Amaurosis fugax and retinal vasculitis associated with methamphetamine inhalation.

A 26-year-old male drug abuser developed amaurosis fugax followed by retinal vasculitis in the right eye after nasal inhalation of methamphetamine. He gradually recovered, but required prolonged systemic corticosteroid therapy. We believe that the amaurosis fugax was due to drug-induced vasospasm and that the retinal vasculitis was a drug-induced hypersensitivity vasculitis.

Prognostic histopathological factors in malignant melanoma.

An analysis of prognostic factors in 4000 patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma at the Sydney Melanoma Unit and the University of Alabama in Birmingham has demonstrated that the histological features of the primary melanoma become less predictive of survival the more advanced the disease becomes. Thus, whilst 4 features of primary lesions were independent predictors in localized disease (tumour thickness, ulceration, level of invasion and regression), only one of the stronger ones (ulceration) remained predictive in patients with regional lymph node metastases. Once distant spread was evident, there were no parameters of the primary lesion that predicted survival.

Histogenesis of malignant melanoma with an adjacent component of the superficial spreading type.

There has been a world-wide exponential increase in the incidence of thin malignant melanoma. At the Sydney Melanoma Unit, the proportion of patients diagnosed as having superficial spreading melanoma has more than doubled from 33% prior to 1960 to 78% during 1980-83. A study was made of the non-invasive component of malignant melanoma with an adjacent non-invasive component of the superficial spreading type in an attempt to elucidate the pathogenetic mechanisms involved in these changing trends.

The influence of surgical margins and prognostic factors predicting the risk of local recurrence in 3445 patients with primary cutaneous melanoma.

Risk factors associated with local recurrences were analyzed from a series of 3445 clinical Stage I melanoma patients. In single-factor analysis, tumor thickness, ulceration, and increasing age were highly significantly predictive of recurrence (p less than 0.00001).

Pseudotumoral mycobacterial infection in the head and neck: a clinical study.

The clinical aspects of mycobacterial infection of the head and neck are considered as presenting in patients at a cancer hospital over the last 15 years. Some difficulties in diagnosis with respect to the evolution of tuberculosis in this region are discussed. A total of 32 patients with evidence of infection were identified.

Raman amplification of recirculating pulses in a reentrant fiber loop.

We report the generation of a train of 130 optical pulses derived from a single input pulse recirculating in an active reentrant fiber loop. This was achieved in a 810-m-long single-mode fiber loop closed by a fiber directional coupler. Propagation loss and coupler bifurcation of the 1.

Radical neck dissection for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: early and long-term results of treatment.

An account is given of the use of radical neck dissection in a consecutive series of 147 patients treated during the years 1967-76 in the Head and Neck Unit of the Royal Marsden Hospital. The majority had received previous treatment principally by irradiation to full dosage, some by previous surgery, and a minority by induction cytotoxic chemotherapy. The 5-year determinate survival results for surgical salvage are 28.

The place of partial laryngectomy in the treatment of laryngeal cancer--a view from the U.K.

Attention is drawn to the problems of surgical resection by partial laryngectomy after full therapeutic dosage of Telecobalt irradiation. Material is presented from two treatment centres to indicate trends in surgical treatment and the complications experienced. Results will be given which confirm a reasonable expectation of cure and functional conservation by vertical partial laryngectomy for recurrence of glottic cancer after irradiation.

Head and neck melanoma in 534 clinical Stage I patients. A prognostic factors analysis and results of surgical treatment.

Single and multifactorial analyses were used to evaluate prognosis and results of surgical treatment in 534 clinical Stage I patients with head and neck cutaneous melanoma treated at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (U.S.A.

Oral contraceptive use and malignant melanoma in Australia.

In a case control study of 287 women aged 15-24 years with malignant melanoma and 574 matched controls, findings relating to oral contraceptive use and other hormone use are reported. Ever having used oral contraceptives was not associated with an increased risk of melanoma (relative risk for ever use of the pill = 1.0).

Phase-reading, all-fiber-optic gyroscope.

An open-loop, all-fiber-optic gyroscope with wide dynamic range and linear scale factor is described. This novel approach converts the Sagnac phase shift into a phase shift in a low-frequency electronic signal by using optical phase modulation followed by amplitude modulation verify the theoretical predictions.

Gated phase-modulation approach to fiber-optic gyroscope with linearized scale factor.

A phase-modulation approach to closed-loop fiber-optic gyroscopes is described that uses an all-fiber gyroscope, which can provide a linearized scale factor. Preliminary experimental results with manual closing of the feedback loop show good linearity in the scale factor. This approach has, in theory, an inherent suppression of source-wave-length dependence of the scale factor.

24-hour combination chemotherapy without cisplatin in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer.

Sixty-three patients with advanced histologically proven squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck, considered untreatable other than by chemotherapy, received a combination of vincristine, bleomycin, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, and hydrocortisone administered over 24 hours, followed by a folinic acid rescue, every 3 weeks. Fifty-seven patients had received prior radiotherapy and 78% of recurrences were within the radiation field. Sixty-one patients were assessable for response to chemotherapy and 25 (41%) achieved objective responses.

Single-mode-fiber saturable absorber.

Saturable absorption is performed on a signal in a single-mode fiber by allowing the evanescent field of the guided wave to interact with a saturable-absorbing dye. The evanescent field is exposed by mechanically removing a portion of the fiber cladding. The saturable material is then placed in close proximity to the fiber core.

Acousto-optic frequency shifting in birefringent fiber.

Single-sideband frequency shifting has been accomplished using traveling acoustic waves to couple the orthogonal polarizations of birefringent fiber. The light coupled from one polarization to the other is shifted in frequency by the frequency of the acoustic wave. An upper sideband is produced in one polarization, a lower sideband in the other.

Cancer of the paranasal sinuses and nasal cavities. Part II. Results of treatment.

Part I of this account of a large consecutive series of 561 patients with cancer of the paranasal sinuses and nasal cavities treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital reveals some significant clinical and radiological features. The histopathology of every case has been carefully reviewed by one pathologist. Carcinoma was found to account for almost 80 per cent of tumours.

Gated phase-modulation feedback approach to fiber-optic gyroscopes.

A new approach to closed-loop operation of an all-fiber-optic gyroscope using phase modulation and signal gating is described. This approach provides simplicity of implementation and the capability of wide dynamic range with an approximately linear scale factor. Experimental results are compared with theoretical calculations.

Active polarization coupler for birefringent fiber.

Static coupling between polarization modes achieved by periodically stressing birefringent fiber once per beat length was recently reported. The same scheme is now used to obtain coupling modulation at kilohertz-to-megahertz frequencies by applying pressure to the fiber with an oscillating piezoelectric ceramic. An amplitude of 30-50 V (peak to peak) was found to be necessary to modulate the polarization coupling from a minimum to a maximum.

Two-mode fiber modal coupler.

When a single-mode fiber is used at a wavelength below the cutoff wavelength, the fiber guides second-order modes, which travel at different phase velocities from the fundamental mode. Periodically stressing this two-mode fiber once per beat length can cause coherent coupling between the modes. Such a modal coupler has been developed and is described here.

Radioiodine treatment of metastatic thyroid carcinoma: the Royal Marsden Hospital experience.

The case records of 235 patients who were treated for differentiated thyroid cancer between 1949 and 1981 were reviewed. Forty-two (18%) had distant metastatic spread outside the neck and received radioiodine (131I) therapy. In cases where the distant spread was confined to the lungs, 54% of patients were alive, free of disease, 10 years after 131I treatment was started.

Calcitonin and carcino-embryonic antigen in the follow-up of patients with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid.

Nineteen patients who have had medullary carcinomas of the thyroid have been followed up at the Royal Marsden Hospital. All had nodal involvement. Postoperative unprovoked serum calcitonin assays have been performed.