Melricflash/CW_MedAbstractsAlt huggingface dataset:
An extracorporeal perfusion system to bridge pediatric liver transplant candidates. An extracorporeal liver perfusion system was designed to maintain cadaver livers in an oxygenated, normothermic state for bridging procedures for hepatic transplantation. Nonpulsatile high flow and pulsatile low flow blood are supplied to the portal venous (PV) and hepatic arterial (HA) circulations. Controlled low blood flow (5-10 cc/kg [patient]/min) is exchanged between the high flow extracorporeal perfusion circuit (1 cc/g [liver]/min) and the patient. The system was evaluated in perfusions of fresh, excised pig livers (n = 5). The average oxygen consumption was 9 +/- 3 microliters/g/min, and bile production averaged 4.7 microliters/g/hr. Perfusion pressures and flows were normal in both the HA and PV circulations for about 4 hr. Pressures then gradually rose, especially in the HA circulation, causing flow to decrease, with subsequent mottling and discoloration of the liver. Red blood cell, platelet, and white blood cell counts fell continuously. Maintenance of liver function was assessed by clearance of an 80 mg taurocholic acid challenge. An average of 56% of injected acid was cleared from the perfused livers (n = 5) in the first half hour, compared with 90% and 25% for the in situ (n = 3) and unperfused (n = 3) control livers, respectively. The system consistently maintained livers in a moderately well functioning state through the first 4 hr of perfusion. Adequate support of animals with induced hepatic failure must now be demonstrated. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Clinical characteristics and coronary angiographic findings of patients with unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction, and survivors of sudden ischemic death occurring during and after sport. The clinical characteristics and coronary angiographic findings of 42 well-conditioned subjects with an acute ischemic event related to sport are reported. Five patients had unstable angina, 25 had acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and 12 were resuscitated victims of sudden ischemic death. Twenty-two events occurred during sport (group A) and 20 after sport (group B). There were two women and 40 men. The mean age was 46 years (range 25 to 65). Twelve out of 30 patients who smoked cigarettes had an adjunctive risk factor for coronary artery disease. Twelve others (28%) had no identifiable risk factor. Prodromal cardiac symptoms were detected in three patients (group A). Two patients had previous myocardial infarction (group B). Coronary angiography was performed acutely in 39 patients. The distribution of the ischemia-related coronary artery was comparable in both groups. The lesion morphology of 35 culprit coronary arteries was described as concentric in six patients and eccentric with regular borders (type I lesion) in 11 and irregular borders (type II lesion) in 18. Eccentric lesions consistent with ruptured plaques prevailed in both groups. Associated coronary artery disease was present in 10 patients. There was no relationship between the number of risk factors and the extent of diseased coronary arteries. Clinical characteristics and coronary angiographic findings of patients with unstable angina, AMI, and sudden death either during or after sport are similar and indicate a common pathogenesis. The probable mechanism of a coronary event related to sport is exercise-induced plaque rupture. In most instances such an event is unexpected and unpredictable. Identification of some subjects at risk is possible. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Prevalence of coronary heart disease in Scotland: Scottish Heart Health Study Data from 10,359 men and women aged 40-59 years from 22 districts in the Scottish Heart Health Study were used to describe the prevalence rates of coronary heart disease in Scotland in 1984-1986 and their relation to the geographical variation in mortality in these districts. Prevalence was measured by previous history, Rose chest pain questionnaire, and the Minnesota code of a 12 lead resting electrocardiogram. The prevalence of coronary heart disease in Scotland was high compared with studies from other countries that used the same standardised methods. A history of angina was more common in men (5.5%) than in women (3.9%), though in response to the Rose questionnaire 8.5% of women and 6.3% of men reported chest pain. A history of myocardial infarction was three times more common in men than women, as was a Q/QS pattern on the electrocardiogram. There were significant correlations between the different measures of coronary prevalence. District measures of angina correlated well with mortality from coronary heart disease, and these correlations tended to be stronger in women than in men. There was no significant correlation between mortality from coronary heart disease and measures of myocardial infarction. The study provides data on the prevalence of coronary heart disease in men and women that are valuable for the planning of cardiological services. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Peritoneal blastomycosis. Blastomycosis is a systemic fungal infection caused by Blastomyces dermatitidis. Involvement of the peritoneum is unusual, with only two previously reported cases that occurred in association with disseminated disease. A single case of histopathologically proven blastomycosis involving the peritoneum is presented, as well as a short overview of previously published cases on gastrointestinal and peritoneal blastomycosis. The case is unique in that chronic peritonitis was the only manifestation of disease. The diagnosis was made by laparoscopy. 

Category: digestive system diseases
Free protein S deficiency in a family with venous thrombosis. Inherited deficiencies of protein S, an inhibitor of the coagulation system, are now recognized as occurring at least twice as frequently as antithrombin III deficiency in patients with venous thrombosis. Protein S is present in plasma in a complexed form, which is inactive, and in a free or functional form. Free protein S combines with activated protein C to inhibit factors V and VIII. This report describes the evaluation of a family with recurrent deep venous thrombosis and superficial thrombophlebitis. Levels of antithrombin III and protein C as well as plasminogen were normal. The levels of total protein S, which includes the value for the free and complexed forms of protein S, were also normal. However, the free protein S levels were greatly reduced in all symptomatic members who were studied. This report illustrates the importance of obtaining measurement of free protein S levels in patients who are suspected of having inherited venous thrombotic disorders. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Pelvic pain and infections. Infectious etiologies of both acute and chronic pelvic pain are common and may involve multiple organ systems. In the evaluation of the acute pain, it is important to remember that rapidity of diagnosis is important because of the possibility of significant morbidity and even death if a condition is not attended to rapidly. In recent years, laparoscopic evaluation of the pelvis has provided a better understanding of the pathophysiology of some of these infections, as well as possible therapeutic maneuvers. The evaluation of chronic pelvic pain requires a thorough attempt at careful diagnosis with minds open to the possibility that other organ systems besides the genital tract may be involved. Laparoscopy also may be an important diagnostic and therapeutic tool in the evaluation of the sequelae of pelvic inflammation leading to chronic pelvic pain. All therapeutic modalities that are instituted on the basis of the diagnostic evaluation must take into consideration that a strong emotional component is generally associated with chronic pelvic pain. Such components must be addressed in order to achieve the best possible results for the patient. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Dependence among host response parameters used to diagnose urinary tract infection. The host-response parameters fever, C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) are activated in concert by cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6). Il-6 is secreted in response to Escherichia coli infection of the urinary tract. This study tested the hypothesis that the level of fever, CRP, and ESR is coregulated in individual patients. Body temperature, CRP, ESR, pyuria, and renal concentrating capacity were analyzed in 692 children with first-time urinary tract infections. The association of the parameters was evaluated by correlation and multiple regression analysis. The body temperature, CRP, and ESR were significantly correlated (r = .54, .58, and .58; P less than .001), and variation in CRP and ESR explained approximately 40% of the variation in fever. In contrast, the renal concentrating capacity and pyruia were weakly or not at all correlated with the febrile response (r = -.22; P less than .001), and less than 10% of the variation in renal concentrating capacity was explained by the other parameters. The results suggest that fever, CRP, and ESR describe the same aspect of the host response to UTI. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Laser placement in noncontact Nd:YAG cyclophotocoagulation. We treated 40 eyes of 40 patients by using noncontact transscleral Nd:YAG cyclophotocoagulation to determine whether treatment 1.5 or 3.0 mm posterior to the corneoscleral lumbus was preferable. Patients were randomly assigned to one of the treatment groups, and all other variables, including power, number, and distribution of laser applications, were kept constant. Six months postoperatively, those treated 1.5 mm posterior to the corneoscleral limbus had a lower intraocular pressure (P = .0047) than those treated 3.0 mm from the corneoscleral limbus. The 1.5-mm group also required fewer retreatment (P = .017) and had a slightly lower occurrence of visual acuity loss after this procedure. We believe it may be advantageous to locate the laser application approximately 1.5 mm posterior to the corneoscleral limbus, rather than further posteriorly, when performing noncontact transscleral Nd:YAG cyclophotocoagulation. 

Category: general pathological conditions
A preliminary report of arthroscopic findings following acute condylar trauma Standard therapy in orthopedics dictates that joints with suspected hemarthrosis be considered for irrigation or exploration, especially when immobilization is part of the treatment plan. In this preliminary report, 14 patients who had condylar/subcondylar fractures underwent superior joint space arthroscopy as part of the evaluation and treatment of their fractures. In all but two patients, blood was found in the superior joint space. Length of time from injury to time of examination correlated with the quantities of blood found. The severity and direction of the blow seemed to influence the findings in the joints. Synovial ecchymosis was a consistent finding. The disc appeared to be grossly intact and within the glenoid fossa in all cases, even when the condyle was grossly displaced. These findings raise questions about the role of direct disc injury as a source of postoperative temporomandibular joint (TMJ) symptoms, as well as about the practice of immobilization of fractures immediately after trauma. Further studies will be necessary to compare the treatment results in patients who have had arthroscopy versus those who have not. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Simultaneous or staged bilateral total knee replacements in rheumatoid arthritis. A prospective study. In a prospective study of 100 knee arthroplasties in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, simultaneous bilateral surgery was compared with staged bilateral replacements. All patients had improved function following their operations but those who had staged surgery only achieved maximum benefit after the second knee had been replaced. The complication rate was no greater for simultaneous surgery and we therefore advocate the method for those patients who require bilateral replacements. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Clonal deletion of V beta 14-bearing T cells in mice transgenic for mammary tumour virus. Autoreactive T lymphocytes are clonally deleted during maturation in the thymus. Deletion of T cells expressing particular receptor V beta elements is controlled by poorly defined autosomal dominant genes. A gene has now been identified by expression of transgenes in mice which causes deletion of V beta 14+ T cells. The gene lies in the open reading frame of the long terminal repeat of the mouse mammary tumour virus. 

Category: general pathological conditions
The natural history of left ventricular spontaneous contrast. Spontaneous contrast in the left ventricle is an unusual entity. We retrospectively studied 16 patients who were found to have spontaneous contrast present on two-dimensional echocardiograms, specifically noting their clinical characteristics, the reproducibility of this phenomenon, the presence of thrombi and embolic events, and prognostic implications. Diagnoses included ischemic heart disease in nine patients, dilated cardiomyopathy in six patients, and hypertensive cardiomyopathy in one patient. The mean ejection fraction was 17.6%. There were six thromboembolic events in four patients. The spontaneous contrast was reproducible for periods of time up to 39 months. Patients who had improvement in their left ventricular dysfunction or who underwent aneurysmectomy had disappearance of the spontaneous contrast. Those patients who had spontaneous contrast reproduced on subsequent echocardiograms did not seem to have a worse prognosis than patients with similarly depressed ventricular function, but a larger study is necessary to verify this. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Clinical application of ras gene mutation for diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Most pancreatic adenocarcinomas are known to have ras gene (oncogene) mutations. The site of the mutations is localized in codon 12 of K-ras gene. Such high incidence and localization of the ras gene mutations have not been observed in any other human malignancies. Polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing method enabled us to analyze DNA sequence around codon 12 of K-ras gene in small quantities of specimens obtained from needle biopsies and aspirate samples for pathological diagnosis. All the materials obtained from 12 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma showed the mutations, whereas those obtained from 6 patients with chronic pancreatitis showed no mutations. In several cases using the mutations of K-ras gene as a marker, this analysis supplemented conventional pathology and cytology in making the diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The analysis of ras-gene mutations was useful for the clinical diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. 

Category: neoplasms
Synchronous Hodgkin's disease and myelofibrosis terminating with granulocytic sarcoma and acute megakaryocytic leukemia. Our patient had stage IIIAI Hodgkin's disease with synchronous myelofibrosis and myeloid metaplasia. A slowly progressive myeloproliferative disease developed over 9 1/2 years and terminated in a painful osteolytic bone disease, spinal extradural granulocytic sarcoma and acute megakaryocytic leukemia. It is likely that this was a result of the myeloproliferative disease rather than a late complication from combination chemotherapy. Our case demonstrates the importance of a curative approach to Hodgkin's disease even in the face of a coexistent disease with a long or unknown natural history. 

Category: neoplasms
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: general pathological conditions
Venous dysfunction of late pregnancy persists after delivery. Pregnancy is associated with DVT, pelvic thrombophlebitis, and lower extremity varicosities. Pelvic venous compression by the gravid uterus is blamed. A prospective controlled study using plethysmography was performed. Venous capacitance and outflow were measured at term, and at 1 week, 6 weeks and 3 months following delivery. Results show decreased venous capacitance and venous outflow at term pregnancy, no improvement 1 week after delivery, modest improvement at 6 weeks, and dramatic statistically significant improvement in both parameters by 3 months. The persistence of venous dysfunction for several weeks after delivery indicates that changes in venous function at term pregnancy are largely the result of factors other than pelvic venous compression by the gravid uterus. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Visual losses after myopic epikeratoplasty. The vision of seven patients who had undergone epikeratoplasty for myopia was evaluated by measuring their contrast sensitivity functions without and with the presence of a glare source. Compared with findings for a normal control population, these epikeratoplasty patients were found to have statistically significant contrast sensitivity losses. To evaluate the clinical relevance of these losses, the results were also compared with those for two other patient groups with abnormal corneal optics, seven radial keratotomy patients and seven keratoconus patients wearing rigid contact lenses. Contrast thresholds for the epikeratoplasty and keratoconus patients were similar and usually statistically indistinguishable, and their losses were far more profound than those of the radial keratotomy patients. The addition of glare did not alter this pattern of losses. The results document the extent of vision losses in these patients and suggest that increased intraocular light scattering is not a major contributor to the observed contrast sensitivity decrements. 

Category: nervous system diseases
Neutrophilic eccrine hidradenitis in two neutropenic patients. Neutrophilic eccrine hidradenitis is an uncommon, self-limited dermatosis with a variable clinical presentation. It seems to be due to chemotherapeutic drugs in most cases. Necrosis of the eccrine gland associated with a neutrophilic infiltrate is the histologic hallmark of this disease. We report two additional cases in neutropenic patients with acute myelogenous leukemia in which there was a striking lack of neutrophil infiltration. A new term, drug-associated eccrine hidradenitis, is suggested. 

Category: general pathological conditions
Controlled trials of antihypertensive drugs in pregnancy. It is taken for granted that severe hypertension in pregnancy should be treated, although the principle has not been formally tested by properly controlled trials. There is less certainty about treating mild to moderate hypertension (140/90 to 169/109 mm Hg). The risk of chronic hypertension in pregnancy depends on that of superimposed preeclampsia, which must be prevented by control of the blood pressure if antihypertensive treatment is to be beneficial. There is not a priori reason why lowering the blood pressure should have this effect. Most of the trials of treatment have been too small to provide conclusive answers. Usually treatment has been started too late to give a realistic expectation of influencing the evolution of superimposed preeclampsia. However, the largest trial of the early use of methyldopa in women with mild chronic hypertension, showed clearly that treatment does not prevent the superimposition of preeclampsia. beta-Adrenergic blocking agents, if used from the second start of the trimester, are associated with a major risk of severe growth retardation and are therefore contraindicated. Methyldopa has the best safety record, which includes long-term follow-up to assess the development of children exposed to methyldopa in utero. The ineffectiveness of antihypertensive drugs in preventing or ameliorating preeclampsia needs to be contrasted with the consistent evidence for the effectiveness of antiplatelet therapy. This is consistent with the increasing evidence that preeclampsia is not primarily, or even necessarily, a hypertensive disease. 

Category: cardiovascular diseases
Hepatic amino-nitrogen clearance to urea-nitrogen in control subjects and in patients with cirrhosis: a simplified method. The functional hepatic nitrogen clearance during amino acid infusion is a measure of liver cell mass. The clinical feasibility of the test has so far been limited by methodological problems. A simplified procedure was used to measure the urea-nitrogen synthesis rate and functional hepatic nitrogen clearance in nine subjects with normal liver function and in nine patients with cirrhosis. The method was based on only four consecutive 2-hr urine collections and five blood samples. Total body water was calculated from a nomogram based on age and anthropometric data, whereas the gut urea hydrolysis was assigned one fixed fraction of synthesis (0.17 in control subjects and 0.26 in patients with cirrhosis). Finally, a solution of a single amino acid, alanine, was infused as substrate for urea synthesis. Urea-nitrogen synthesis rate increased linearly with increasing alpha-amino-nitrogen concentration, and the slope of the regression (functional hepatic nitrogen clearance) was reduced in cirrhosis from 37.5 +/- 7.0 L/hr to 18.4 +/- 6.7 L/hr; p less than 0.005. The hepatic nitrogen clearance was linearly related to the clinical status (Child-Pugh score), to routine liver function tests and to galactose elimination capacity (r = 0.869), a well-established, quantitative, liver function measure. The simplified method makes the measurement of hepatic nitrogen clearance suitable for routine clinical use. The test might prove useful to study the alterations of nitrogen metabolism in cirrhosis, with special reference to hepatic encephalopathy. 

Category: digestive system diseases