The use of recombinant human thyrotropin (Thyrogen) in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer.

The introduction of human recombinant thyrotropin (rhTSH/Thyrogen) into the diagnosis of thyroid cancer has substantially ameliorated the patient's quality of life through the avoidance of debilitating hypothyroidism. With the aim of updating the use of Thyrogen, we report 7 cases which were treated with Thyrogen for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. All 7 patients were thyroidectomised and radioiodine ablated and all had detectable [> 1 ng/ml] basal serum thyroglobulin (b-Tg) levels.

Body composition in dancers: the bioelectrical impedance method.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to generate and validate a prediction equation for estimating the body composition in dancers using the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) as a method of assessment.

Methods: The fat-free mass (FFM) of 42 young female professional dance students was estimated by four different methods: dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), BIA, simple anthropometry, and skinfold thickness; DXA was used as a criterion method.

Results: The dancers' FFM was 42.

The effect of a modified etidronate cyclical regimen on postmenopausal osteoporosis: a four-year study.

To develop an improved treatment schedule for osteoporosis, a study was undertaken in 100 postmenopausal women using a modified ADFR 90-day cyclical regimen with etidronate. After one year of treatment, the etidronate-treated group showed a significant increase in bone density of the spine, which continued over the following 2 years of treatment and remained stable during the fourth year. In contrast, in the non-etidronate group, bone density decreased significantly after four years.

Prevention of bone loss in early nonsurgical and nonosteoporotic high turnover patients with salmon calcitonin: the role of biochemical bone markers in monitoring high turnover patients under calcitonin treatment.

Annual bone loss rate was estimated in a group of randomly selected 150 nonsurgical and nonosteoporotic early postmenopausal women, 42-56 years, with the use of the mathematical equation proposed by Christiansen et al. (OSTEOTREND-R) [1]. Fifty-six women were characterized as high turnover patients (estimated annual bone loss more than 2.

Effect of nandrolone decanoate and 1-alpha-hydroxy-calciferol on patients with vertebral osteoporotic collapse. A double-blind clinical trial.

Eighty-eight postmenopausal women with at least one vertebral collapse were randomly assigned to two groups of 44 patients each. All patients were treated for a period of 12 months with 50 mg of nandrolone decanoate every 3 weeks or 1 microgram of 1-alpha-hydroxy-calciferol daily. Both groups received an identical placebo of the inactive drug.

The effect of short-term calcitonin administration on biochemical bone markers in patients with acute immobilization following hip fracture.

The effect of salmon calcitonin on changes in mineral metabolism was studied in 40 elderly patients with recent hip fracture. All patients underwent surgery (internal fixation) 1 week after admission and were randomly divided into two equal groups: group A, which received no treatment, and group B, which received 100 IU/day salmon calcitonin intramuscularly for 2 weeks starting on admission. Blood and 24-h urine parameters of mineral metabolism were measured on admission and at the end of weeks 1 and 2.

Analgesic effect of salmon calcitonin in osteoporotic vertebral fractures: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical study.

Back pain due to vertebral collapse is the main symptom of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The clinical picture in these crush fractures varies, depending on the type and the location of fracture, but in general, a new vertebral crush fracture gives rise to severe pain that immobilizes the patient and necessitates bedrest. In this double-blind controlled clinical trial, 56 patients who had recently (within the last 3 days) suffered an osteoporotic vertebral fracture were hospitalized for a period of 14 days.

The natural history of the osteoporotic vertebral fracture.

The clinical picture of the osteoporotic fractures of the spine presents an heterogeneity in their intensity and duration. In 210 cases of osteoporotics with acute pain and radiological evidence of spinal fracture we separate their clinical picture in two groups. In Type I (121 cases) pain is acute and severe, improving gradually; the vertebral wedging is obvious from the beginning and remain unchanged.

The extended Pedersen hypothesis.

The Pedersen hypothesis of fetal macrosomia in neonates born to diabetic mothers has been extended. In neonates born to gestational diabetic mothers, it is suggested that an intrinsic fetal pancreatic beta-cell hyperplasia 'pulls' glucose across the placenta, i.e.

Value of acetylated haemoglobin assay in fetal assessment.

Acetylation of fetal haemoglobin, probably a post-translational, intracellular, enzyme-mediated reaction, depends upon an adequate supply of glucose and oxygen to the fetus and the nature of the diabetes (if present) in the mother. These complicating factors limit the general usefulness of acetylated fetal haemoglobin assay in fetal assessment.

A previously undescribed ectodermal dysplasia of the tricho-odonto-onychial subgroup in a family.

We encountered two family members with a previously undescribed pure ectodermal dysplasia. The propositus exhibited hypotrichosis, hypodontia, focal linear dermal hypoplasia on the tip of her nose, irregular hyperpigmentation on her back, bilateral amastia and athelia, and mild nerve hearing loss. Her mother displayed similar characteristics, except for present, although hypoplastic, areolae and nipples.

Acetylated fetal haemoglobin in neonates born to mothers with established and gestational diabetes.

Birth weight ratios (BWRs) and cord blood C-peptide values were significantly higher in neonates born to mothers with well-controlled gestational diabetes (GD) than in those born to mothers with well-controlled established diabetes (ED) or mothers with normal results on glucose tolerance testing. The neonates born to the ED mothers had the highest cord blood acetylated fetal haemoglobin (Hb F1) values, and these values correlated with cord C-peptide values. The cord C-peptide values in the GD group correlated with BWRs, but not with Hb F1 values.

Value of glycosylated haemoglobin determination in diabetic pregnancy.

A single measurement of total maternal glycosylated haemoglobin (Hb A1) in the late third trimester of a diabetic pregnancy is of limited value in assessing diabetic control. There was no significant correlation between maternal Hb A1 values and neonatal C-peptide values or birth-weight ratios. An isolated Hb A1 measurement is not sufficiently sensitive to monitor the control of diabetes during pregnancy nor is it useful in predicting perinatal outcome.

Evidence of hypoxaemia and distribution of minor haemoglobin components in the cord blood of neonates born to diabetic mothers.

The oxygenation status of normal and diabetic (White's classification A and B) mothers and their neonates was investigated. The diabetic patients had significantly increased maternal total haemoglobin and P50 values and the percentage of fetal haemoglobin was increased in cord blood taken at delivery in this group. There was a significant positive correlation between maternal P50 values and the percentage of fetal haemoglobin in cord blood.

Evidence of hyperinsulinaemia and hypoxaemia in the cord blood of neonates born to mothers with gestational diabetes.

Increased cord blood C-peptide levels in neonates born to mothers with gestational diabetes (GD) were directly correlated with the increased relative birth weight ratio (BWR) of these neonates. In addition, the percentage oxygen saturation of the cord blood was inversely correlated with cord blood C-peptide levels and with the relative BWR. These correlations were absent in neonates delivered to normal mothers.

Neonatal pancreatic function in infants born to mothers with gestational and overt diabetes.

Neonatal pancreatic function was assessed in infants born to non-diabetic mothers and to mothers with well-controlled gestational diabetes (GD) and overt diabetes (OD) using cord blood C-peptide estimations and the calculation of cord C-peptide/glucose ratios. Exaggerated pancreatic function was present in infants born to mothers with GD. In these infants the increased cord C-peptide values and cord C-peptide/glucose ratios correlated with their increased birth weight ratios.

Relative fetal hypoxia as a contributing factor to fetal macrosomia in diabetic pregnancy.

Results from Ogata et al (5) have shown that the initial increase in fetal size in the macrosomic neonates of diabetic mothers occurs after approximately 26 weeks gestation, and that a further more dramatic increase occurs at approximately 34 weeks until term. It is proposed that the initial increase is caused by fetal hyperinsulinism (Pedersen Hypothesis), and that the latter increase results from an induced relative fetal hypoxia. It is suggested that the mechanism responsible for the latter increase in fetal size is an increase in the amount of fetal glucose which is metabolised through the hexose monophosphate shunt pathway.