Randomized trial assessing the addition of interferon alpha-2a to fluorouracil and leucovorin in advanced colorectal cancer. Colorectal Cancer Working Party of the United Kingdom Medical Research Council.

Purpose: To determine the effects of interferon alpha-2a (IFN alpha) on the efficacy and toxicity of fluorouracil (FUra) and leucovorin (LV) in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: Two hundred sixty chemotherapy-naive patients were randomized to FUra/LV alone or FUra/LV plus IFN alpha. All patients received: LV 200 mg/m2 intravenous (IV) infusion over 2 hours, then FUra 400 mg/m2 i.

Murphy's sign, acute cholecystitis and elderly people.

The presentation of acute abdomen in elderly people differs from that in younger patients. We retrospectively assessed how the presence or absence of Murphy's sign affected initial diagnosis of acute cholecystitis in elderly patients. In the presence of Murphy's sign, diagnostic accuracy for acute cholecystitis was 80% dropping to 34% when the sign was negative.

Small bowel obstruction due to encapsulation and abnormal artery.

A case of peritoneal encapsulation is reported. Of fourteen reported and two anecdotal cases, this is the third case with small bowel obstruction. Bowel malrotation is associated with the condition and in our case an abnormal artery was the cause of obstruction.