[Does fentanyl or midazolam improve patient's comfort and cooperation when given for regional catheter placement? A randomized, controlled and double-blind trial].

Background: The procedure of placing a catheter for continuous regional anaesthesia is often associated with fear and pain in the patient. Thus, we evaluated the use of midazolam and fentanyl to improve patient's comfort and cooperation.

Methods: After an oral dose of 20 mg clorazepate, 174 patients receiving peripheral nerve catheters for regional anaesthesia where randomized into 3 groups to receive either intravenous placebo, 3 mg midazolam or 0.

Determination of islet cell antibodies using an ELISA system with a preparation of rat insulinoma (RIN A2) cells.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was established for the detection of islet cell antibodies in human sera. The antigen was prepared from rat insulinoma (RIN A2) cells. Cells were dissociated in lysis buffer and the lysate was centrifuged at 100,000 x g.

Autoantibodies to adrenal medullary and thyroid calcitonin cells in type I diabetes mellitus--a prospective study.

Autoantibodies to adrenal medulla that gave a diffuse immunofluorescent staining pattern were detected in 17 out of 107 (16%) patients with newly diagnosed Type I diabetes mellitus, in 13 out of 178 (7%) patients with long lasting disease but in none of 80 mixed control sera tested. The antibodies were of IgG class and 31 of the 33 positive sera also fixed complement. In 32 out of 34 cases, detection of the antibodies was correlated with the presence in the serum of pancreatic islet cell antibodies (ICA).

Immunoglobulin substitution therapy in a patient with primary hypogammaglobulinaemia and anti-IgA antibodies.

Permanent immunoglobulin substitution therapy was performed in a 44-year-old patient with common variable immunodeficiency, recurrent respiratory tract infections, total absence of serum IgA and a high titre of class-specific anti-IgA antibodies. An IgA-depleted i.v.