. All patients underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and any abnormality was noted. Multiple oesophageal biopsies were obtained from the upper end of the oesophagus and from any endoscopically observed abnormality.

Quantitative sensory and autonomic testing in male diabetic patients with erectile dysfunction.

Objective: To correlate abnormalities of nerve fibres in the lower limbs with erectile dysfunction in male diabetic patients, using a range of quantitative sensory and autonomic function tests.

Patients And Methods: The study included 68 male diabetic patients with symptomatic erectile dysfunction and 11 matched diabetics without erectile dysfunction; none had clinical evidence of peripheral vascular disease or psychological disorder. Patients were evaluated with a symptom questionnaire based on the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument questionnaire and examined clinically.

Decreased sensitivity of the ultrarapid urease test for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori in patients with chronic renal failure.

Fifty patients with chronic renal failure and 50 asymptomatic healthy volunteers were studied to determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in the two groups and to compare the results of ultrarapid urease test (URUT) and gastric histology for detecting H. pylori infection. Four gastric antral biopsy specimens were taken.

Sensory and autonomic neuropathy in patients with idiopathic slow-transit constipation.

Background: Slow-transit constipation (STC) is a severe disorder of unknown aetiology, which may result from an autonomic or sensory neuropathy. This study aimed to investigate patients with STC for the presence of neural dysfunction, and relate the findings to other factors, including any familial associations.

Methods: Thirty-three patients with STC were studied using standard neurophysiological tests and a range of quantitative sensory and autonomic tests.

Preoperative sonographic diagnosis of acute appendicitis caused by Ascaris lumbricoides.

Acute appendicitis caused by Ascaris lumbricoides is an uncommon variant of a common disease. We describe a case in which sonography was used for preoperative diagnosis of ascaris appendicitis.

Helicobacter pylori-induced lymphonodular hyperplasia: a new cause of gastric outlet obstruction.

A 30-year-old female was seen with symptoms and radiological evidence of gastric outlet obstruction. Endoscopic examination revealed findings suggestive of gastric outlet obstruction with nodularity of the antral mucosa leading to deformity of the pylorus. Endoscopic biopsies from the nodular antral mucosa showed presence of Helicobacter pylori-induced lymphonodular hyperplasia without evidence of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma.

Bioreductive therapies: an overview of drugs and their mechanisms of action.

Purpose: Bioreductively activated drugs have been used as antimicrobials, chemotherapeutic agents, and radiation sensitizers. The present paper is an overview of their mechanism of action and application in the treatment of cancer.

Materials And Methods: Drugs such as nitroimidazoles, mitomycins, and benzotriazine di-N-oxides were a focus of this research.

AgNORs in benign, borderline and transitional cell neoplasms of the urinary bladder.

Argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) were studied in 106 tissue samples from the urinary bladder (6 normal transitional epithelium, 5 cystitis, 12 hyperplastic, 14 dysplastic lesions, 12 carcinoma in situ, 4 transitional cell carcinoma grade 0, 12 grade I, 15 grade II and 12 grade III) to evaluate their role in differentiating benign, borderline and malignant lesions. The NOR counts presented a rising scale from normal (2.21), inflammatory (3.

Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of colonic masses.

Between 1989 and 1996, fine-needle aspiration biopsy was performed in 22 patients with palpable colonic masses. In all of these patients colonoscopic examination was either not possible or could not be carried out successfully. The results of aspiration biopsy were confirmed by surgery and histopathological examination of the tissue.