Adjuvant therapy for gastrointestinal cancer.

Perioperative adjuvant treatment with chemotherapy or radiation therapy has been investigated for colon, rectal, gastric, esophageal, and pancreatic cancers. To date, conclusive benefit had been shown only for colon and rectal cancers. Demonstration that adjuvant therapy can result in reductions in tumor recurrence and cancer death after surgery for large bowel cancer is a major therapeutic advancement, and current clinical trials may yield further incremental improvements.

Occurrence of p53 gene abnormalities in gastric carcinoma tumors and cell lines.

We explored the state of the p53 gene in gastric cancer. Using one or more methods, we examined 15 specimens from primary carcinomas (14 tumors, one cell line), five cell lines derived from metastases, and seven paired samples of nonmalignant gastric mucosa. Sequence analyses of complementary DNA containing the entire p53 gene open reading frame demonstrated abnormalities in one of five samples from primary tumors and in all five samples from metastases.

Effect of nifedipine and anticonvulsants on kainic acid-induced seizures in mice.

The calcium-channel inhibitor nifedipine and several anticonvulsant drugs were evaluated for effects on seizures induced by intracerebroventricular injection of 0.14 microgram of kainic acid. These seizures were markedly exacerbated by valproic acid and moderately inhibited by diazepam.

Computer-aided intelligence: application of an expert system to brachial plexus injuries.

When confronted with a patient with a brachial plexus injury, how often as neurosurgeons do we consult an atlas to confirm the anatomy of the brachial plexus and then attempt to establish the location of the lesion? Similar difficulties are encountered with lumbar and sacral plexus lesions. In a project organized to assist the neurosurgeon in this time-consuming task, a computer program that can rapidly determine the site of a lesion in a brachial, lumbar, or sacral plexus injury was created. Using known anatomical pathways (37 clinically relevant upper and 20 lower extremity muscle innervations), and relying solely upon the neurological motor examination, rapid computer-assisted diagnosis is possible.

Outpatient hemorrhoidectomy.

Fifty-three patients underwent closed hemorrhoidectomies on an outpatient basis at the Naval Hospital Bethesda, Bethesda, Maryland, and George Washington University Hospital, Washington, DC. Our goal was to show that closed hemorrhoidectomies could be tolerated well in an outpatient setting. We found that patients tolerated this surgery well, and there was no progression of complications due to the out-of-hospital setting.

Role of superoxide dismutase in the pathogenesis of pyelonephritis: immunological localization of superoxide dismutase in human renal tissues.

The enzyme superoxide dismutase affords a protective effect from renal scarring secondary to acute pyelonephritis in primates. To investigate the relationship between renal superoxide dismutase content and age we selected formalin-fixed normal human renal tissue from subjects of varying age, ranging from premature infant to adult, for immunostaining with human anti-superoxide dismutase antibody using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique. Sections that demonstrated acute pyelonephritis were immunostained for comparison.

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease in infants: asymmetric disease mimicking a unilateral renal mass.

Unilateral radiographic presentation of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease is detected only rarely in infants and may suggest the presence of a complex cystic mass. We report such a case and review the literature concerning unilateral presentation of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease in infants and children.

Decision analysis: a tool of the future: an application to unruptured arteriovenous malformations.

Overwhelming and confusing data regarding the natural history of arteriovenous malformations can confound physicians attempting to advise patients whether surgery of unruptured arteriovenous malformations is indicated. Decision analysis is a new mathematical tool that allows physicians to compare options in such patients. With the use of a simple office computer, a software program was devised to compare surgical versus conservative options in a hypothetical 25-year-old man.

Abnormal gallium uptake in anticardiolipin syndrome: an unexplained phenomenon.

A case of asymmetrical gallium uptake in the musculature of a young woman with anticardiolipin syndrome is reported. The patient was asymptomatic in the areas of involvement, muscle biopsy was normal, and the abnormal gallium accumulation was unchanged on repeat evaluation 7 months later. Possible causes for the abnormal gallium uptake are proposed, but the mechanisms of uptake in this case remain unclear.

Computed tomographic diagnosis of ruptured giant posterior cerebral artery aneurysms.

Ruptured giant posterior cerebral artery (PCA) aneurysms are encountered rarely. Although computed tomographic (CT) scan features of giant intracranial aneurysms have been described. CT scan features of acutely ruptured giant saccular PCA aneurysms have not been reported.

Hepatic imaging in diffuse liver disease.

An analysis of hepatic imaging (liver-spleen scintigraphy, ultrasonography, and computed tomography) was performed in 91 patients prospectively referred for percutaneous liver biopsy for suspected chronic liver disease. Hepatic imaging was performed in 51 of 91 patients (56%). Of these 51 patients, 42 (82%) underwent radionuclide imaging, whereas only seven (14%) underwent ultrasonography and only two (4%) underwent computed tomography performed.

Determination of glycated plasma proteins in normal and diabetic subjects utilizing aminophenylboronic acid columns.

The characteristics and clinical utility of a commercially prepared method for measuring glycated plasma proteins (glyc PP) by aminophenylboronic acid affinity chromatography is described. The measured glyc PPs after loading columns with 0.05 ml (5.

Cavernous hemangioma. Why is peripheral filling at scintigraphy so rare?

Peripheral filling at dynamic CT occurs frequently with cavernous hemangiomas, yet this phenomenon is a rare finding on Tc-99m RBC imaging. A case of peripheral filling of a cavernous hemangioma with scintigraphy is reported and the rationale for its infrequent occurrence is discussed.