Melricflash/CW_MedAbstractsAlt huggingface dataset:
Fatal or severely disabling cerebral infarction during hospitalization for stroke or transient ischemic attack. Six (1%) of 578 patients admitted for cerebral infarction or transient ischemic attack (TIA) suffered a fatal or severely disabling in-hospital cerebral infarction following a period of stabilization or improvement lasting more than 1 day. These infarctions were characterized by the sudden onset of stupor or coma and subsequent development of transtentorial herniation due to carotid or middle cerebral artery territory infarction, or widespread brain-stem infarction due to basilar occlusion. Only one patient survived. Four patients had large-vessel disease documented by Doppler, angiography, or at autopsy. Each of these six infarcts occurred during the morning hours, 4-9 days after the initial event, 3-8 days after initiation of intravenous heparin, and within 4-8 h after intravenous heparin had been discontinued. No coagulation abnormalities were documented. We believe that these cases indicate that among patients admitted for cerebral infarction or TIA, fatal or severely disabling in-hospital cerebral infarction after a period of stabilization or improvement may occur in patients having an initially mild to moderate clinical deficit, that those suffering large artery disease may be at greater risk, and that there may be a relationship between heparin withdrawal and cerebral infarction in some patients. 

Category: nervous system diseases
Locked intramedullary nailing of femoral shaft fractures. One hundred twenty-three femoral shaft fractures were treated with Grosse-Kempf slotted, locked nails and followed for a median 20 (range, 12-60) months. There were eight intraoperative and 11 postoperative complications, among them two superficial and two deep infections. Most of the intraoperative complications and some postoperatively lost reductions could have been prevented by a better operative technique and judgment of stability. Seventy-eight results were graded as excellent, 24 as good, 19 as fair, and two as poor (one 9-cm shortening and one 40 degrees external malrotation). All fractures united without further procedures during the first year. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Yersinia enterocolitica abscess of the transverse colon. Report of a case. Yersinia enterocolitica abscess of the bowel is a rare entity. Only five cases have previously been reported--none in the surgical literature. A unique presentation for Yersinia infection, abscess of the transverse colon, is described, and the literature of Y. enterocolitica intestinal perforation and abscess is reviewed. 

Category: digestive system diseases
Logistic discriminant analysis improves diagnostic accuracy of exercise testing for coronary artery disease in women. BACKGROUND. Diagnostic accuracy of the exercise electrocardiogram in women has been shown to be limited for the detection of coronary artery disease. New diagnostic methods based on computer analysis of the exercise electrocardiogram and multivariate analysis have improved the diagnostic value of exercise testing in male subjects. The aim of the present study was to assess whether the diagnostic value of exercise testing can be enhanced in women by using multivariate analysis of exercise data. METHODS AND RESULTS. Between 1978 and 1984, 135 infarct-free women underwent exercise testing and coronary angiography. Significant coronary artery disease was present in 41% of the patients. In this first group, maximal exercise variables were submitted to a stepwise logistic analysis. Work load, heart rate, and ST60X were selected to build a diagnostic model. The model was tested in a second group of 115 catheterized women (significant coronary artery disease in 47%) and of 76 volunteers. We compared the present model with conventional analysis of the exercise electrocardiogram, with ST changes adjusted for heart rate, and with a previously described analysis. In both groups, sensitivity was better with the present model (66% and 70%) than by conventional (68% and 59%) and by the previously described analysis (57% and 44%) without a loss of specificity (85% and 93%). Receiver-operator characteristic curves showed also a better diagnostic accuracy with the present model. CONCLUSIONS. In women, logistic analysis of exercise variables improves the diagnostic value of exercise testing. It yields a significantly better sensitivity without a loss of specificity. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Flow cytometric DNA analysis of parathyroid tumors. Implication of aneuploidy for pathologic and biologic classification. The previous cytometric studies on parathyroid tumors have provided conflicting data regarding the relationship between DNA content and histopathology, resulting from differences in technical methods and data analysis. This study measured nuclear DNA of parathyroid tumors by flow cytometry in fresh material and determined whether DNA aneuploidy really assists in making a pathologic diagnosis of carcinoma or not. From May 1987 through April 1989, 65 consecutive patients operated on for primary hyperparathyroidism had DNA analysis of the freshly excised parathyroid tumors. Three of the patients had metastatic lesions of parathyroid carcinoma in the lung, cervical lymph nodes, and lung and mediastinal lymph nodes, respectively. Pathologic classifications of the lesions from the other 62 patients were 54 adenomas, four carcinomas, and four hyperplasias. In all the latter patients, hyperplasia was associated with a multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome. Unequivocal evidence of aneuploidy was found in all of the metastatic lesions and 60% of the primary lesions of the carcinomas, in 9% of the adenomas and in 50% of the hyperplasias. Therefore, parathyroid carcinomas were more apt to be aneuploid than were adenomas (P = 0.0015, both-sided testing). In each of the cases of aneuploid hyperplasia, a small aneuploid peak was found. The high incidence of aneuploidy in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 may indicate the presence of clonal heterogeneity of hyperplastic glands and the presence of an abnormal subset of cells that have malignant potential. Cell distribution analysis did not provide any significant information beyond ploidy level. In conclusion, DNA flow cytometric analysis of DNA ploidy patterns is a valuable adjunct to the histopathologic diagnosis of parathyroid neoplasms. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Iron and the liver. Iron is essential for life, but iron overload is toxic and potentially fatal. The liver is a major site of iron storage and is particularly susceptible to injury from iron overload, especially when (as in primary hemochromatosis) the iron accumulates in hepatocytes. Iron can be taken up by the liver in several forms and by several pathways including: (1) receptor-mediated endocytosis of diferric or monoferric transferrin or ferritin, (2) reduction and carrier-facilitated internalization of iron from transferrin without internalization of the protein moiety of transferrin, (3) electrogenic uptake of low molecular weight, non-protein bound forms of iron, and (4) uptake of heme from heme-albumin, heme-hemopexin, or hemoglobin-haptoglobin complexes. Normally, pathway 2 is probably the major one for uptake of iron by hepatocytes. Iron is stored in the liver in the cores of ferritin shells and as hemosiderin, an insoluble product derived from iron-rich ferritin. Iron in hepatocytes stimulates translation of ferritin mRNA and represses transcription of DNA for transferrin and transferrin receptors. The major pathologic effects of chronic hepatic iron overload are: (1) fibrosis and cirrhosis, (2) porphyria cutanea tarda, and (3) hepatocellular carcinoma. Although precise pathogenetic mechanisms remain unknown, iron probably produces these and other toxic effects by increasing oxidative stress and lysosomal lability. Vigorous efforts at diagnosis and treatment of iron overload are essential since the pathologic effects of iron are totally preventable by early vigorous iron removal and prevention of iron re-accumulation. 

Category: neoplasms
Discordant bone marrow involvement in diffuse large-cell lymphoma: a distinct clinical-pathologic entity associated with a continuous risk of relapse. From 1975 to 1988, 50 patients with lymph node biopsy-documented diffuse large-cell lymphoma (DLCL) presented with bone marrow involvement. Twenty-four patients (48%) had large-cell lymphoma (LCL) in the bone marrow and were compared with 19 (38%) patients who had small cleaved-cell lymphoma (SCCL) in the marrow. Additionally, seven patients (14%) had mixed small- and large-cell lymphoma (ML) in the marrow. Patients who had LCL marrow involvement were younger (P less than .02) and more frequently had elevated lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) levels (P less than .001), high tumor burden (P less than .01), and more sites of extranodal disease (P less than .05) than those with SCCL in the marrow. The complete response (CR) rate to multiagent chemotherapy was 16.7% in the LCL group and 89.4% in the SCCL group (P less than .001). One third of the patients with LCL in the marrow developed CNS involvement, compared with only one patient in the SCCL group (P = .06). Overall 5-year survival was 79% in patients with SCCL marrow involvement, compared with only 12% in patients with LCL in the marrow (P = .002). Despite a high CR rate, patients with marrow involved by SCCL were at a high continuous risk of relapse with only a 30% failure-free survival at 5 years. We conclude that bone marrow involvement with LCL predicts for extremely poor prognosis with low response rate and short survival. Patients with SCCL in the bone marrow have a high rate of CR and a high rate of 5-year survival; however, there is a high risk of late relapse, and only 15% are in a continuous remission at 8 years. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Coronary angioplasty in young adults: initial results and late outcome. The initial and late outcome of coronary angioplasty was studied in 148 patients less than 40 years of age (mean 36.4 +/- 3). Angioplasty was performed on a single vessel in 70% of patients and on multiple vessels in 30%; it was performed on a totally occluded vessel in 20%. Angioplasty was successful in 90.5% of patients, unsuccessful but uncomplicated in 7.4% and complicated by myocardial infarction in 0.7%, emergency bypass surgery in 0.7% and death in 0.7%. At late (mean 3.7 +/- 3 years; range 0.5 to 11.5) follow-up study after successful angioplasty, 94% of patients were alive, 79% were free of angina and 85% had returned to work; late myocardial infarction occurred in 4%. Actuarial survival at 5 years was 95%, and 85% of patients were free from death, infarction or bypass surgery. A second angioplasty was performed in 29 patients (22%) (mean 6.1 +/- 8.4 months) and was successful in 27 (93%), with no deaths. Elective coronary bypass surgery was performed in 8.5% of patients, with perioperative infarction in 9% and no deaths. By univariate analysis, late death was more likely to occur in hypertensive patients (15% versus 2.5%; p less than 0.01) and diabetic patients (21.4% versus 3.6%; p less than 0.01). Cox proportional hazard regression analysis identified hypertension (p = 0.007) and diabetes (p = 0.04) as independent time-related predictors of subsequent death. Thus, early and late results after coronary angioplasty in young adults are favorable, but certain risk factors are important predictors of outcome. Late revascularization procedures (repeat angioplasty or surgery) for restenosis or disease progression are common. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Neurological sequelae of cerebral malaria in children. Out of 604 Gambian children admitted with falciparum malaria to one hospital between September and December, 1988, 308 had cerebral malaria and 203 were severely anaemic (haemoglobin less than 60 g/l). 14% of those with cerebral malaria died, as did 7.8% of those with severe anaemia. 32 (12%) of children surviving cerebral malaria had residual neurological deficit. 69 other children were admitted with clinical features strongly suggestive of cerebral malaria but with negative blood films; 16 of these died and 3 had residual neurological deficits. The commonest sequelae of cerebral malaria were hemiplegia (23 cases), cortical blindness (11), aphasia (9), and ataxia (6). Factors predisposing to sequelae included prolonged coma, protracted convulsions, severe anaemia, and a biphasic clinical course characterised by recovery of consciousness followed by recurrent convulsions and coma. At follow up 1-6 months later over half these children had made a full recovery, but a quarter were left with a major residual neurological deficit. Cerebral malaria in childhood may be an important cause of neurological handicap in the tropics. 

Category: nervous system diseases
Germfree animals and technics in surgical research. Germfree animals have been reared to a size, weight, and age permitting the performance of major surgical procedures and the pursuit of a variety of surgical research problems. Germfree dogs have been maintained in the isolator system through three generations, indicating that life, reproduction, and growth are all possible in the absence of microbial contamination. The value of the germfree approach to surgical problems has been utilized in studies of a variety of gastrointestinal problems, shock, cancer, immunology, burns, wound healing, and in direct patient application. Patients have been maintained in isolator environments for prevention of infection, for operative procedures, for treatment of extensive burns, and for management of immune-suppressed individuals. We conclude that germfree animals and germfree technics provide a valuable addition to the armamentarium of the surgeon in both research and clinical applications. 

Category: neoplasms
Correlations between therapeutic response of leukaemias and in-vitro drug-sensitivity assay. To develop the differential staining cytotoxicity (DiSC) assay, an in-vitro drug sensitivity test designed specifically for use with fresh human haematological tumour cells, into a predictive test for response to therapy as well as a tool for identifying new treatment strategies, test results have been correlated with response in patients with haematological malignancies. 22 of 119 tests indicated extreme drug resistance (tumour cell survival greater than 55%) in vitro. None of these patients responded to chemotherapy. The proportion of patients responding to therapy and 50% patient survival rose with in-vitro drug sensitivity. 11 specimens showing extreme drug resistance to the agents prescribed for the patient were subjected to drug sensitivity tests of drugs not prescribed; patients showing some sensitivity to these drugs had better survival than did those with extreme drug resistance to all drugs tested. The DiSC assay can also be used to identify new agents worth testing in clinical trials, and cross resistance profiles of new agents may indicate what combinations might be useful. 

Category: neoplasms
Epilepsy with continuous spike-waves during slow sleep and its treatment. Five children with epilepsy with "continuous spike-waves during slow sleep" (CSWS) are reported. The main clinical features of CSWS include (a) onset between 5 and 7 years of age, (b) the occurrence of several types of seizure (i.e., partial motor, generalized motor, and atypical absence), and (c) the presence of language disturbances and abnormal behavior based on emotional impairment. The EEG findings were characterized by sleep tracings showing almost continuous (greater than 95%), diffuse slow spike and wave activity. After treatment with valproate (VPA) (or ethosuximide, ESM) and clonazepam (CZP), the spike and wave complex status disappeared. Symptoms and signs of the CSWS also decreased. We suggest that combined treatment is an appropriate treatment for CSWS. 

Category: nervous system diseases
Triggers of transient myocardial ischemia: circadian variation and relation to plaque rupture and coronary thrombosis in stable coronary artery disease. The phenomenon of transient myocardial ischemia is common in patients with stable coronary disease and appears to be due both to increases in myocardial demand and to episodic coronary vasoconstriction. The circadian variation of transient ischemic episodes closely parallels the circadian variation of acute coronary syndromes associated with plaque rupture, such as myocardial infarction and sudden death. These concordant temporal patterns of transient ischemia, myocardial infarction and sudden cardiac death probably represent independent manifestations stemming from the consequences of increased sympathetic activity. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Significance of anti-HBx antibodies in hepatitis B virus infection. Serological responses to hepatitis B virus-X determinants have been noted in human sera, but conflicting findings concerning the correlation of anti-HBx antibodies with different stages of hepatitis B virus infection or pathological sequelae have been reported. Using an adenovirus-based eukaryotic vector, the 17 kD X protein was efficiently expressed in 293 cells. Cellular extracts containing the eukaryotic X protein have been used to screen for anti-HBx antibodies by immunoblot analysis in a large panel of sera from patients affected by hepatitis B virus chronic hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma and acute viral hepatitis. Sera from 32 of 171 (19%) chronic hepatitis B virus patients were positive for anti-HBx antibodies. Only one of thirty-two (3%) HBsAg-negative, anti-HBs/anti-HBc-positive chronic hepatitis serum was anti-HBx positive. Very few sera from primary hepatocellular carcinoma patients showed positivity for anti-HBx (8 of 149 or 5%). Anti-HBx were also detected in 8 of 48 (17%) acute viral hepatitis patients. In the four cases that were followed up weekly, anti-HBx antibodies appeared 3 to 4 wk after the onset of the clinical signs. To compare the X protein expressed in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells as a substrate for anti-HBx antibody detection, 171 sera were screened with HBx fusion proteins expressed in Escherichia coli. The prokaryotic cell extract test seems to be more sensitive. During the chronic phase of hepatitis B virus infection, the presence of anti-HBx antibodies detected with the eukaryotic cell extract correlates with the presence of well-established markers of ongoing viral replication: serum hepatitis B virus-DNA (p less than 0.001) and intrahepatic HBcAg expression (p less than 0.001). 

Category: digestive system diseases
Brush cytology in the diagnosis of colonic neoplasms. During a three-year period (1986-1988), 234 colonic brush specimens were received in the authors' laboratory. Nine samples (4%) were deemed unsatisfactory for evaluation because of inadequate cellularity and/or poor fixation. In 11 cases concomitant or follow-up histologic specimens were not available. The remaining 214 specimens included 82 malignant neoplasms, 88 neoplastic polyps (adenomas), and 44 nonneoplastic lesions. Sixty-seven (82%) of malignant neoplasms were correctly diagnosed by brush cytology. Three cases of adenoma with severe dysplasia or in situ carcinoma were diagnosed as adenocarcinoma by cytology. No false-positive diagnoses were made of nonneoplastic lesions. Brush cytology was found to be a more sensitive technique in the diagnosis of colon cancer than endoscopic biopsy (82% and 74% sensitivity, respectively). The combination of the two techniques increased the sensitivity to 90% and improved the overall accuracy of the test. Seventy-one (82%) of the colonic adenomas were correctly diagnosed by cytology. Brush cytology is a convenient, safe, and accurate technique which should be used concurrently with endoscopic biopsy or polypectomy. 

Category: digestive system diseases
Diagnostic significance of flow separation within the carotid bifurcation demonstrated by digital subtraction angiography. The presence of an area of reversed blood flow due to flow separation in the interval carotid artery is a normal finding in Doppler ultrasound studies in vivo as well as in model carotid bifurcations. This flow separation phenomenon is caused by the geometry of the carotid bifurcation and the fluid dynamics of blood. We demonstrated the flow separation phenomenon on lateral-projection intra-arterial digital subtraction angiograms in 99 of 100 carotid bifurcations. The mean duration of flow separation was 5.8 seconds, with values up to 14 seconds in normal carotid bifurcations. The presence of this flow separation phenomenon is almost independent of atherosclerotic lesions and is not correlated with cerebral ischemia. Therefore, the angiographic finding of a flow separation has no diagnostic value. However, our results refer to a factor that may be important in the genesis of atherosclerosis at the carotid bifurcation, namely the duration of the stay of blood and its components within the area of flow separation. 

Category: nervous system diseases
Structural and ultrastructural study of the ovary in childhood leukemia after successful treatment. Ovarian biopsy specimens from ten girls (three postmenarcheal) who had undergone antiblastic treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and were in complete remission were examined by light microscope. The biopsy specimens from four of these patients (three postmenarcheal) were also observed by electron microscope. The structural and ultrastructural analysis showed a reduction in the number of follicles which were otherwise normal. No follicles were found in the thin sections from two of the three postmenarcheal girls, whereas normal follicles were observed in the third. The cortical stroma showed moderate to severe signs of fibrosis and changes of capillaries. All of these alterations were more evident in patients where ALL was diagnosed at an older age and this finding suggests that they are at a higher risk for low fertility or early menopause. 

Category: neoplasms
Idiopathic gastroparesis is associated with a multiplicity of severe dietary deficiencies. Idiopathic gastroparesis (IG), a disorder characterized by abnormally delayed emptying of food from the stomach, is associated with many symptoms that could have an impact on dietary intake. The intake of dietary protein, carbohydrate, fat, fiber, vitamins, and minerals was prospectively evaluated in patients with symptomatic IG and compared with asymptomatic controls. Twenty-four patients and 24 age- and sex-matched controls completed a detailed 7-day diet record while consuming a self-selected diet. Dietary information was entered into a computer and analyzed using the Nutranal program. Results were expressed as daily intake and percent recommended dietary allowance (%RDA) when applicable. Patients consumed a diet containing fewer calories than would have been predicted based on age, height, sex, frame, and weight (85% of calculated energy expenditure vs 100%) for controls. Although patients with IG consumed significantly fewer calories than controls (1112 kcal vs 1431 kcal), the proportion of fat (32% vs 34%), carbohydrate (49% vs 48%), and protein (17% vs 16%) was similar in the two groups. Intake of vitamins B6, vitamin C, folate, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc were below the %RDA. Intake of vitamin B12, vitamin C, folate, thiamine, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc were significantly less than controls. Vitamin A intake was above the RDA and not different from that of controls. Prolonged t1/2 of solids correlated with diminished intake of protein, iron, niacin, and potassium. They correlated inversely with serum albumin in patients with idiopathic gastroparesis. Conclusion: Although eating less, patients with IG do not consistently alter the proportion of fat, carbohydrate, and protein in their diets. Because their diet is markedly deficient in a number of essential vitamins and minerals, dietary evaluation and counseling is suggested for all patients with idiopathic gastroparesis. 

Category: digestive system diseases