Mental changes in patients with AIDS.

Mental changes are common in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Neuropsychological data of 32 patients with AIDS and cognitive symptoms were reviewed. All patients were neurologically examined and ancillary investigations were performed.

Vitamins and lung cancer.

Several factors are known to promote the development of a lung cancer. Smoking, occupation, environment, chronic bronchitis, and scars in the lung are all risk factors. Many studies have stressed the importance of nutrition, in particular vitamins.

Surgical treatment of bronchopulmonary carcinoid tumours.

Based on histopathological characteristics bronchopulmonary carcinoid tumours can be divided into a typical and an atypical variant. Atypical carcinoid tumours often have regional lymph node metastases. A differentiation between the two types of tumours cannot be made preoperatively.

Simultaneous enumeration of T-cell subsets and macrophages in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids by immunoenzyme double staining. Comparison with conventional immunofluorescence.

Bronchoalveolar lavage is a common research and clinical tool for the retrieval of cells from the lower respiratory tract. In addition to conventional morphologic study of these cells, the subtyping of T lymphocytes is often important for reaching a diagnosis of a disease or assessing its activity; subtyping is usually done by a standard immunofluorescence assay on cell suspensions requiring about 5 X 10(5) cells. Since the number of leukocytes in the lavage fluid from many patients is too small to obtain reliable information by this assay, a double immunoenzyme staining of T-lymphocyte subtypes on Cytospin preparations was utilized.

Measurement of tendon reflexes by surface electromyography in normal subjects.

A simple method for measuring the tendon reflexes was developed. A manually operated, electronic reflex hammer was applied that enabled measurement of the strength of tendon taps. Reflex responses were recorded by surface electromyography.

[Complications and results of diagnostic procedures in the vena cava superior syndrome].

Diagnostic procedures in the presence of superior vena cava obstruction have been reported to be dangerous. We reviewed our experience in 58 patients who presented with this obstruction during the period 1976-1985, to establish the nature and frequency of complications. In 56 of 58 patients we could obtain a diagnosis before instituting therapy.

Tendon reflex asymmetry by voluntary mental effort in healthy subjects.

The effect of voluntary mental influences on the tendon reflexes was examined in healthy subjects. The patellar reflexes were evoked by a method comparable with the clinical examination, and the reflexes were recorded by surface electrodes. Eighteen subjects were instructed to increase and then decrease the right patellar reflex by mental effort, without contracting any muscles.

Solitary hamartoma of the lung: is thoracotomy still mandatory?

Solitary pulmonary hamartomas are the most common benign tumors of the lung, and have to be distinguished from primary or secondary malignant pulmonary lesions. The data of 20 patients operated for a solitary hamartoma of the lung are presented with special attention to the diagnostic methods which can contribute to the diagnosis. To avoid a surgical procedure, CT-densitometry and fine-needle aspiration biopsy have become of major interest for the diagnosis of hamartoma.

Combined radiation therapy and daily low-dose cisplatin for inoperable, locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer: results of a phase II trial.

The Free University Hospital in Amsterdam conducted a phase II trial on inoperable patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to evaluate the role of cisplatin as a radiosensitizer. Forty patients were entered into the study. Thirty-three patients were evaluable for response and 37 for toxicity.

Laryngeal cancer and lung cancer in the same patient: a retrospective study.

Fifty-four patients with laryngeal cancer and lung cancer were analyzed with regard to histology and localization of the lung cancer, the time interval between the detection of the two tumours and survival. It appeared that most lung tumours were squamous cell carcinomas, half of which were centrally localized and most occurred metachronously in the first 4 years after the laryngeal carcinoma. The survival rate was poor, due to the fact that the bronchial carcinoma usually was found beyond a curative stage.

The tibialis anterior reflex in healthy subjects and in L5 radicular compression.

Phasic stretch reflexes were evoked in the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle, by tapping the dorsal side of the foot with a hand-held reflex hammer. The responses were recorded by means of surface electrodes. The TA reflex was examined in 70 healthy subjects and in 18 patients with L5 radicular compression.

Dietary influence on the insulin function in the epididymal fat cell of the Wistar rat. III. Effect of the ratio carbohydrate to fat.

Newly weaned male Wistar rats were fed semipurified diets containing sunflowerseed oil or palm oil. The fatty acid compositions of the phospholipid and triacylglycerol fractions either from whole epididymal fat pads or from fat cells isolated from the pads appeared to be nearly similar. Feeding the diets for a period of only 3-4 weeks after weaning was found to be sufficient to produce a difference in insulin response and insulin binding in the epididymal fat cells.

Dietary influence on the insulin function in the epididymal fat cell of the Wistar rat. II. Effect of type of carbohydrate.

Newly weaned male specific pathogen-free Wistar rats were fed semipurified diets containing sunflowerseed oil or palm oil and various types of carbohydrates, i.e. sucrose, maize starch or potato starch for at least 3-4 weeks.

Dietary influence on the insulin function in the epididymal fat cell of the Wistar rat. I. Effect of type of fat.

For at least 3-4 weeks, young male Wistar rats were fed semisynthetic diets containing sunflowerseed oil, palm oil, olive oil, linseed oil, cocoa butter and coconut oil as dietary fat. The type of dietary fat had little effect on body weight, epididymal fat pad weight and on the diameter of fat cells isolated from the epididymal fat pads, but the rats fed the linseed oil-containing diet had a lower epididymal fat pad weight. The fatty acid composition of the triacylglycerol fractions of the fat pads correlated well with those of the dietary fats.

Phase II trial of combined radiotherapy and daily low-dose cisplatin for inoperable, locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

With the use of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II), cisplatin, to enhance the effect of radiation a combined modality approach was designed to treat patients with inoperable, locally advanced NSCLC. The regimen consisted of radiation doses of 300 cGy for 4 days every week for 4 weeks with a 2 week split in between. Each radiation dose was followed by an i.

Tendon reflex variability and method of stimulation.

Human tendon reflexes show large fluctuations, even when accurate mechanical instruments are used for stimulation. To examine the contribution of stimulus factors to reflex variability two methods of stimulation were compared in healthy subjects. One method consisted of a normal hand-held reflex hammer, with a transducer to measure stimulus intensity.

Adenosine deaminase activity in tuberculous pleural effusions: a diagnostic test.

The activity of adenosine deaminase (ADA) was investigated in pleural effusions from 10 patients with tuberculous pleurisy and 76 patients with pleural effusions of other aetiology. The ADA activity in the tuberculous patients was significantly higher than in the other groups, with the exception of those with empyema. Specificity (87%) and sensitivity (100%) of this test for tuberculosis is high when a reference limit of more than 53 U/l is taken.

Unchanged pharmacokinetics of VP-16-213 (etoposide, NSC 141540) during concomitant administration of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide.

In patients with small-cell lung cancer VP-16-213 is often given in combination with doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide. Little is known about possible interactions between these drugs. Therefore we investigated in 7 patients the pharmacokinetics of VP-16-213, with and without the other two drugs.

Accuracy of diagnostic procedures in the initial evaluation and follow-up of mesothelioma patients.

The present study contains the review of 30 patients with malignant mesothelioma of the pleura, examined and treated at our institution. In an attempt to compare various methods of diagnosis in this entity, emphasis was laid on specific abilities and limitation of investigations such as pleural biopsy, pleural fluid cytology, diagnostic thoracoscopy and thoracotomy and radiological studies including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Clinical management problems encountered in this neoplasm are also discussed.

Efficient isolation of the linear DNA killer plasmid of Kluyveromyces lactis: evidence for location and expression in the cytoplasm and characterization of their terminally bound proteins.

Differential centrifugation of an osmotic lysate of K. lactis protoplasts showed that the linear DNA killer plasmids of K. lactis, pGKL1 and pGKL2, are almost exclusively present in the cytoplasmic fraction.

Distribution of T-lymphocyte subsets in different portions of sarcoid granulomas: immunohistologic analysis with monoclonal antibodies.

The numbers and the distribution of T-lymphocyte subpopulations in lymph node granulomas from 11 patients with sarcoidosis were studied in cryostat sections by an immunoperoxidase technique. Greater numbers of helper T lymphocytes (Leu-3+) were found at the periphery than in the central portion of the same granuloma. Most of the suppressor T lymphocytes (OKT8+) were present at the periphery of the granulomas.