Treating vaginal and external anogenital condylomas with electrosurgery vs CO2 laser ablation.

Our objective was to assess the technical characteristics, side effects, complications, and effectiveness of electrosurgery vs continuous wave CO2 laser in the treatment of genital warts. This open clinical trial was made up of 208 evaluable patients (135 women and 73 men) with vaginal and external anogenital condylomas. To avoid selection bias, in each patient half of the lesions measuring 2 cm2 or greater total linear area were treated with loop electroexcision and ball electrofulguration, and the other half were treated with CO2 laser excision and vaporization in a continuous wave mode spot welding.

Preliminary report on the use of tamoxifen in the treatment of endometriosis.

Tamoxifen, an antiestrogen, was used in the treatment of two women with a long-standing history of endometriosis. After a 6-month period of treatment, both patients were symptom free and both showed a marked decrease in the size of their endometriotic lesions. It was significant that ovulation was documented in both patients while receiving the treatment regimen.

Immunocompetent cells in patients with malignant disease. I. The lack of naturally occurring killer cell activity in the unfractionated circulating lymphocytes from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The unfractionated, buffy coat cells of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were compared with their counterpart cells from normal volunteers for the capacity to lyse chromium-labeled xenogeneic target cells in vitro. Whereas killer cells were consistently detected in the circulation of normal individuals, no significant numbers of killer cells could be detected in the circulation of CLL patients. It is concluded that either these cells are not present in the circulation of CLL patients or that they are present in small numbers undetectable by this procedure.

Naturally occurring immunosuppressive agents. II. The ability of cell-free liver extracts to modify the rejection of allogeneic skin grafts in the rabbit.

It has been demonstrated that cell-free extracts of pig, rabbit and human liver, but not of other parenchymal organs, contain a factor or factors capable of suppressing the proliferative responses of allogeneic and xenogeneic lymphoid cells stimulated with PHA, PWM, Con-A and allogeneic lymphocytes. Intravenous injection of the liver extract is capable of modifying significantly the skin allograft rejection reaction in normal adult outbred rabbits. Work is now in progress to isolate this factor and to determine its composition.

Naturally occurring immunosuppressive agents. I. The presence in normal pig liver of a factor possessing immunosuppressive properties with respect to pig lymphoid cells in vitro.

Saline cell-free extracts of normal pig liver, but not normal pig spleen, contain a noncytotoxic factor (or factors) capable of suppressing the blastogenic response of pig lymphocytes to stimulation with a number of plant mitogens: phytohemagglutinin, pokeweed, and concanavalin A. This reaction is generally considered to be a reflection of the capacity of the cell to participate in an immune reaction. Normal pig serum does not display inhibitory activity.