Scapular chondrosarcomas have high rates of local recurrence and metastasis.

This is the first report of a large series of patients with scapular chondrosarcomas. The grade distributions, locations of the tumors in the scapula, surgical techniques, status of margins, chondrosarcoma subtypes, Enneking stages, adjuvant therapies, local recurrence rates, metastasis rates, and survival prognoses of patients with scapular chondrosarcoma were evaluated. Forty-seven patients treated between 1921 and 1999 were analyzed retrospectively.

Longitudinal pulmonary status of cystic fibrosis children with meconium ileus.

Although meconium ileus (MI) is the earliest manifestation of cystic fibrosis (CF), and is associated with poorer growth, the longitudinal pulmonary progression of CF children with MI is not clear. To test the hypothesis that MI is associated with worse pulmonary outcomes, we prospectively compared from diagnosis to 12 years of age 32 CF children with MI to 50 CF children without MI who were diagnosed during early infancy through neonatal screening. Pulmonary outcome measures included respiratory symptoms, respiratory infections, pathogens, antibiotic usage, hospitalizations, quantitative chest radiology, spirometry, and lung volume determinations.

Cognitive function of children with cystic fibrosis: deleterious effect of early malnutrition.

Objective: Patients who have cystic fibrosis (CF) and experience delayed diagnosis by traditional methods have greater nutritional insult compared with peers diagnosed via neonatal screening. The objective of this study was to evaluate cognitive function in children with CF and the influence of both early diagnosis through neonatal screening and the potential effect of early malnutrition.

Methods: Cognitive assessment data were obtained for 89 CF patients (aged 7.

Adverse events after smallpox immunizations are associated with alterations in systemic cytokine levels.

The immunization of healthy adults with vaccinia virus (VV) induces a protective response against smallpox in most individuals but is also reactogenic in a significant number of vaccinees. The immunological mechanisms underlying the protective response or adverse events in humans are not well defined. Although cytokines contribute to antiviral immunity and, in some cases, cause systemic adverse effects, their role in the human response to VV is unknown.

Molecular basis of elastic fiber formation. Critical interactions and a tropoelastin-fibrillin-1 cross-link.

We have investigated the molecular basis of elastic fiber formation on fibrillin microfibrils. Binding assays revealed high affinity calcium-independent binding of two overlapping fibrillin-1 fragments (encoded by central exons 18-25 and 24-30) to tropoelastin, which, in microfibrils, map to an exposed "arms" feature adjacent to the beads. A further binding site within an adjacent fragment (encoded by exons 9-17) was within an eight-cysteine motif designated TB2 (encoded by exons 16 and 17).

Complications in long-term survivors of Ewing sarcoma.

Background: Multimodality treatment has dramatically improved the outcome of patients with Ewing sarcoma. However, there appears to be little information concerning treatment-related complications in patients who are long-term survivors.

Methods: Forty-one patients with Ewing sarcoma who were treated between 1960-1980 and who survived the disease by at least 20 years were included in the current study.

A comparison of psoas compartment block and spinal and general anesthesia for outpatient knee arthroscopy.

Unlabelled: The optimal anesthetic technique for outpatient knee arthroscopy remains controversial. In this study, we evaluated surgical operating conditions, patient satisfaction, recovery times, and postoperative analgesic requirements associated with psoas compartment block, general anesthetic, or spinal anesthetic techniques. Sixty patients were randomized to receive a propofol/nitrous oxide/fentanyl general anesthetic, spinal anesthesia with 6 mg of bupivacaine and 15 micro g of fentanyl, or psoas compartment block with 40 mL of 1.

Peroneal intraneural ganglia: the importance of the articular branch. Clinical series.

Object: The peroneal nerve is the most common site of intraneural ganglia. The neurological deficit associated with these cysts is often severe and the operation to eradicate them is difficult The aims of this multicenter study were to collate the authors' experience with a relatively rare lesion and to improve clinical outcomes by better understanding its controversial pathogenesis.

Methods: Part I of this paper offers a description of 24 patients with peroneal intraneural ganglia who were treated by surgeons aware of the importance of the peroneal nerve's articular branch.

Bronchopulmonary disease in children with cystic fibrosis after early or delayed diagnosis.

Although early diagnosis of cystic fibrosis (CF) can lead to nutritional benefits, there has been uncertainty about pulmonary outcomes. Using a randomized controlled trial with unique unblinding/surveillance, we evaluated patients with CF who received similar treatment after being assigned to an early diagnosis (screened) group or to a standard diagnosis (control) group. When the youngest patient was 7 years of age, we compared outcomes using pulmonary function data and quantitative chest radiology.

Longitudinal evaluation of bronchopulmonary disease in children with cystic fibrosis.

Children with cystic fibrosis (CF) develop bronchopulmonary disease at variable ages. Determining the epidemiology of chronic lung disease and quantifying its severity, however, have been difficult in infants and young children. As part of the Wisconsin CF Neonatal Screening Project, we were presented with an ideal opportunity to assess longitudinally the evolution of symptoms, signs, and quantitative measures of CF respiratory disease.

Death, taxes, public opinion, and the Midas touch of Mary Tyler Moore: accounting for promises by politicians to help avert and control diabetes.

Anthropologists have begun to publish ethnographic accounts of policy-making, but few have studied medical or health matters, despite broad acceptance in anthropology that "biopower" permeates contemporary societies. This article presents some findings from an ethnographic study of how diabetes gained recognition as a pressing public health problem in Canada. It underlines the importance of statistics for constituting power within and across nation states.

Respiratory syncytial virus nucleoprotein-specific cytotoxic T-cell epitopes in a South African population of diverse HLA types are conserved in circulating field strains.

This study identifies memory cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in healthy South African adults and demonstrates the conservation of those epitopes in circulating field strains of RSV in South Africa. Thirty-seven healthy adults from a population with diverse HLA backgrounds were screened by gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) enzyme-linked immunospot for memory CTL activity in response to overlapping peptides representing the complete nucleoprotein (N) of RSV. Responses of more than 40 spot-forming cells/million cells were detectable in 21 individuals.

Sweet blood and social suffering: rethinking cause-effect relationships in diabetes, distress, and duress.

I draw upon anthropological engagements with bioscience and embodiment in order to unpack current approaches to defining and preventing diabetes mellitus. The analysis stems from the conviction that carefully considering the symbolic frames through which we conceive of diseases, their origins, their distribution, and their consequences will assist us in planning and implementing interventions to improve population health. I argue that research and interventions focused on the sweetness of blood would benefit from rethinking intersections between diabetes, distress, and duress.

Identification of a novel human leucocyte antigen-A*01-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitope in the respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein.

Virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) play a major role in the clearance of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. To begin monitoring the immunological response to infection, especially in infants, it is important to identify human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-restricted CTL epitopes. Herein, we used a novel, comprehensive peptide panel containing all possible 8-, 9- and 10-mer peptides spanning the RSV fusion protein to screen for novel HLA-restricted T-cell epitopes.

Immunohistochemical detection and distribution of prion protein in a goat with natural scrapie.

Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections from a 3-year-old female Angora goat suffering from clinical scrapie were immunostained after hydrated autoclaving using a monoclonal antibody (mAb, F99/97.6.1; IgG1) specific for a conserved epitope on the prion protein.

The human homolog of yeast SEP1 is a novel candidate tumor suppressor gene in osteogenic sarcoma.

The hSEP1 gene is the human homolog of yeast SEP1. Yeast SEP1 is a multifunctional gene that regulates a variety of nuclear and cytoplasmic functions including homologous recombination, meiosis, telomere maintenance, RNA metabolism and microtubule assembly. The function of hSEP1 is not known.

Microfibril-associated glycoprotein-2 interacts with fibrillin-1 and fibrillin-2 suggesting a role for MAGP-2 in elastic fiber assembly.

Elastic fibers are composed of the protein elastin and a network of 10-12 nm microfibrils. The microfibrillar proteins include, among others, the fibrillins and microfibril-associated glycoproteins-1 and -2 (MAGP-1 and MAGP-2). Little is known about how microfibrillar proteins interact to support fiber assembly.

Respiratory infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in children with cystic fibrosis: early detection by serology and assessment of risk factors.

Context: Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are susceptible to lower respiratory tract infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and typically acquire this organism in early childhood. Once P aeruginosa infection is established, eradication may be impossible, and progressive lung disease often aggravates morbidity and mortality risks. The ability to diagnose CF by genetic testing at birth makes it possible to determine the temporal sequence of events that result in P aeruginosa-associated pulmonary infections.

Primary osteosarcoma in adults older than 40 years.

The aim of the current study was to determine the prognostic factors of primary osteosarcoma in adults. This is a review of 47 patients older than 40 years (27 men and 20 women) who were treated between 1977 and 1998 at the authors' institution. Tumors involved the lower limbs in 26 patients and the axial skeleton in 18 patients (38.

Fibrillin: from microfibril assembly to biomechanical function.

Fibrillins form the structural framework of a unique and essential class of extracellular microfibrils that endow dynamic connective tissues with long-range elasticity. Their biological importance is emphasized by the linkage of fibrillin mutations to Marfan syndrome and related connective tissue disorders, which are associated with severe cardiovascular, ocular and skeletal defects. These microfibrils have a complex ultrastructure and it has proved a major challenge both to define their structural organization and to relate it to their biological function.

Chemotherapy, irradiation, and surgery for function-preserving therapy of primary extremity soft tissue sarcomas: initial treatment with ifosfamide, mitomycin, doxorubicin, and cisplatin plus granulocyte macrophage-colony-stimulating factor.

Background: Most institutional teams utilize multimodality therapy in their efforts to cure patients with primary high-grade extremity soft tissue sarcomas, although the value of adjuvant systemic chemotherapy is still disputed by some oncologists. This single-institution Phase II study describes an effort to control metastasis by the use of two cycles of chemotherapy as the initial preoperative treatment.

Methods: Between March 1994 and October 1997, 20 women and 19 men with primary extremity or limb girdle high-grade soft tissue sarcomas were registered to a study of preoperative ifosfamide, mitomycin, doxorubicin, cisplatin (IMAP) plus granulocyte macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) followed by preoperative irradiation and subsequent limb-sparing surgery.

Rituximab in combination with CHOP or fludarabine in low-grade lymphoma.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is composed of a group of lymphoid malignancies that has been increasing in incidence at an annual rate of 4% to 7% over the last 20 years in both the United States and Europe. The reasons for this rise in incidence in NHL are not yet defined but most likely involve environmental exposures. Low-grade and follicular lymphomas account for approximately 40% of the incidences of NHL in the United States.