Responders and nonresponders to transurethral microwave thermotherapy: a multicenter retrospective analysis.

Purpose: We attempted to identify any parameter that could possibly lead to a successful treatment outcome after transurethral microwave thermotherapy.

Materials And Methods: Clinical parameters and treatment profiles of 292 patients were analyzed in a retrospective multicenter manner. Responder and nonresponder groups were identified according to a given definition.

Nevo syndrome.

We describe a male patient born to consanguineous parents with a syndrome of tall stature at birth, hypotonia, wrist drop and long spindle shaped fingers. The clinical features are identical to those previously described in three cases from a single family by Nevo et al. (1974: J Med Genet 11: 158-165).

Changes in pressure-flow parameters in patients treated with transurethral microwave thermotherapy.

Purpose: We document changes in pressure-flow study parameters in patients treated by transurethral microwave thermotherapy.

Materials And Methods: Pressure-flow study tracings before and after therapy from 75 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia were analyzed. Patients were stratified according to the predominant type of obstruction at screening (constrictive or obstructive).

Undefined malabsorption syndrome with villous atrophy successfully reversed by treatment with cyclosporine.

A 47-year-old man with a flat jejunal mucosa complicated by malabsorption, diarrhoea and lymphocytic colitis is presented. There was no response to gluten withdrawal alone, combination of a gluten-free diet and prednisone therapy, or total parenteral nutrition. Complete clinical remission was only achieved after simultaneous treatment with cyclosporine and a gluten-free diet.

Schedule-dependent enhancement of antitumor activity of ethyldeshydroxy-sparsomycin in combination with classical antineoplastic agents.

The efficacy of the protein synthesis inhibitor ethyldeshydroxy-sparsomycin (EDSM) as a biochemical response modifier of several antitumor agents against L1210 leukemia and B16 melanoma is described. Seven drugs with different intracellular targets were selected for this combination study. Tumor implantation and drug treatment were both i.

Otoacoustic emission measurements in evaluation of the immediate effect of ventilation tube insertion in children.

It is generally acknowledged that hearing assessment is needed before and after possible surgical intervention in children with otitis media with effusion. The conventional method in young children is visual reinforcement audiometry, which requires much time and cooperation from the child. The assessment of otoacoustic emissions may be an alternative, as it is proven to be rapid, easy, and objective as a screening procedure.

Improvement of gastric inflammation and resolution of epithelial damage one year after eradication of Helicobacter pylori.

Aims: To investigate the effect of eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection on gastric epithelial damage and gastritis, scored according to the Sydney system.

Methods: Gastritis scores and epithelial damage were assessed in gastric biopsy specimens before, and five weeks and one year after anti-H pylori therapy in 66 patients with H pylori related gastritis.

Results: The mean initial levels of activity, inflammation, atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, and H pylori scores were higher in the antrum than in the corpus or fundus.

Punctal and canalicular stenosis associated with systemic fluorouracil therapy. Report of five cases and review of the literature.

Ocular side effects of systemic fluorouracil include excessive lacrimation, due to punctal and canalicular stenosis and fibrosis. Obstruction of the tear ducts after systemic therapy with fluorouracil is more frequent than is assumed. Five patients with breast cancer and punctal or canalicular stenosis are presented.

Preclinical antitumor activity of ethyldeshydroxysparsomycin in combination with cisplatin.

The efficacy of cisplatin (CDDP) in combination with the protein synthesis inhibitor ethyldeshydroxysparsomycin (EDSM) has been tested in two tumor models at various schedules. Mice with L1210 leukemia or B16 melanoma were treated with CDDP alone or in combination with EDSM. Against L1210 leukemia, which is sensitive to CDDP, combinations elicited increases in life-span for all treatment schedules compared to those achieved with the corresponding dose of CDDP.

Molecular characterization of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.

Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) is characterized by insensitivity of the distal renal nephron to the antidiuretic effect of the neurohypophyseal hormone arginine vasopressin. In the last 2 years, two different genetic defects causing the NDI phenotype have been identified. The genes involved encode proteins that reside at both ends of the cellular vasopressin signaling cascade, namely the vasopressin V(2) receptor and the aquaporin-2 water channel.

Giant cell tumor of bone: oncologic and functional results.

Giant cell tumor of bone is a challenging surgical problem due to its mostly aggressive growth with tendency to recur locally, to develop in rare instances pulmonary metastases without histologic evidence of malignant changes, and due to its potential to dedifferentiate into a frankly malignant tumor in a limited number of patients. It is treated in many different ways because of the difficulties in finding a type of treatment with the best functional results without compromising oncologic results. This paper describes 19 patients with giant cell tumor of bone.

Agammaglobulinaemia.

Agammaglobulinaemia is the most common of the primary immunodeficiencies. Three major types can be distinguished: X-linked agammaglobulinaemia, early-onset agammaglobulinaemia and late-onset agammaglobulinaemia. In X-linked agammaglobulinaemia, the molecular defect has been elucidated, and genetic counseling, prenatal diagnosis and carrier detection have become important issues.

Concentration and sequence dependent synergism of ethyldeshydroxy-sparsomycin in combination with antitumor agents.

The modulating effect of ethyldeshydroxy-sparsomycin (EDSM), an inhibitor of ribosomal protein synthesis, on cytostatic agents was studied on cultured B16 melanoma cells using the microculture tetrazolium test (MTT). The data were analyzed for true synergism using the combination index and the median effect principle. The extent of cytotoxic drug interaction was influenced by the duration of drug exposure, the dose ratio, as well as the treatment schedule.

Ocular manifestations of relapsing polychondritis. Three case histories.

Relapsing polychondritis is a rare, presumably inflammatory autoimmune disorder affecting cartilagenous structures throughout the body. The ears, nose, joints, eyes and the respiratory tract are most frequently involved. The main ocular manifestations are episcleritis and scleritis, conjunctivitis, iridocyclitis and chorioretinitis, cataract and corneal infiltrates and melting.

Cemented fixation with bone grafts.

Loosening of the acetabular cup in cemented total hip arthroplasty is always accompanied by a loss of bone stock. Acetabular lesions can be reconstructed in several ways. Preoperative planning must be through, and specifically if graft procedures are considered, infection must be ruled out.

Rapid diagnosis of acute meningococcal infections by needle aspiration or biopsy of skin lesions.

Objectives: To evaluate the usefulness of Gram staining and culture of skin lesions in patients with acute meningococcal infections.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Community hospital and intensive care unit of a teaching hospital.

Kupffer cell elimination enhances development of liver schizonts of Plasmodium berghei in rats.

We investigated the development of exoerythrocytic forms (EEF) of Plasmodium berghei in livers of normal and macrophage-depleted Brown Norway rats. Macrophages were depleted by use of liposome-encapsulated dichloromethylene diphosphonate. Upon inoculation of sporozoites, macrophage-depleted rats had significantly larger numbers of EEF than untreated rats.

Rhabdomyolysis associated with malaria tertiana in a patient with myoadenylate deaminase deficiency.

A male patient presented with malaria tertiana due to Plasmodium vivax. He developed a severe attack of rhabdomyolysis with acute renal failure. The patient was treated successfully with chloroquine medication.

Correlation of the in vitro cytotoxicity of ethyldeshydroxysparsomycin and cisplatin with the in vivo antitumour activity in murine L1210 leukaemia and two resistant L1210 subclones.

The cultured murine leukaemia L1210 cell populations used in the present study were derived from L1210 cells that had been grown in vivo. Subclones resistant to sparsomycin (L1210/Sm) or cisplatin (L1210/CDDP) were also developed in vivo. The doubling times of the cultured cell populations were identical.

Potentiation of cisplatin antitumour activity by Ethyldeshydroxy-Sparsomycin in L1210 leukemia.

The combination of Ethyldeshydroxy-Sparsomycin (EdSm) with cisdiamminedichloroplatinum(II) (CDDP) caused significant antitumour activity against murine L1210 leukemia. Although single drug treatment by cisplatin generated some cures, all schedules of combined treatment, using nontoxic doses of EdSm (5mg/kg) and cisplatin (3 mg/kg), resulted in the cure of 4 to 6 mice in each group consisting of 6 mice. No differences in antitumour activity were observed between pretreatment, simultaneous treatment or posttreatment of cisplatin with EdSm.

Yearly chest radiography in the early detection of lung cancer following laryngeal cancer.

In a retrospective study of 556 patients (505 men, 51 women) with laryngeal cancer the incidence and prognosis of lung malignancies was studied in patients who were examined yearly by chest radiography. In 69 patients (12.4%) a lung malignancy was diagnosed, with 28 having a histologically confirmed second primary malignancy.

1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (Ara-C) enhances mitochondrial activities in human leukaemic cells.

1-beta-D-Arabinofuranosylcytosine (Ara-C) at a concentration which inhibits nuclear-DNA reduplication (0.05 microM), enhances mitochondrial activities like respiration, in cell of a human leukaemic cell line Molt 4. While the specific activity of cytochrome c oxidase doubles in the course of the G1 phase of the cell cycle in control cells, in the presence of Ara-C G1 phase cells begin to increase the enzyme activity earlier and show a 3-fold rise of the enzyme activity in the same period of time.

Prevention of bacterial colonization of the respiratory tract and stomach of mechanically ventilated patients by a novel regimen of selective decontamination in combination with initial systemic cefotaxime.

A novel regimen of selective decontamination (SDD) with initial systemic cefotaxime prevented bacterial colonization of the oropharynx and stomach in mechanically ventilated patients. In a three-group study of all patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation, patients in control groups A and B received antibiotics only when infection was present. In group A, antibiotics that disturb colonization resistance (CR) were used.

Pancreatic carcinoma with polyarthritis, fat necrosis, and high serum lipase and trypsin activity.

A 46 year old white man presented with subcutaneous and intramedullary fat necrosis, destructive polyarthritis, and osteolytic bone lesions, complicating a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the tail of the pancreas with metastases in the liver and omentum. There was a 100-fold increase in serum lipase and trypsin activity. His condition deteriorated rapidly, was characterised by rapid tumour growth, formation of ascites, a 20 kg weight loss, extensive subcutaneous fat necrosis, and fistula formation in the left calf.

The treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Approximately 40% of patients with pancreatic cancer present with locally advanced disease. The median survival for this group of patients, untreated or with only palliative surgery, is 3-5 months. Radiation treatment has no major impact on median or long term survival, but it appears to provide symptomatic palliation.