A controlled comparison of oxyfedrine, isosorbide dinitrate and placebo in the treatment of patients suffering attacks of angina pectoris.

1 In a group of 23 patients with documented ischaemic heart disease who experienced angina pectoris, oral oxyfedrine (24 mg three times daily) was compared with isosorbide dinitrate (10 mg three times daily) and placebo in a double-blind double-crossover clinical trial. 2 Isosorbide dinitrate appeared no better than placebo, either in terms of symptomatic relief or ECG responses to exercise. Thirty eight per cent of patients complained of headaches and 28% had to cease taking the drug for this reason.

Linkage studies on glyoxalase I (GLO), pepsinogen (PG), spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA1), and HLA.

Pedigree analyses of five families in which a form of spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA1) is present have been used to obtain additional information on the location of SCA1 on chromosome 6. Recombination rates with HLA and glyoxalase I (GLO) suggest that the order is HLA-GLO-SCA1. There was no evidence for linkage of pepsinogen isozyme-5 (PG) either to HLA or GLO.

A double-blind controlled trial of mianserin and amitriptyline in depression.

A double-blind trial was carried out in 47 patients with depression to compare the effectiveness of 30 mg mianserin, 60 mg mianserin and 50 mg sustained-release amitriptyline, each given as a single dose at night over a period of 4 weeks. Hamilton Rating Scale scores showed significant, progressive improvement from Week 1 with all three regimens. Although the differences between the groups were not significant, the greatest improvement occurred after 60 mg mianserin daily and the order of effectiveness was consistent for various Hamilton Rating Scale items.

An effective conscious animal model of atrial fibrillation.

In 11 fully conscious dogs with chronically implanted spicardial electrodes, 50 Hz sine-wave electrical stimulation of the left atrium reliably and repeatedly produced an arrhythmia which was indistinguishable from atrial fibrillation in terms of its ECG appearance, the statistical properties of the ventricular response and responses to a number of pharmacological agents. In five of the 11 preparations this arrhythmia consistently persisted for periods in excess of 10 min following the cessation of stimulation, indicating an intrinsic cardiac basis for the arrhythmia and suggesting that it is true atrial fibrillation. A close correlation between the ventricular response to this arrhythmia and the degree of atrioventricular conductivity, together with the observation that dramatic changes can occur in ventricular responses without corresponding changes in atrial activity, suggest that the ventricular response is mainly a function of the atrio-ventricular conducting system.