Perioperative cardioprotection.

Although anaesthesia itself is now very safe, perioperative cardiac complications during non-cardiovascular surgery are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, because of the increasingly high underlying prevalence of cardiovascular disease. Fortunately, although there is no "magic bullet", pharmacological intervention can reduce the risk. In particular, current evidence strongly supports the use of aspirin and statins.

Anti-tumor efficacy of a recombinant human arginase in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered as auxotrophic for arginine and BCT-100, a new recombinant human arginase, has been synthesized for arginine deprivation to inhibit arginine-dependent tumor growth. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of BCT-100 on the inhibition of in vitro cell proliferation of HCC cell lines and in vivo tumor growth. The molecular mechanism involved was also studied.

Wild animal surveillance for coronavirus HKU1 and potential variants of other coronaviruses.

1. Although CoV-HKU1 was not identified in any of the studied animals, a coronavirus closely related to SARS-CoV (bat-SARS-CoV) was identified in 23 (19%) of 118 wild Chinese horseshoe bats by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). 2.

Current Antiviral Therapy of Chronic Hepatitis B: Efficacy and Safety.

The treatment of chronic hepatitis B is in constant evolution. Interferon, the first agent licensed for chronic hepatitis B treatment, has been superseded by the growing popularity of nucleoside/nucleotide analogues (NA). However, resistance to these agents is a major challenge.

A 3-year prospective study of neurological soft signs in first-episode schizophrenia.

Neurological soft signs are biological traits that underlie schizophrenia and are found to occur at higher levels in at-risk individuals. The expression of neurological soft signs may be modifiable during the onset of the first psychotic episode and the subsequent evolution of the illness and its treatment. This study investigates neurological soft signs in 138 patients with first-episode schizophrenia and tracks the expression of motor soft signs in the following 3 years.

Prognostic impact of hemoglobin levels on treatment outcome in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with sequential chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy alone.

Background: The goal of the current study was to investigate the impact of hemoglobin (Hb) levels on treatment outcome in a randomized Phase III trial of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with induction chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy or with radiotherapy alone.

Methods: Between September 1989 and August 1993, 334 patients with advanced NPC were entered into a randomized trial comparing 3 cycles of induction chemotherapy (cisplatin and epirubicin) followed by radiotherapy with radiotherapy alone. Only evaluable patients who completed radiation were included in the analysis (n = 286).

Long term prognosis after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma: a survival analysis of 204 consecutive patients.

Background: Intrahepatic recurrence continues to be the main cause of late death among hepatocellular carcinoma patients after hepatic resection. The aims of the current study were to identify the prognostic factors affecting long term survival and to evaluate the clinical value of pTNM classification as a prognostic factor for these patients. The identification of significant prognostic factors plays an important role in the selection of patients for postoperative adjuvant therapy and counseling.

Clinics in diagnostic imaging (32). Opportunistic pneumonia in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

A 24-year old HIV-positive patient presented with fever and productive cough. Chest radiograph showed a cavitating pulmonary infiltrate. Diagnosis of Nocardosis was made from modified acid-fast stain of his sputum specimen.

Clinics in diagnostic imaging (15). Carotid body tumour.

A 30-year-old Chinese woman presented with an enlarging pulsatile swelling in the left neck. A similar right neck mass was excised 2 years previously. Digital subtraction angiography showed a well-defined, hypervascular tumour situated at the left common carotid arterial bifurcation, typical of a carotid body tumour.

Monitoring of leukocyte cytomegalovirus DNA in bone marrow transplant recipients by nested PCR.

A nested PCR assay for the detection of human cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA was evaluated by weekly monitoring of blood samples taken from 101 bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients. When peripheral blood leukocytes were used as the source of CMV DNA, even a modified assay with stringent temperature-cycling conditions was as sensitive as the standard assay. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of two consecutively positive leukocytic PCR results with this modified assay in predicting CMV disease of 101 patients submitting 1,441 peripheral blood leukocyte samples were found to be 92.

Obturator hernia presenting as small bowel obstruction.

Obturator hernia is a rare but important cause of small bowel obstruction that is associated with difficult diagnosis and high mortality. In the past 7 years, 16 patients with small bowel obstruction due to obturator hernia diagnosed at operation were seen at the Department of Surgery, the University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital. They represented 1% (16 of 1,554) of all hernia repair performed and 1.

Seminal leucocyte subpopulations and sperm function in fertile and infertile Chinese men.

The level of seminal leucocytes and the prevalence of leucocytospermia was determined in a group of fertile and infertile southern Chinese men in Hong Kong. Sixteen normal fertile semen donors and 49 men with male factor infertility were studied prospectively. None had antisperm antibodies and past or present evidence of genital tract infection.

Maxillary swing approach to the orbit.

A new surgical approach to the inferior half of the orbit is described and 2 cases are presented. The approach involves releasing the roof and the anterior wall of the maxillary antrum by osteotomies, keeping their blood supply via the attached masseter muscle, and swinging the osteoplastic flap away from the orbit. With the wide exposure gained, the retrobulbar tumor or large orbital floor tumor is dealt with, and the mobilized bone is replaced and wired into position.

Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in severe beta-thalassemia: effect of chelation and pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone therapy.

We studied pituitary-gonadal function in 11 male and 5 female patients, aged 12-30 yr, with severe beta-thalassemia and chronic iron overload. All had normal basal serum cortisol, T4, and PRL concentrations and normal serum cortisol and GH responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia and TSH responses to TRH. Of the 11 male patients (all over 17 yr of age), only 3 attained full pubertal development and 4 had subnormal serum LH and FSH responses to GnRH.

The changing pattern of severe neonatal staphylococcal infection: a 10-year study.

Forty-two cases of severe staphylococcal infection occurring over a 10-year period in the neonatal unit at Queen Mary Hospital are described. There was a 4.5-fold increase in incidence in the latter half of the study period, when methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) emerged.