A comparative study of milnacipran and paroxetine in outpatients with major depression.

Background: Milnacipran is a dual-action antidepressant which inhibits both serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake with no affinity for any neurotransmitter receptor studied.

Methods: A 6-week double-blind multicentre study compared milnacipran (100 mg/day) with paroxetine (20 mg/day) in 300 outpatients with major depression. Efficacy was evaluated using HAMD17, MADRS and CGI for severity of illness and global improvement.

Coronary stent for variant angina: atypical presentation.

Pharmacological therapy remains the treatment of choice for Prinzmetal angina. We report an unconventional approach of coronary artery stenting to treat coronary artery spasm in variant angina refractory to triple drug therapy. Favorable clinical and angiographic results and a negative Ergonovine test, under less aggressive medical therapy, are valuable arguments for stenting.

A new micronized 5-methoxypsoralen preparation. Higher bioavailability and lower UVA dose requirement.

A new tablet of micronized 5-methoxypsoralen (5-MOP) and a commonly used tablet in therapy (Psoraderm 5) were compared in 12 healthy subjects. Each subject ingested 1.2 mg/kg body weight of each formulation on different days.

[Value of sophisticated explorative techniques of the pulmonary function in the preoperative evaluation of respiratory risk].

In order to estimate the preoperative evaluation of the respiratory risk, a well adapted clinical examination associated with a routine pulmonary function test (VC, FEV1) can be sufficient. Although some patients with cardiopulmonary disorders or candidates to lung resection need more complex assessments: the flow-volume loop to detect small airways obstruction (MEF 50%, MEF 25%), measure of bronchial hyperreactivity to predict bronchospasm during anaesthesia, residual volume for the diagnosis of emphysema, diffusing capacity (DCO) to discover lung fibrosis: these parameters disruption always make the pronostic worse. It is also useful to couple together preoperative function test and pulmonary scintigraphy to predict post-operative values after lung resection.

Optimization of in situ hybridization for detection of viral genomes in cultured cells on 96-microwell plates: a cytomegalovirus model.

In situ hybridization (ISH) for identification of infectious replicative cytomegalovirus (CMV) in cell culture microplates (96 microwells) infected by clinical specimens was tested by using a biotin-labeled DNA probe and an avidin-alkaline phosphatase conjugate. A total of 395 specimens were examined by using ISH and a monoclonal antibody (MAb) specific for an early antigen of CMV. Of 47 specimens that gave a positive signal for CMV by ISH, 33 were confirmed virus positive by MAb staining.

Localized scleroderma--response to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2 D3] may be an immunomodulatory drug which could have a role in controlling collagen deposition, and inducing reversal of fibrosis in some tissues. These observations prompted a study of the possible use of this hormone for the treatment of scleroderma. A 35-year-old woman, who had been suffering from localized scleroderma for 2 years, was given oral 1,25(OH)2 D3 for 6 months.