Cytogenetic results from the U.S. Collaborative Study on CVS.

Cytogenetic data are presented for 11,473 chorionic villus sampling (CVS) procedures from nine centres in the U.S. NICHD collaborative study.

Molecular diagnosis of genetic disease.

DNA-based testing is becoming possible for an increasing number of hereditary diseases as the responsible genes are mapped to individual chromosomes and then isolated and characterized. The strategy for each test depends on the heterogeneity of mutations commonly causing the disease, the distribution of the mutations in the population and the frequency of new mutations. In many cases, interpretation of the test result requires a comparison with relatives known to carry the abnormal gene.

Distance and risk measures for the analysis of spatial data: a study of childhood cancers.

Three statistical approaches, used to detect spatial clusters of disease associated with a point source exposure, are applied to childhood cancer data for the city of San Francisco (1973-88). The distributions of incident cases of leukemia (51 cases), brain cancer (35 cases), and lymphatic cancer (37 cases) among individuals less than 21 years of age are described using three measures of clustering: distance on a geopolitical map, distance on a density equalized transformed map, and relative risk. The point source of exposure investigated is a large microwave tower located southwest of the center of the city (Sutro Tower).

Congenital malformations and birthweight in areas with potential environmental contamination.

Public concern exists about the potential for reproductive damage that may result from exposures to environmental contaminants. Therefore, the authors sought to determine if there was an association between a child's congenital malformation or a child's lowered weight at birth and his or her mother's residence in a census tract where a site of environmental contamination had been documented. Exposure designations were derived from existing sources of information.

Intravitreal corticosteroids as an adjunct in the treatment of bacterial and fungal endophthalmitis. A review.

The use of intravitreal corticosteroids in the management of endophthalmitis remains controversial. Several clinical and experimental reports are reviewed that suggest that intravitreal corticosteroid therapy, when used in conjunction with antibiotics with and without vitrectomy, reduces the intraocular inflammatory process and secondary complications associated with microbial endophthalmitis.

Influenza A virus transfectants with chimeric hemagglutinins containing epitopes from different subtypes.

Influenza virus transfectants with chimeric hemagglutinins were constructed by using a ribonucleoprotein transfection method. Transfectants W(H1)-H2 and W(H1)-H3 contained A/WSN/33(H1N1) (WSN) hemagglutinins in which the six-amino-acid loop (contained in antigenic site B) was replaced by the corresponding structures of influenza viruses A/Japan/57(H2N2) and A/Hong Kong/8/68(H3N2) (HK), respectively. Serological analysis indicated that the W(H1)-H3 transfectant virus reacted with antibodies against both the WSN and HK viruses in hemagglutination inhibition and plaque neutralization assays.

Injectable microstimulator for functional electrical stimulation.

A family of digitally controlled devices is constructed for functional electrical stimulation in which each module is an hermetically sealed glass capsule that is small enough to be injected through the lumen of a hypodermic needle. The overall design and component characteristics of microstimulators that receive power and command signals by inductive coupling from a single, externally worn coil are described. Each device stores power between stimulus pulses by charging an electrolytic capacitor formed by its two electrodes, made of sintered, anodised tantalum and electrochemically activated iridium, respectively.

Confirmation of CVS mosaicism in term placentae and high frequency of intrauterine growth retardation association with confined placental mosaicism.

About 2 per cent of specimens from chorionic villus sampling (CVS) analysed either on direct preparation of cytotrophoblast cells or after culture of mesenchymal stroma reveal confined placental mosaicism (CPM), most commonly involving chromosomal trisomy. A significantly higher rate of prenatal loss (22 per cent) as well as the presence of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) has been reported among pregnancies with CPM. To evaluate more precisely the effect of these aneuploid cell lines confined to the placenta on intrauterine fetal growth and fetal survival, we have studied 34 term placentae from pregnancies with CPM diagnosed on CVS and confirmed identical mosaicism in 17 of these placentae.

Recognition of cholinergic agonists by the muscarinic receptor. 2. Pilocarpine.

The conformational potential energy surface of the muscarinic agonist pilocarpine is studied by molecular mechanics (MMP2) and by semiempirical (AM1) and ab initio self-consistent-field (SCF) calculations. Six minima were located, two of which correspond to the known X-ray structures of pilocarpine. Possible active conformations of pilocarpine are inferred from the potential energy surfaces used in conjunction with the proposed active conformation of muscarine previously obtained from a theoretical model.

Human preimplantation embryo cryopreservation: selected aspects.

This report describes the results of cryopreserving human preimplantation zygotes and cleaved embryos (2-4 cells) in our in-vitro fertilization programme. Cryopreserved zygotes and cleaved embryos resulted in similar post-thaw survival rates (74.8 versus 70.

Ocular toxicity of experimental intravitreal itraconazole.

We investigated itraconazole, a new triazole antifungal agent that poorly penetrates ocular tissues after oral administration. We injected itraconazole in doses from 10 to 100 micrograms dissolved in 100% dimethyl sulfoxide into the eyes of New Zealand rabbits. Ocular toxicity studies performed five weeks after administration showed no substantial retinal or histopathologic changes in eyes injected with either 100% dimethyl sulfoxide or 10 micrograms of itraconazole.

Inhibition of multicycle influenza virus replication by hybrid antibody-directed cytotoxic T lymphocyte lysis.

Bifunctional antibodies with specificity for the TCR/CD3 complex as well as to a target cell-surface Ag can redirect CTL to lyse the target cell. We have produced a hybrid hybridoma, HHA6, which secretes bifunctional antibodies capable of redirecting CTL to lyse influenza virus-infected target cells. When added along with CTL to virus-infected cells, these antibodies very efficiently inhibit multicycle virus replication.

Small increases in circulating luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations shortly before human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) are associated with reduced in vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancy rate.

The effects of slight elevations in serum LH just before hCG administration on IVF cycle outcome were studied in 219 women undergoing retrieval. One hundred seven patients were stimulated using human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG), and 112 received clomiphene citrate and hMG. Serum LH, estradiol (E2), and progesterone concentrations were measured before and during controlled ovarian stimulation.

Transvaginal chorionic villus sampling.

Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) with either transcervical catheters or transabdominal needles is a widely-accepted method for prenatal diagnosis. However, there exists a small subset of patients in whom sampling is difficult or impossible with either route because of individual anatomic variations. A new method of chorionic villus biopsy has been developed to circumvent these problems, utilizing transvaginal chorionic needle aspiration guided by an intravaginal ultrasound probe.

Multicentric angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia with peripheral neuropathy, pseudotumor cerebri, IgA dysproteinemia, and thrombocytosis in women. A distinct syndrome.

Four women with multicentric angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia had a distinct clinical syndrome characterized by peripheral neuropathy, pseudotumor cerebri, IgA dysproteinemia, and thrombocytosis. The nodes displayed typical morphologic changes of the plasma cell variant of multicentric angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia. The pathologic changes are morphologically distinct from angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy with dysproteinemia although clinical similarities do exist.

Detection of excess disease near an exposure point: a case study.

Many studies have evaluated the likelihood of adverse health effects associated with environmental contamination from point source exposures. Two statistical measures used in these studies are the ratio, R, of the observed to the expected number of cases occurring in the area containing the point and the average distance, D, between the cases and the point. This paper estimates the probability of detecting an association between disease and exposure when one actually exists (power) for R and D for several specific and plausible statistical models.

Sudden infant death syndrome among Asians in California.

We analyzed California linked birth and infant death records for 1978 to 1985 to determine the ethnic-specific incidence of sudden infant death syndrome in five Asian-American subgroups, and to assess the association of sudden infant death syndrome with cultural assimilation. The overall incidence of sudden infant death syndrome for these groups was 1.1/1000 live births (194 cases).