A model for harmonization of routine clinical chemistry results between clinical laboratories.

Clinical chemistry laboratory results from different laboratories often show large between-laboratory variation due to factors such as differences in method principles, method applications, calibration procedures or the application of different instrument factor settings within the same calibration procedure. We have examined the possible use of common calibrators to reduce this variation. Three different calibrators were compared: A, freeze-dried preparations of pooled patients' serum samples, spiked to give three concentration levels; B, freeze-dried preparations of pooled patients' serum samples selected on the basis of elevated enzyme activities at three levels; C, a single calibrator consisting of frozen pooled serum samples.

Standard-dose lansoprazole is more effective than high-dose ranitidine in achieving endoscopic healing and symptom relief in patients with moderately severe reflux oesophagitis. The Dutch Lansoprazole Study Group.

Background: In the treatment of reflux oesophagitis, H2-receptor antagonists are still widely used in spite of the apparent higher efficacy of proton pump inhibitors. In an attempt to compensate for the lower efficacy, H2-receptor antagonists are now increasingly being used at a higher dose.

Objective: To assess whether or not standard-dose lansoprazole (30 mg o.

Management strategies in unstable coronary artery disease--current problems and future directions. The UCAD Council.

Unstable coronary artery disease continues to pose a major challenge to clinicians. The advent of new therapies, such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, low-molecular-weight heparins, and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, provides new management options for this indication but also raises new questions with regard to optimal management. Prospective randomized trials with well-defined, long-term outcome measures and a means of identifying which patients will derive most benefit from each treatment, together with a means of rapid and clear dissemination of study results and implications, are required in order to advance the management of unstable coronary artery disease.

Menstrual disorders and endocrine profiles in fragile X carriers prior to 40 years of age: a pilot study.

This prospective study reports serum hormone measurements associated with menopause in fragile X carriers (n = 9, age between 31-40 years). These results demonstrate the occurrence of premature ovarian failure.

Isolated pericardial rupture with left-sided haematothorax after blunt chest trauma.

Pericardial rupture after blunt chest trauma is described in the literature. The rupture is mostly caused by high velocity trauma with associated injuries. As a result the patients are often critically ill.

Intracranial nerve repair: a review of experimental and clinical studies.

With recent developments in neurosurgery and related disciplines, more aggressive approaches are being made for various lesions of the skull base, and, as a consequence, cranial nerves are more frequently damaged, which causes significant morbidity. The authors review experimental and clinical studies involving surgical repair of severed cranial nerves and provide evidence that some degree of functional regeneration occurs. Functional recovery after repair is mainly dependent on the preoperative function of the muscle--nerve unit and the morphological organization of the nerve; the more complex the organization, the lesser the degree of functional recovery.

Multiple deficiencies of mitochondrial DNA- and nuclear-encoded subunits of respiratory NADH dehydrogenase detected with peptide- and subunit-specific antibodies in mitochondrial myopathies.

Antibodies have been raised against synthetic peptides corresponding to several computer-predicted epitopes of three mtDNA-encoded subunits, ND4, ND5 and ND6, of the human respiratory chain NADH dehydrogenase (Complex I). Antibodies were characterized by a sensitive immunoblotting assay using proteins from human skeletal muscle mitochondria and by immunoprecipitation of radio-labeled HeLa cell mitochondrial translation products. Only antibodies against two of six selected peptides of the ND4 subunit, i.

Formation and elimination of sulphamethoxazole hydroxylamine after oral administration of sulphamethoxazole.

The formation and elimination of sulphamethoxazole hydroxylamine in relation to the pharmacokinetics of the parent compound and its N4-acetyl metabolite were investigated in six healthy subjects after a single oral dose of 800 mg sulphamethoxazole. The apparent half-lives of sulphamethoxazole and its metabolites were approximately 10 h, indicative of formation rate-limited metabolism. The mean residence time of the hydroxylamine metabolite was 5.

Localizing the site of hematuria by immunocytochemical staining of erythrocytes in urine.

We have further explored the immunocytochemical staining method to discriminate renal and nonrenal hematuria, reported by Abrass and Laird (Am J Kidney Dis 1987;9: 44-50). After fixation on slides with acetone, erythrocytes in urine were stained with antiserum against human Tamm-Horsfall protein. Reactions were made visible by using either a fluorescent second antibody or a biotinylated second antibody, avidin, and biotinylated horseradish peroxidase, producing an insoluble reaction product.