Melricflash/CW_MedAbstractsAlt huggingface dataset:
Ventricular arrhythmias after correction of ventricular septal defects: importance of surgical approach. To compare the prevalence of conduction disturbances and ventricular arrhythmias in cases of postoperative ventricular septal defect, 100 patients (50 with repair by right atriotomy, group 1; and 50 with repair by right ventriculotomy, group 2) underwent complete evaluation including an electrocardiogram (ECG) and 24 h ambulatory ECG monitoring. The two groups were comparable except for a shorter follow-up duration (7 +/- 3 versus 12.4 +/- 7 years) and a younger age at evaluation (12.4 +/- 5 versus 16.9 +/- 7 years) in group 1. Complete right bundle branch block was less frequent in group 1 than in group 2 (20% versus 50%, p less than 0.05) but three of the four patients with complete atrioventricular (AV) block detected on ambulatory monitoring were in group 1. Six patients had significant supraventricular arrhythmias, all well tolerated. Ambulatory monitoring revealed significant ventricular arrhythmias (modified Lown grade 2 or higher) in 39 patients, with a lower prevalence in group 1 (30% versus 48%, p = 0.05). No correlation was found between prevalence of ventricular arrhythmias and right ventricular systolic pressure, cardiopulmonary bypass duration, presence of a synthetic patch, previous pulmonary artery banding, presence of complete right bundle branch block and cardiomegaly on chest X-ray film. Prevalence of ventricular arrhythmias increased with follow-up duration, age at evaluation and age at surgery. These were always well tolerated and did not warrant treatment. Thus, right atriotomy reduces the prevalence of right bundle branch block but does not prevent late AV block. Ventricular arrhythmias are frequent after surgical closure of ventricular septal defect whatever the surgical approach and their prevalence is not statistically different from that in postoperative tetralogy of Fallot. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Lovastatin decreases coenzyme Q levels in humans. Lovastatin is clinically used to treat patients with hypercholesterolemia and successfully lowers cholesterol levels. The mechanism of action of lovastatin is inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase, an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of cholesterol from acetyl-CoA. Inhibition of this enzyme could also inhibit the intrinsic biosynthesis of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), but there have not been definitive data on whether lovastatin reduces levels of CoQ10 as it does cholesterol. The clinical use of lovastatin is to reduce a risk of cardiac disease, and if lovastatin were to reduce levels of CoQ10, this reduction would constitute a new risk of cardiac disease, since it is established that CoQ10 is indispensable for cardiac function. We have conducted three related protocols to determine whether lovastatin does indeed inhibit the biosynthesis of CoQ10. One protocol was done on rats, and is reported in the preceding paper [Willis, R. A., Folkers, K., Tucker, J. L., Ye, C.-Q., Xia, L.-J. & Tamagawa, H. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87, 8928-8930]. The other two protocols are reported here. One involved patients in a hospital, and the other involved a volunteer who permitted extraordinary monitoring of CoQ10 and cholesterol levels and cardiac function. All data from the three protocols revealed that lovastatin does indeed lower levels of CoQ10. The five hospitalized patients, 43-72 years old, revealed increased cardiac disease from lovastatin, which was life-threatening for patients having class IV cardiomyopathy before lovastatin or after taking lovastatin. Oral administration of CoQ10 increased blood levels of CoQ10 and was generally accompanied by an improvement in cardiac function. Although a successful drug, lovastatin does have side effects, particularly including liver dysfunction, which presumably can be caused by the lovastatin-induced deficiency of CoQ10. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Aggravation of human and experimental myasthenia gravis by contrast media. After observing a 72-year-old myasthenic patient develop an acute myasthenic exacerbation following the administration of routine diagnostic IV contrast material, an observation rarely described in the literature, we used the experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis model in rabbits injected with a contrast agent to simulate the situation. There was significant worsening of the decremental response to 3 Hz repetitive nerve stimulation from 40 +/- 29% to 55 +/- 27% following the IV administration of contrast agent at doses similar to those used in humans. IV calcium partially reversed this aggravation. Caution is merited when myasthenic patients are administered contrast media. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Effect of recombinant hirudin, a specific inhibitor of thrombin, on endotoxin-induced intravascular coagulation and acute lung injury in pigs. We hypothesized that thrombin activation may play a prominent role in endotoxin-induced secondary organ failure, such as acute lung injury. To test this hypothesis, we administered a thrombin-specific inhibitor, recombinant hirudin, in endotoxemic pigs. The pigs were anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, and prepared with Swan-Ganz and extravascular lung water (EVLW) catheters. A total of 18 randomly selected animals received a pretreatment of 1,000 U/kg of hirudin, followed by a continuous infusion over 6 h of 500 U/kg/h given simultaneously with the infusion of 10 micrograms/kg/h of Salmonella abortus equi endotoxin. Another 18 animals received a continuous infusion over 6 h of endotoxin but did not receive hirudin. All animals were fluid resuscitated with 17 ml/kg/h of saline for the duration of the experiment. Data are expressed as the mean (95% confidence interval). Hirudin reduced the endotoxin-induced consumption of plasma fibrinogen from -110 (-138 to -82) mg/100 ml to -39 (-67 to -12) mg/100 ml (p = 0.0001) and endotoxin-induced increases in the soluble fibrin in plasma from 434 (369 to 499) ng/ml to 236 (171 to 300) ng/ml (p = 0.0002). These data suggest an effective inhibition of the endotoxin-generated thrombin by hirudin. Furthermore, hirudin significantly reduced endotoxin-induced increases in pulmonary vascular resistance from 32 (27 to 37) kdyn x s x cm-5 x kg to 20 (15 to 25) kdyn x s x cm-5 x kg (p = 0.0015) and increases in EVLW from 15.4 (13.2 to 17.6) ml/kg to 12.2 (10.0 to 14.4) ml/kg (p = 0.0299). 

Category: general pathological conditions
The development of neutralizing antibodies in a patient receiving subcutaneous recombinant and natural interleukin-2. Systemic administration of interleukin-2 (IL-2) in humans may induce antibodies specific to IL-2. The case is reported of a patient with metastatic rectal carcinoma who was treated with long-term subcutaneous IL-2 and a combination of subcutaneous IL-2 and interferon-alpha 2b (IFN-alpha 2b). This patient developed nonneutralizing and neutralizing anti-IL-2 antibodies recognizing both the recombinant and natural cytokine. Detectable serum levels of neutralizing antibodies were accompanied by the inhibition of immune responsiveness to systemic IL-2 in vivo. 

Category: neoplasms
Nerve growth factor corrects developmental impairments of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in the trisomy 16 mouse. The trisomy 16 (Ts16) mouse, which shares genetic and phenotypic homologies with Down syndrome, exhibits impaired development of the basal forebrain cholinergic system. Basal forebrains obtained from Ts16 and euploid littermate fetuses at 15 days of gestation were dissociated and cultured in completely defined medium, with cholinergic neurons identified by choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) immunoreactivity. The Ts16 cultures exhibited fewer ChAT-immunoreactive neurons, which were smaller and emitted shorter, smoother, and more simplified neurites than those from euploid littermates. Whereas the addition of beta-nerve growth factor (100 ng/ml) augmented the specific activity of ChAT and neuritic extension for both Ts16 and euploid cholinergic neurons, only Ts16 cultures exhibited an increase in the number and size of ChAT-immunoreactive neurons. Furthermore, Ts16 ChAT-immunoreactive neurites formed varicosities only in the presence of beta-nerve growth factor. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Longitudinal study of women with negative cervical smears according to endocervical status A longitudinal study of 20,222 women who received negative cervical smear reports in 1987 showed that the incidence of definite or equivocal cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) was not significantly different between those whose first smear lacked an endocervical component and those whose smear included an endocervical component. The incidence of definite cytological evidence of CIN was significantly lower in women whose first smear did not include an endocervical component. It is concluded that women whose smears are reported as negative but lack an endocervical component should not be rescreened any earlier than women with negative smears that include an endocervical component. 

Category: neoplasms
An evaluation of the distinction of ectopic and pituitary ACTH dependent Cushing's syndrome by clinical features, biochemical tests and radiological findings. The efficiency of various laboratory and radiological investigations in the differentiation of ectopic from pituitary dependent Cushing's syndrome was studied, based on findings in 23 patients with verified Cushing's disease and seven patients with the ectopic ACTH syndrome. Clinical features strongly favouring the ectopic type were male sex and history for less than 18 months. Basal biochemical features strongly indicating the ectopic syndrome included plasma K+ less than 3.0 mmol/l and HCO3 greater than 30 mmol/l; serum cortisol at 9 a.m. or midnight of greater than 800 nmol/l; urine free cortisol greater than 1300 nmol/24 hours; plasma ACTH greater than 100 ng/l. In the high-dose dexamethasone suppression test, suppression by less than 50 per cent of 9 a.m. serum cortisol, urine free cortisol or 17-oxogenic steroids was usually indicative of an ectopic source of ACTH. A mean suppressed value of greater than 450 nmol/l for the 9 a.m. and midnight cortisol combined occurred in all of those with the ectopic syndrome, but in none of the 23 patients with Cushing's disease. For urine free cortisol, a mean suppressed value of less than 1000 nmol/24 hours was found in all patients with Cushing's disease, but in none of those in the ectopic group. In the metyrapone test, there was an increase of less than or equal to 3-fold in 11-deoxycortisol at 24 hours in patients with ectopic ACTH; the increase was greater than 3-fold in all but one of the patients with Cushing's disease. Failure to respond to either dexamethasone or metyrapone was found in only one of the patients with Cushing's disease (Patient 16); in the ectopic group, all patients except Patient D failed to respond to either test. It is concluded that patients presenting with clinically obvious Cushing's syndrome along with measurable plasma ACTH can be reliably divided by conventional tests into those that are driven from the pituitary and those driven by ectopic ACTH. 

Category: neoplasms
Comparative ophthalmologic studies on children and adults with craniopharyngiomas. The subjects of the study are 74 patients with craniopharyngiomas treated at the Clinic of Neurosurgery, Bulgarian Medical Academy, within the period 1960-1989. Fifty of the patients are children and 24 adults. The diagnosis of all patients is made on the base of clinical, X-ray and histological studies. The ophthalmologic state was studied in all patients, prior to operation, via routine methods. Reduced visual acuity was established in 69.6% of the children and 81.8% of the adults. The presence of congestive optic papilla was diagnosed in 22% of the children and 12.5% of the adults. Optic atrophy was established in 62.5% of the adults and 52% of the children. Various defects in the visual field were established in 67.7% of the children and 81.8% of the adults with the predomination of bitemporal defects. The use of highly informative conventional and modern X-ray methods is recommended in all patients suspected of compression of the visual pathways. 

Category: neoplasms
Assessment of right ventricular oxidative metabolism by positron emission tomography with C-11 acetate in aortic valve disease. Evaluation of right ventricular (RV) oxidative metabolism is limited by the inability to easily determine oxygen extraction by the RV myocardium and the complex morphology of this ventricle. Because left ventricular C-11 clearance rate constants closely correlate with myocardial oxygen consumption, it was postulated that C-11 clearance rate constants for the RV free wall should also reflect its oxygen consumption. Therefore, RV C-11 clearance rate constants were compared with RV loading in 21 patients with aortic valve disease to assess the possible use of this technique for noninvasive evaluation of RV oxidative metabolism. RV free wall C-11 clearance rate constants correlated with the product of systolic pulmonary artery pressure and heart rate for all patients (r = 0.65, p = 0.002), but the relation was stronger if 2 patients with overt RV dysfunction were excluded (r = 0.83, p = 0.001). On the basis of mean pulmonary artery pressures, patients were stratified into subgroups with normal (group I, n = 8) and elevated (group II, n = 13) pulmonary pressures and were compared with 10 normal control subjects. RV C-11 clearance rate constants were significantly higher in group II than in group I and in normal control subjects (p less than 0.05). These data suggest that RV C-11 acetate clearance rate constants can provide noninvasive evaluation of RV oxidative metabolism. This technique may allow serial assessment of RV performance in various cardiac and pulmonary diseases, and particularly of changes associated with therapeutic interventions. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Effects of neuroleptic agents on rat skeletal muscle contracture in vitro. The purpose of this investigation was to examine and compare the effects of both in vivo pretreatment and in vitro treatment with the neuroleptic agents droperidol, haloperidol, and trifluoperazine on skeletal muscle contracture using an in vitro model. Strips of normal rat diaphragm were challenged with succinylcholine and halothane (halothane: 1% and 3%) subsequent to either in vitro administration (10-100 microM) or in vivo pretreatment (0.35-2.80 mg/kg) with droperidol, haloperidol, or trifluoperazine. After equilibration, maximum increases in tension were recorded and mean data analyzed by analysis of variance (P less than 0.05). When either droperidol or trifluoperazine was administered in vivo, contracture values after exposure to succinylcholine and halothane were significantly decreased. After in vivo pretreatment with haloperidol or in vitro administration of droperidol, succinylcholine-induced contractures were significantly reduced; contractures subsequently induced by halothane did not significantly differ from that of controls. In vitro treatment with haloperidol and trifluoperazine, however, produced significant increases in tension in muscles exposed to succinylcholine and halothane. This study provides evidence that droperidol may be considered a safe anesthetic adjunct in malignant hyperthermia-susceptible patients, and, additionally, that caution should be exercised when interpreting results from studies in which contracture testing is performed on muscle from patients treated with neuroleptic agents. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Volume conduction of the parietal N20 potential to the prerolandic frontal area. Somatosensory evoked potentials were recorded from the frontal and parietal areas in patients with various lesions in the central nervous system on stimulation of the median nerve. Five representative cases who showed a selective loss of the positive potential from the frontal area are reported. In each case, the parietal N20 potential was relatively well preserved, and the midposition between the frontal and central areas (FC area) showed a negative potential following P14. The peak of this negative potential was synchronous with that of the parietal N20 potential. This negativity on the FC area is considered to be a volume conducted potential from the parietal N20 to the prerolandic frontal area. Such an anterior volume conduction of the parietal N20 would not be explained by the concept of a tangentially oriented dipole generated in the posterior bank of the central sulcus. Instead, for the generator of the parietal N20 potential, a radically oriented dipole generated mainly in the parietal area is postulated. 

Category: nervous system diseases
Dynamic changes in left ventricular outflow tract flow velocities after amyl nitrite inhalation in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Doppler echocardiography was performed in 21 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC), in nine patients with no evidence of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy by two-dimensional echocardiography, and in five patients with systemic hypertension and concentric LV hypertrophy. The LV outflow tract (LVOT) peak velocity was recorded by continuous wave Doppler technique at rest and after amyl nitrite inhalation. The LVOT pressure gradient was calculated by the modified Bernoulli equation. A significant increase in heart rate and a drop in systolic blood pressure were observed in all patients after amyl nitrite inhalation; no adverse effects were encountered. The peak LVOT velocity and pressure gradient increased significantly after provocation in all patients, but the increase was much more pronounced in patients with HC (peak LVOT velocity increased from 2.2 +/- 0.8 to 4.3 +/- 1.0 m/sec and peak gradient increased from 22 +/- 17 to 78 +/- 36 mm Hg). The Doppler spectral signal in patients with HC demonstrated a characteristic contour, with peak velocity occurring in late systole. However, the observed increase in LVOT peak velocity was not statistically different between treated (with beta-blockers and calcium blockers) and untreated patients with HC. We conclude that LVOT peak velocity and pressure gradients in patients with HC can be readily assessed by Doppler echocardiography both at rest and after amyl nitrite inhalation. The dynamic changes in LVOT velocity induced by this provocation have certain characteristic features in obstructive HC but appear to be independent of the medical regimen used, at least in the dosages tested in our study. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Reduced frequency of hypertensive disorders in placenta previa The isthmic segment of the uterine artery's ascending branch has a freer course and wider diameter than distal parts of the vessel. Therefore, we assumed that this arterial segment would provide better blood flow and prevent hypoxia of the trophoblast. As a result, placenta previa pregnancies would be complicated by hypertensive disorders less often than are pregnancies with normally implanted placentas. To test this hypothesis, 491 placenta previa pregnancies, among a population of 106,866 pregnant women, were compared with pregnancies with normally implanted placentas. Clinically meaningful and statistically significant reductions in the rates and risks of hypertensive disorders were found in placenta previa pregnancies (P = .002, relative risk = 0.44, 95% confidence interval 0.25-0.78). The differences persisted when primiparous and multiparous women were examined separately and when preterm and term deliveries were separated. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, patients with placenta previa had a third of the risk for hypertensive disorders compared with pregnant women with normally implanted placentas (relative risk = 0.36, 95% confidence interval 0.20-0.64), even after controlling for parity and preterm or term delivery. In the same model, primiparity and preterm delivery were each associated with a doubling of risk for hypertensive disorders, regardless of the placental implantation site. Thus, regardless of parity and preterm or term delivery, placenta previa and hypertensive disorders are inversely related. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Does primary fibromyalgia exist? Twenty-one of 25 consecutive primary fibromyalgia or fibrositis patients, identified during a 5-year period in a tertiary care day-ward for pain syndromes, were re-examined. Fifteen fulfilled criteria for fibromyalgia but unexpectedly, all cases had either psychiatric disturbance or thyroid dysfunction. Of the four patients not seen at follow-up, two had developed neurological diseases, another rheumatoid arthritis and one other hypothyroidism. Thus, after 5 years no patient fulfilled the criteria for primary fibromyalgia. Women occupied as manual workers were over-represented. Most patients reported beneficial effects of physiotherapy. None of the patients has been able to return to full time work. 

Category: nervous system diseases
Prognostic significance of nondiploid DNA determined by flow cytometry in sporadic and familial medullary thyroid carcinoma. To clarify the role of DNA measurements in predicting outcome after surgical treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), we performed flow cytometric analysis in nuclear suspensions of 119 MTC tumors. Of the 119 patients, 63 (53%) patients had sporadic tumors and 56 (47%) patients had familial tumors; survivors were followed for a mean of 13 years. DNA content was normal in 92 (77%) patients and abnormal (nondiploid) in 27 (23%) patients. Ten-year cause-specific mortality rates were 12%, 42%, and 49% with diploid, tetraploid/polyploid, or aneuploid tumors (p = 0.0009) and were greater with nondiploid tumors both in the sporadic (p = 0.012) and multiple endocrine neoplasia (familial) cases (p = 0.114). None of 27 patients with TNM stage I disease died of MTC. In patients with TNM stages II, III, and IV disease, DNA nondiploid tumors were associated with increased deaths from MTC. In a Cox proportional hazards model involving all 119 patients and adjusted for disease stage and inheritance pattern, nondiploid DNA was independently associated with increased deaths from MTC (p = 0.008). In an identical Cox model restricted to the 92 DNA diploid tumors, an S-phase fraction of 15.0% or more remained a significant variable (p = 0.034) after adjustment for stage and inheritance pattern. We therefore conclude that DNA measurements do have a role to play in predicting outcome after surgical treatment of MTC. 

Category: neoplasms
Differential reading recovery in patients with severe to moderate closed head injury. A differential recovery was seen when alternate forms of a nationally standardized test of Reading Vocabulary, Literal Reading Comprehension and Inferential Reading Comprehension was administered serially to 10 consecutive closed head injury admissions to a university rehabilitation hospital. Inferential Reading Comprehension was the most impaired and had the fastest recovery rate. Subtle cognitive deficits in Inferential Reading Comprehension were detected when Reading Vocabulary was at or better than a twelfth grade level. Maximal recovery of all three reading functions occurred within 4 months after trauma, with most occurring in the first 3 months. The reading recovery pattern parallels the recovery of intelligence scores in the literature. 

Category: general pathological conditions