Melricflash/CW_MedAbstractsAlt huggingface dataset:
The use of risk factors in medical diagnosis: opportunities and cautions. We discuss in this paper the extent to which disease risk factors may assist in the diagnostic process. We caution that disease risk factors need not be very sensitive or specific. Risk factor specificity and sensitivity may be further reduced if, in the former case, the risk factor is related to other illnesses having the same clinical presentation as the disease of interest, or if, in the latter case, the risk factor disappears with the onset of illness. We illustrate these points in a discussion of the utility of smoking as a diagnostic test for malignancy in two clinical situations, the patient with asymptomatic microscopic hematuria and the patient with a solitary pulmonary nodule. Risk factors hold great promise as aids to medical diagnosis, as this information is readily available to clinicians at little or no cost. Clinicians, however, should exercise caution when using risk factors of unproven diagnostic utility in medical diagnosis, as their presence may have little or no effect on disease probability. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Identical splicing of aberrant epidermal growth factor receptor transcripts from amplified rearranged genes in human glioblastomas. The epidermal growth factor receptor gene has been found to be amplified and rearranged in human glioblastomas in vivo. Here we present the sequence across a splice junction of aberrant epidermal growth factor receptor transcripts derived from corresponding and uniquely rearranged genes that are coamplified and coexpressed with non-rearranged epidermal growth factor receptor genes in six primary human glioblastomas. Each of these six tumors contains aberrant transcripts derived from identical splicing of exon 1 to exon 8 as a consequence of a deletion-rearrangement of the amplified gene, the extent of which is variable among these tumors. In spite of this intertumoral variability, each intragenic rearrangement results in loss of the same 801 coding bases (exons 2-7) and creation of a new codon at the novel splice site in their corresponding transcripts. These rearrangements do not, however, affect the mRNA sequence for the signal peptide, the first five codons, or the reading frame downstream of the rearrangement. 

Category: neoplasms
Eosinophilic inflammation in asthma BACKGROUND AND METHODS. The importance of eosinophils in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma is not established. In an attempt to evaluate the role of eosinophilic inflammation in asthma, we compared 10 normal subjects with 43 patients with chronic asthma, 19 of whom had severe disease as assessed by a clinical scoring method described by Aas and by pulmonary-function tests. Eosinophils were counted in peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar-lavage fluid, and in biopsy specimens obtained from the patients and post mortem from 8 subjects without asthma, but not from the 10 normal controls. Eosinophil cationic protein was titrated by radioimmunoassay in the bronchoalveolar-lavage fluid from all subjects and studied by immunohistochemistry in the biopsy specimens. RESULTS. There was a significant increase in the number of peripheral-blood eosinophils in the patients that was correlated with the clinical severity of asthma (P less than 0.001) and pulmonary function (P less than 0.03). Levels of eosinophils and eosinophil cationic protein were increased in the bronchoalveolar-lavage fluid from the patients and were also correlated with the severity of asthma (P less than 0.001 and P less than 0.002, respectively). Hematoxylin-eosin staining of bronchial-biopsy specimens showed that intraepithelial eosinophils were present only in patients with asthma. Immunohistochemical analysis of eosinophil cationic protein revealed that normal subjects had only a few nondegranulated eosinophils deep in the submucosa, whereas all the patients had degranulated eosinophils beneath the basement membrane and among epithelial cells. In some patients there was a relation between the presence of degranulated eosinophils and epithelial damage. CONCLUSIONS. Eosinophilic inflammation of the airways is correlated with the severity of asthma. These cells are likely to play a part in the epithelial damage seen in this disease. 

Category: general pathological conditions
A controlled trial of psychological treatment for the irritable bowel syndrome. One hundred two patients with irritable bowel syndrome were studied in a controlled trial of psychological treatment involving psychotherapy, relaxation, and standard medical treatment compared with standard medical treatment alone. Patients were only selected if their symptoms had not improved with standard medical treatment over the previous 6 months. At 3 months, the treatment group showed significantly greater improvement than the controls on both gastroenterologists' and patients' ratings of diarrhea and abdominal pain, but constipation changed little. Good prognostic factors included overt psychiatric symptoms and intermittent pain exacerbated by stress, whereas those with constant abdominal pain were helped little by this treatment. This study has demonstrated that psychological treatment is feasible and effective in two thirds of those patients with irritable bowel syndrome who do not respond to standard medical treatment. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Deficient counterregulatory hormone responses during hypoglycemia in a patient with insulinoma. Counterregulatory hormone responses were evaluated in a 37-yr-old woman before and after removal of a benign insulin-producing islet cell tumor. Counterregulatory hormone concentrations were measured during a glucose clamp with graded reductions of plasma glucose from 5.2 to 2.6 mmol/L. In the study before surgery, the increase in plasma epinephrine concentration was markedly blunted (by greater than 90%) compared to that in the study after surgery. The peak plasma norepinephrine concentration was similarly reduced by 71%, and plasma cortisol by 63%. In addition, the glycemic thresholds for secretion of the counterregulatory hormones were lower before removal of the tumor. Peak plasma GH responses were equivalent before and after surgery, but the threshold for GH secretion was 21% lower in the first hypoglycemia study. We conclude 1) that there is evidence for abnormal glucose counterregulatory hormone secretion in this patient, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of hypoglycemia seen in patients with insulinoma; 2) the reversal of reduced counterregulatory hormone secretion after tumor resection suggests that these defective hormonal responses may be related to recurrent hypoglycemia, persistent hyperinsulinemia, or both; and 3) that abnormal glucose counterregulation may exist in the absence of type 1 diabetes. 

Category: neoplasms
Use of a knee-brace for control of tibial translation and rotation. A comparison, in cadavera, of available models. We assessed the relative restraints that are provided by fourteen currently available functional knee-braces, using six limbs in cadavera. The tests were made at 30 and 60 degrees of flexion of the knee, and a mechanical loading system applied loads that caused anterior-posterior translation and internal-external rotation. The braces limited abnormal tibiofemoral displacements by 10 to 75 per cent in translation; there was more variation in rotation. This study demonstrated that functional knee-braces provide a restraining influence that may be beneficial in the control of abnormal displacements of the knee, but that the degree of restraint varies considerably. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Mesencephalic cholinergic nuclei in progressive supranuclear palsy. Using an antibody against choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), mesencephalic cholinergic cell nuclei were studied in autopsy material from 3 cases of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and 4 controls. ChAT-immunoreactive neurons were quantified in sections that spanned the rostrocaudal extent of each nucleus. In PSP, there was a significant decrease in the number of neurons with detectable immunoreactivity for ChAT in and adjacent to the central gray substance in the following nuclei: the nucleus of Edinger-Westphal (69%); the rostral interstitial nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus (97%); the interstitial nucleus of Cajal (78%). A cell loss was also evident in a group of neurons found in the deep layers of the superior colliculus (93%). In contrast, the estimated number of ChAT-immunoreactive cell bodies in cranial nerves III and IV, in the mesencephalic reticular formation, and in the parabigeminal nucleus was not different from that of controls. The results are compatible with the notion that, in PSP, there is a regionally selective destruction of cholinergic neurons. 

Category: nervous system diseases
Giant carotid-ophthalmic artery aneurysms: direct clipping utilizing the "trapping-evacuation" technique. The authors have devised a "trapping-evacuation" technique to facilitate direct clipping of giant aneurysms in the paraophthalmic region of the internal carotid artery (ICA). The giant aneurysm is collapsed by first trapping the aneurysm by temporary occlusion of the cervical common carotid and external carotid arteries, along with temporary clipping of the intracranial ICA distal to the aneurysm. Thereafter, intra-aneurysmal blood is simultaneously aspirated through a catheter placed in the cervical ICA. Exposure of the proximal end of the aneurysm neck is mandatory for successful clipping. This is accomplished by extensive unroofing of the optic canal, removal of the anterior clinoid process, opening of the anterior part of the cavernous sinus, and exposure of the most proximal intradural (C2) and genu (C3) portions of the ICA. Four cases of giant aneurysms of the paraophthalmic ICA were successfully treated by this technique and the postoperative outcome was good in all cases. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging for evaluation of the anatomical details, balloon occlusion test of the ICA, and intraoperative measurement of cortical blood flow were important to the success of the operation. Intraoperative digital subtraction angiography via the catheter placed in the cervical ICA was useful in confirming successful clipping. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
In vivo evaluation of monopolar versus bipolar electrosurgical polypectomy snares. The energy required and tissue damage in bipolar and monopolar polypectomy snares were compared in a canine model. The bipolar snare required an average of 34 joules of energy, whereas the monopolar snare required 228 joules to cut the same diameter of gastric mucosa tended into a polypoid structure (p = 0.0005). The reduced energy delivered to the tissue from the bipolar procedure resulted in only 32% average depth of damage to the underlying gastric wall, whereas the monopolar procedure caused an average 69% (p = 0.001). Surgically created polyps required 247 joules and 69 joules for corresponding monopolar and bipolar polypectomy (p = 0.001). The decreased energy required and the correspondingly reduced damage caused to the underlying bowel wall by the bipolar snare should reduce the incidence of perforation and post-polypectomy syndrome. The bipolar snare completes a local circuit about the snare, eliminating the return electrode and, consequently, the possibility of any return electrode burns. The bipolar snare thus provides an added safety margin during polypectomy. 

Category: digestive system diseases
Advances in noninvasive detection of CAD. Advances in the noninvasive detection of myocardial ischemia are increasing our ability to diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD). Tomographic (SPECT) thallium imaging provides better identification of coronary arteries with atherosclerotic narrowing. Increased lung thallium uptake and transient ischemic dilatation of the heart are additional markers of severe CAD. Late thallium imaging, as well as reinjection imaging, provides more accurate identification of myocardial ischemia. Finally, new myocardial ischemia. Finally, new myocardial imaging agents, such as technetium Tc 99m sestamibi (Cardiolite), should improve detection of CAD by noninvasive methods. 

Category: general pathological conditions
The effects of vitamin K on the generation of des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (PIVKA-II) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The clinical significance of des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (PIVKA-II) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was investigated in 112 patients with and without vitamin K administration. The positivity rate of PIVKA-II was significantly decreased in patients receiving vitamin K (28.5%), compared with those without vitamin K administration (54.5%, p less than 0.05). The plasma levels of vitamin K derivatives [phylloquinone (VK1), menaquinone-4 (MK4), and menaquinone-7 (MK7)] measured were not decreased in patients with HCC, but were significantly increased in MK4 and VK1 + MK4 + MK7. The amount of PIVKA-II in plasma did not correlate with the plasma levels of vitamin K derivatives. However, PIVKA-II was decreased by the administration of vitamin K, and all of the six patients with more than 5.0 ng/ml of VK1 + MK4 + MK7 were within normal limits, whereas half of 32 patients with less than that had abnormal levels of PIVKA-II. Thus, it was suggested that PIVKA-II was not elevated due to vitamin K deficiency, but might result from the impaired metabolism or availability of vitamin K in the tumor. Therefore, PIVKA-II should be measured without vitamin K administration. 

Category: digestive system diseases
Decalcification of a choroidal osteoma. A 56-year-old man presented with a clearly defined orange tumour in the posterior pole of his left eye. A choroidal osteoma was suspected, and ultrasonography confirmed the diagnosis. Fluorescein angiography demonstrated subretinal neovascularisation on the nasal edge of the tumour, which was treated with krypton laser photocoagulation twice. Recurrent subretinal neovascularisation occurred one year later and was not amenable to treatment. Three years after the patient first presented, thinning of the tumour was noted on follow-up examination. During the next 15 months the tumour completely disappeared, leaving an area of retinal pigment epithelial and choroidal atrophy. Total decalcification of the choroidal osteoma was demonstrated by ultrasonography. 

Category: neoplasms
Circulating heart-reactive antibodies in patients with myocarditis or cardiomyopathy [corrected and republished with original paging, article originally printed in J Am Coll Cardiol 1990 Oct;16(4):839-46] Heart-reactive antibodies are commonly observed in patients with myocarditis or cardiomyopathy. Such antibodies may be important in the pathogenesis of these disorders, yet the specific antigens recognized have not been studied systematically. This report characterizes circulating heart autoantibodies from patients with myocarditis (n = 17) or idiopathic cardiomyopathy (n = 71) and from healthy volunteers (n = 15). Indirect immunofluorescence demonstrated that high titer (greater than or equal to 1:20) immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody activity occurred in 59% of the myocarditis samples, 20% of the cardiomyopathy samples and none of the normal samples. All samples were tested by Western immunoblotting for IgG activity against a normal human heart extract. The number of antigens recognized by each sample was enumerated and the molecular weight of each antigen estimated; the prevalence of reactivity against antigens in selected molecular weight classes was determined. There was no difference in the mean number of heart antigens recognized by serum from each group. For most weight classes, prevalence either did not differ significantly among the various groups or subgroups or was greatest among samples from healthy volunteers. Prevalence of reactivity with 190 to 199 kilodalton (kd) antigens was greatest (p less than 0.05) among low titer serum samples from patients with myocarditis. High titer cardiomyopathy serum differed from normal serum by an increased (p less than 0.05) prevalence of antibodies to 40 to 49 and 100 to 109 kd antigens. These results suggest that western immunostaining may ultimately contribute substantively to identifying patients with myocarditis or cardiomyopathy. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
The role of endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERP) in blunt abdominal trauma. The diagnosis of pancreatic injury is often difficult because it lies retroperitoneally in a protected area. Delayed diagnosis and treatment of blunt pancreatic trauma can result in significant morbidity and mortality. Endoscopic Retrograde Pancreatography (ERP) is infrequently used in the diagnosis of pancreatic injury. We reviewed our experience with the use of ERP in patients with blunt pancreatic injury. Two stable patients with traumatic pancreatitis underwent ERP shortly after injury. CT scans revealed a transverse fracture of the distal pancrease in one and fluid accumulation in the other around the pancreas extending to the right kidney and left hepatic lobe. The absence of ductal disruption on ERP allowed nonoperative management of the pancreatitis. Resolution was documented by the absence of symptoms on regular oral intake, normal serum amylase levels, and normal follow-up CT scans. A third patient with persistent fistulae three months postinjury underwent preoperative ERP revealing ductal obstruction. This facilitated the planning of a distal pancreatectomy and subsequently the fistulae healed. A fourth patient underwent an exploratory laparotomy on the basis of clinical and CT scan findings that could have been circumvented with preoperative ERP. ERP in selected patients allows nonoperative treatment in the absence of ductal injury or earlier operative treatment of ductal injury. It also aids the treatment of late complications by delineating ductal anatomy. 

Category: digestive system diseases
Carcinoma of the head of the pancreas. Optimal treatment for unresectable carcinoma of the pancreas remains controversial. This study was done to examine the relationship between perioperative jaundice and postoperative morbidity, and type of palliative biliary bypass and postoperative morbidity and jaundice clearance. Seventy-six patients with obstructive jaundice secondary to carcinoma of the head of the pancreas were studied. Forty-nine patients underwent one of four different types of palliative bypass: 1, cholecystojejunostomy (n = 22); 2, choledochojejunostomy (n = 11); 3, choledochoduodenostomy (n = 9), and 4, cholecystoduodenostomy (n = 7). Age, sex and preoperative health status were similar for all operative groups, as well as for those with and without postoperative morbidity. The postoperative complication rate was 33 per cent and there was one postoperative death. Length of preoperative jaundice and peak preoperative bilirubin levels were independent of morbidity. Postoperative morbidity was similar for each type of bypass used and no significant difference was found when cholecystoenteric (1 and 4) and choledochoenteric (2 and 3) bypass were compared. The results of this study support the view that postoperative morbidity is not directly related to the presence of jaundice preoperatively. Furthermore, the rate of jaundice clearance and the occurrence of postoperative complications are not dependent on the type of bypass used. 

Category: neoplasms
Snoring and sleep architecture. The purpose of this study was to examine whether snoring adversely affects sleep architecture and sleep efficiency, and thus may account for the frequent complaints of daytime tiredness and fatigue expressed by heavy snorers. We recruited eight self-confessed heavy snorers and six self-confessed nonsnorers. All subjects had full nocturnal polysomnography, including continuous monitoring of snoring, which was quantified by counting the number of snores per hour of sleep (snoring index), the number of snores per minute of snoring time (snoring frequency), maximal and mean nocturnal sound intensity (dBmax and dBmean, respectively). We found that even the self-confessed nonsnorers snored lightly, with significantly smaller frequency and index than the heavy snorers. Sleep architecture was similar in both groups. Distribution of snoring among the sleep stages differed for light and heavy snorers: light snorers snored uniformly throughout all sleep stages, whereas heavy snorers tended to snore more during slow-wave and REM sleep. Snoring frequency and snoring index were similar during all sleep stages in light snorers, but they were higher during slow-wave sleep in heavy snorers. Wakefulness time after sleep onset and sleep efficiency correlated significantly with the snoring index. We conclude that although snoring does not affect sleep architecture in general, it influences sleep efficiency and wakefulness time after sleep onset; this may have an adverse effect on daytime function of heavy snorers. 

Category: nervous system diseases
Intraoperative decision making during thyroid surgery based on the results of preoperative needle biopsy and frozen section. Prognostic factors in well-differentiated thyroid cancer are age of the patient and grade, size, distant metastasis, and extracapsular spread of the disease. However, the surgeon is often not sure about the pathologic diagnosis of thyroid nodules. The accuracy of preoperative studies, such as ultrasonography and thyroid scanning, is limited. The most cost-effective test is fine-needle aspiration, the accuracy of which exceeds 80% in most series. However, a large group of nodules exist for which aspiration cytologic studies are considered to be either suspicious or indeterminate. The decision about the extent of thyroidectomy may be difficult in these patients. Intraoperative frozen section may help the surgeon to distinguish benign from malignant lesions, but as in fine-needle aspiration, the major problem is the distinction between follicular adenoma and follicular carcinoma. The frozen section diagnosis of follicular adenoma was changed to follicular carcinoma in one third of the cases (13 of 38 cases). The decision about the extent of thyroidectomy in patients with follicular adenomas was based on other prognostic factors, such as age and sex of the patient and the size of the nodule. The accuracy of frozen section diagnosis was 95%. Our experience suggests that decisions regarding the extent of thyroidectomy can best be made by preoperative fine-needle aspiration with confirmation by frozen section diagnosis in equivocal cases. 

Category: neoplasms
Pancreatic pseudocyst in the left hepatic lobe: a report of two cases. The ultrasound and computed tomographic imaging features in a rare pancreatic pseudocyst of the liver are described in two patients. The pseudocysts occurred in the left lobe in both cases, one after a traumatic injury and the other after alcoholic pancreatitis. The possible topographical sequences with which pancreatic secretions entered the left hepatic lobe to form a cyst are discussed. 

Category: digestive system diseases
Sex hormone receptors in human thyroid tissues. The behavior of sex hormone receptors was studied in the cytosol of thyroid tissue samples in order to clarify the effects of sex hormones on diseases of the thyroid. Androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptor (ER), and progesterone receptor (PgR) were assayed using the dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) method and analyzed by the method of Scatchard. Androgen receptor, ER, and PgR were negative in all of the cytosol prepared from normal thyroid tissues. However, the positive rates for the receptors in the neoplastic and nonneoplastic tissues were 22% for AR, 29% for ER, and 18% for PgR. Especially, the incidence of ER was significantly higher in neoplastic lesions than normal tissues. These data suggest that sex hormones, especially estrogen, may play a role in diseases of the thyroid. 

Category: neoplasms