shukoor65/lab-rag-model huggingface dataset:
Morphometric studies in rectal biopsy specimens from patients with ulcerative colitis: effect of oral 5 amino salicylic acid and rectal prednisolone treatment. Morphometric measurements were performed on rectal biopsy specimens from 10 normal control subjects and 33 patients with a relapse of distal ulcerative colitis before and after treatment for four weeks in a double blind controlled trial with oral eudragit S coated 5 amino salicylic acid (n = 12) or rectal prednisolone enemas (n = 15). Measurements were assessed using a computer aided measuring system and a counting technique. When untreated patients were compared with the control group there were significant decreases in the area and height of the surface epithelium, in the area of crypt epithelium, and in the ratios of goblet cells to epithelial cells and of surface epithelium to lamina propria. The vascular and lamina propria areas and the number of intraepithelial polymorphs were increased. Treatment with 5 amino salicylic acid and corticosteroids resulted in similar morphological improvements: there was an increase in the area and height of the surface epithelium and the ratios of surface epithelium to lamina propria and of surface to crypt cell height. The ratio of goblet cells to epithelial cells also increased after treatment, while the numbers of polymorphs in the surface and crypt epithelium and lumen decreased. In conclusion, computerised morphometry is valuable for the assessment of the treatment of patients with ulcerative colitis and that in the doses used both treatments were of similar efficacy.
Risk of cataract and history of severe diarrheal disease in southern India. A case-control study was carried out in the state of Tamil Nadu, southern India, to examine the association between the risk of visually disabling cataract and a lifetime history of severe diarrhea (including cholera). A series of 421 subjects, aged 35 to 65 years, meeting case (n = 181) and control (n = 240) eligibility criteria were enrolled from 19 rural cataract-screening camps. Ninety case-control pairs were postmatched for (reported) age (+/- 2 years), sex, and area of residence. A history of diarrhea was obtained by using an algorithm developed by other investigators in India who have reported a strong association between cataract and diarrhea. An odds ratio of 0.8 (95% confidence limits: 0.0, 3.2) was obtained from matched pairs analysis, and an odds ratio of 1.3 (95% confidence limit: 0.6, 2.7) was obtained among all subjects (n = 392) from a logistic analysis that adjusted for age, sex, occupation, area of residence, and caste. Findings of this study do not support the hypothesis of an increased risk of visually disabling cataract in persons with a positive history of severe diarrhea.
Clinical significance of soluble CD30 antigen in the sera of patients with untreated Hodgkin's disease. The soluble form of the CD30 antigen (sCD30), an 88-kd glycoprotein that is released by Hodgkin's-derived cell lines in vitro, can be detected in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma, adult (HTLV-1+) T-cell leukemia, rare cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and acute infectious mononucleosis (anti-EBV-IgM+). In a prospective study of 90 consecutive untreated patients with newly diagnosed Hodgkin's disease who were treated according to the protocols of the German Hodgkin Study group, 22% had detectable levels of sCD30 in their serum. sCD30 was only detected in patients with B symptoms (20 of 44 or 45%), and maximum sCD30 levels (88 U/mL) were found in stage IVB. Of 87 patients evaluable for response, sCD30+ patients had significantly lower rates of complete remission (9 of 20 or 45% v 60 of 67 or 90%; P less than .001) and higher rates of progressive disease (9 of 20 or 45% v 6 of 67 or 9%; P less than .001) than CD30+ patients. Similarly, freedom from treatment failure curves were significantly worse for CD30+ patients (P = .0003). sCD30 disappeared after successful treatment, but increased in patients with progressive disease. It was never detected in patients in complete remission or in healthy controls. We conclude that sCD30 is a valuable marker for disease activity and has prognostic significance in Hodgkin's disease.
Basic fibroblast growth factor and somatomedin C in human medulloepithelioma. Two published cases of medulloepithelioma, a rare malignant pediatric brain tumor composed of a mixture of primitive neuroepithelium and its differentiated neuronal and glial descendants, were examined by immunohistochemical staining for the presence of growth factors. From a panel of antibodies, those identifying basic fibroblast growth factor and insulin-like growth factor I, formerly known as somatomedin C, were strongly immunoreactive within the neuroepithelial cell population of the tumors. Immunoblots of purified recombinant basic fibroblast growth factor and insulin-like growth factor I showed antibody specificity without cross-reactivity. In controls, immunostaining of tissue sections was abolished by preabsorption of primary antibodies with the appropriate growth factor polypeptide antigen. Preabsorption with inappropriate growth factor did not reduce the intensity or alter the distribution of staining. The congruent histologic patterns of immunoreactivities suggest that more than one type of growth factor may be produced by the neuroepithelial component of medulloepithelioma. These growth factors may stimulate proliferation and differentiation of tumor cells by autocrine molecular mechanisms.
Conjunctival necrosis after administration of topical fortified aminoglycosides. We treated 11 episodes of bulbar conjunctival necrosis that occurred in ten patients after therapy for suppurative keratitis with topical fortified aminoglycosides. Chemosis and mucous discharge preceded the development of an area of conjunctival pallor, which stained with fluorescein and was 5 to 10 mm from the corneoscleral limbus. Typical lesions developed in the inferior bulbar conjunctiva after a mean of 4.8 days and 112 mg of gentamicin sulfate (109 drops). The fortified aminoglycoside was the only agent common to all cases. The conjunctival defects healed completely between five and 13 days after treatment was modified to reduce or eliminate aminoglycoside exposure.
Prediction of death and myocardial infarction by radionuclide angiocardiography in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. The prognostic value of radionuclide angiocardiography was examined in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. Nine hundred and eight patients who underwent rest and exercise radionuclide angiocardiography without subsequent cardiac catheterization were followed for a median of 4.6 years. Fifty-two cardiovascular deaths and 28 nonfatal myocardial infarctions occurred during the follow-up period. Thirty-nine radionuclide angiocardiographic and clinical variables were analyzed in association with the end points of cardiovascular death, total cardiac events and death from all causes using the Cox proportional hazards model and Kaplan-Meier survival estimates. Univariable analysis identified the exercise ejection fraction as the best predictor of cardiovascular death (chi-square = 82), total cardiac events (chi-square = 84) and death from all causes (chi-square = 66). A small subset of patients (n = 45) with an exercise ejection fraction less than 0.35 were at high risk for future cardiac events, whereas most patients (n = 776) had an exercise ejection fraction greater than or equal to 0.50 and a low probability of a subsequent event. Three variables--the exercise ejection fraction, the exercise change in heart rate, and gender--contained independent prognostic information determined by multivariable analysis. The exercise ejection fraction was the strongest independent predictor (p less than 0.0001) for every end point. The measurement of ventricular function during exercise provides important independent prognostic information in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. Radionuclide angiocardiography successfully identifies patients requiring invasive assessment, and the low probability of cardiac events in patients with good exercise ventricular function obviates the need for interventional therapy.
Efficacy of feedback training in long-standing facial nerve paresis. An efficacious treatment has not been available to patients with aberrant regeneration of the facial nerve as a result of Bell's palsy or after acoustic neuroma excision. This prospective controlled trial examines the efficacy of electromyographic feedback versus mirror feedback as treatment strategies for patients suffering from long-standing (18 months minimum) facial nerve paresis. Twenty-five patients were randomly assigned to electromyography with mirror feedback or mirror feedback alone. Seven rural patients who did not undergo treatment served as controls. At 0, 6, and 12 months, facial motor function was objectively quantified by linear measurement of facial movement, visual assessment of voluntary movement, and electrical measurement of facial nerve response to maximal stimulation. Statistically significant improvements were noted in both electromyography and mirror-feedback groups with respect to symmetry of voluntary movement (P less than .03) and linear measurement of facial expression (P less than .01). The positive results of this controlled trial demonstrate that feedback training in combination with a structured home rehabilitation program is a clinically efficacious treatment for patients with facial nerve paresis.
Fibrous dysplasia vs adamantinoma of the tibia: differentiation based on discriminant analysis of clinical and plain film findings. Differentiation between benign fibrous dysplasia and malignant adamantinoma of the tibia is challenging because of the impact the diagnosis has on the choice of treatment (none or extensive surgery). The histologic and pathologic similarities of the lesions and the controversial relationship between fibrous dysplasia, osteofibrous dysplasia, and adamantinoma complicate the matter. We found a large overlap of histologic features in lesions considered either fibrous dysplasia or osteofibrous dysplasia on the basis of the radiologic findings. The purpose of this study was to determine the value of the plain radiograph of the lower leg in combination with clinical findings to differentiate the benign from the malignant condition. The clinical symptoms, radiographs, and histologic slides of 46 patients with fibrous dysplasia and 22 with adamantinoma in the tibia were reviewed retrospectively. In only one of 12 patients with radiologic or histologic characteristics of osteofibrous dysplasia were both radiologic and histologic criteria for the diagnosis present. A linear discriminant analysis was performed on six clinical (age, spontaneous pain, pain after trauma, swelling only, pain and swelling, and bowing deformity) and 25 radiologic signs. Fibrous dysplasia and its variant osteofibrous dysplasia could be identified correctly in 87% (40 of 46 patients) and adamantinoma in 95% (21 of 22 patients) by using the patient's age and four radiologic signs. When results from the discriminant analysis of a randomized subgroup of patients (32) were used on the other subgroup (36 patients), fibrous dysplasia was correctly identified in 84% (21 of 25) and adamantinoma in 82% (nine of 11). Fibrous dysplasia is more prevalent than adamantinoma in a young patient, when radiographs show a ground-glass appearance and anterior bowing and when there is no multilayered periosteal reaction and moth-eaten destruction. When radiologic signs and the patient's age are combined, fibrous dysplasia and adamantinoma can be discriminated in a high percentage of patients.
Cytostatic extravasation. A serious complication of long-term venous access. Totally implantable ports have gained popularity as venous access in the treatment of cancer. A case is reported with an uncommon but very serious complication, i.e., cytostatic extravasation secondary to a broken implanted catheter. Guidelines for implantation and remedies are recommended.
Diagnosis and laparoscopic grading of acute salpingitis. Pelvic inflammatory disease continues to be a major cause of morbidity in women of reproductive age. Findings of bilateral adnexal tenderness and signs of a lower genital tract infection (mucopus, or leukorrhea, or both) should prompt clinicians to consider the diagnosis of salpingitis in this group of women. Additional signs of infection, such as elevated temperature, palpable adnexal complex, leukocytosis, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, or c-reactive protein, and positive tests for either Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Chlamydia trachomatis will improve the overall specificity of the clinical diagnosis. Endometrial biopsy offers an acceptable approach to documenting objectively inflammation of the upper genital tract. Diagnostic laparoscopy should be considered in all patients but may be especially helpful for those patients in whom a diagnosis is unclear. A laparoscopic grading system based primarily on tubal mobility and inflammation can be useful in predicting duration of in-hospital therapy and future tubal factor infertility.
Economic analyses in hypertension: applications for healthcare providers. Hypertension affects millions of Americans. With healthcare dollars becoming more closely scrutinized, economic studies are playing an important role in helping decision makers choose who should receive treatment and which treatments and methods of administration are most cost-effective. This article provides an overview of the different methods used in economic evaluation and demonstrates the utility of each method using studies from the hypertension literature.
Transient erythroblastopenia of childhood with CD10, TdT, and cytoplasmic mu lymphocyte positivity in bone marrow. Over three years, three children presented with anaemia, reticulocytopenia, and marrow erythroblastopenia. A pronounced lymphocytosis was also evident in two of the marrow aspirates, with increased numbers of cells bearing the immunophenotype TdT+, CD10+ HLA DR+, and cytoplasmic mu +, and reported to be compatible with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). The clinical course of the illness was fully compatible with transient erythroblastopenia of childhood (TEC), and all three children remained well one to four years after initial presentation. It is concluded that increased numbers of lymphoid cells with a common or pre-B ALL phenotype may be found in bone marrow aspirates of children with TEC, and should not be misdiagnosed as acute leukaemia.
Zinc in the management of tinnitus. Placebo-controlled trial. To assess any possible beneficial effect from zinc on tinnitus we performed a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind investigation. Forty-eight patients with tinnitus were randomized to either placebo or the administration of zinc sulfate as sustained-release tablets of 22 mg Zn++ (Zinklet). The tablets were administered three times daily for 8 weeks. Every week the patients stated the severity of tinnitus on a number scale from 0 to 10. The levels of zinc and albumin in serum were determined both before and after treatment. Of 48 patients with tinnitus, hypozincemia was found in only one patient. The zinc level increased significantly in the patients treated with zinc. We could not demonstrate any beneficial effect from zinc on tinnitus. One of the essential reasons for this finding could be that the zinc levels in serum were in the normal range previous to treatment.
In situ fresh allograft replacement of an infected aortic prosthetic graft: eighteen months' follow-up. We report a case in which an allogenic aortic graft was used to treat the last one of a series of infectious graft complications. The original operation was a Dacron aortobifemoral bypass for aortoiliac occlusive disease in an institution other than ours. The patient was referred for the treatment of the infection of the prosthetic implant. We inserted a prosthetic bypass from the left axillary to the left deep femoral artery, as well as a crossover autogenous saphenous vein graft from the prosthesis to the right deep femoral artery; in the same operation the infected intraabdominal prosthesis was removed with closure of the proximal aortic stump. Subsequent stenosis of the vein graft made it necessary to insert a prosthetic bypass between the descending thoracic aorta and the two deep femoral arteries. Infection of the last named prosthesis made it necessary to remove it and replace it with a tailored allogenic arterial allograft between the infrarenal abdominal aorta and both deep femoral arteries. The patient had an uneventful recovery as the infection was controlled and both lower limbs were salvaged. Eighteen months later the allograft was patent without any signs of degeneration. Further clinical experience under appropriate conditions may prove the use of allografts effective in the treatment of selected cases of aortic prosthetic infection.
Low-energy catheter electrical ablation for sustained ventricular tachycardia. Catheter electrical ablation using a relatively low level of energy--40 to 100 joules--was attempted in 12 consecutive patients with drug-refractory sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT). They had 19 monomorphic VTs, and ischemic heart disease was found as the underlying heart disease in one, nonischemic heart disease was found in nine, and no structural heart disease was seen in two patients. Electrical discharge was delivered at the site of the earliest endocardial activation in 17 VTs, and at the slow conduction area in two VTs. Among 19 VTs in 12 patients, 12 VTs (63%) in seven patients (58%) were successfully ablated and became noninducible during electrophysiologic study. There were no major complications, but transient atrioventricular block occurred in one patient and transient friction rub occurred in another. Delivered electrical energy and the time interval between the local electrogram and the surface QRS did not correlate with the clinical outcome of the procedure. However, "excellent" pace-mapped QRS morphology was obtained from the site of earliest activation or from the slow conduction area in 9 of 12 VTs in the successful cases but in only one of seven VTs in the unsuccessful cases. Low-energy catheter electrical ablation seems to be a satisfactory therapeutic procedure compared with the conventional method that uses an energy level of 200 joules or higher.
A therapeutic dilemma: suppressive doses of thyroxine significantly reduce bone mineral measurements in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women with thyroid carcinoma. We measured lumbar spine, femoral neck, and forearm bone mineral (BMD) in 24 women (14 premenopausal and 10 postmenopausal) who had been treated with total thyroidectomy and 131 Iodine ablation therapy for nonanaplastic thyroid carcinoma and 24 case controls. At the time of the study, all patients were free of cancer (negative 131 Iodine whole body scan and serum thyroglobulin levels less than 0.3 micrograms/L) and all were receiving doses of T4 sufficiently high to prevent a rise in a serum thyroid-stimulating hormone concentration after an iv bolus of TRH. Femoral neck BMD were significantly reduced in both the premenopausal women (89 +/- 3.8% of case controls, 95% CI, 81 to 98) and postmenopausal women (77 +/- 3.9% of case controls; 95% CI, 68 to 86) receiving T4. Lumbar spine BMD and forearm BMD were unaffected in the premenopausal women, but significantly reduced in the postmenopausal women receiving T4 (lumbar spine BMD = 84 +/- 6.2% of case controls; 95% CI, 70 to 98 and forearm BMD = 89 +/- 5.6% of case controls; 95% CI, 76 to 101). Serum bone Gla-protein, a marker of bone turnover, was significantly increased in both the premenopausal and the postmenopausal women receiving T4 compared to case controls (P less than 0.001 for the difference between patient groups and controls). Whereas the cumulative dose of T4 was highly correlated with the femoral neck BMD in the premenopausal patients (r = 0.528; P less than 0.05); the presence of hypogonadism was the main determinant of the lumbar spine and forearm BMD. This data confirms that premenopausal and postmenopausal women receiving suppressive doses of T4 for thyroid carcinoma have diminished bone mineral measurements and are at risk for osteoporosis.
Acute allergic interstitial pneumonitis induced by hydrochlorothiazide [published erratum appears in Can Med Assoc J 1991 Sep 1;145(5):391] OBJECTIVE: To examine the clinical features of 4 unpublished cases and 26 published cases of acute allergic interstitial pneumonitis induced by hydrochlorothiazide (HCT). DATA SOURCES: The unpublished cases were found in the database of the Drug Adverse Reaction Program, Health Protection Branch, Department of National Health and Welfare, and the database of the Programme conjoint de pharmacovigilance, in Quebec. The published cases were retrieved from MEDLINE and EMBASE. STUDY SELECTION: Reported cases were selected if they were sufficiently documented. All published cases were selected because a differential diagnosis had been made in each one. DATA SYNTHESIS: The onset was acute and dramatic; the average time to onset of symptoms was 44 minutes. Sex was a predominant risk factor, since 27 (90%) of the 30 patients were women. The average age was 56 years; thus, most of the women were postmenopausal. Over two-thirds of the patients had one to three positive prechallenges or rechallenges, 3 of the 52 documented adverse events occurred after a voluntary rechallenge, some were life-threatening and necessitated mechanical ventilation, and 1 was fatal. Treatment was supportive; avoidance of HCT was the only prevention. CONCLUSION: Acute allergic interstitial pneumonitis due to HCT is extremely rare and potentially fatal. Such a reaction can be diagnosed only if the clinician suspects it when presented with a case of unexplained acute pulmonary edema.
Opposing actions of dehydroepiandrosterone and testosterone on insulin sensitivity. In vivo and in vitro studies of hyperandrogenic females. It has been hypothesized that the androgens testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) may have opposing actions on insulin sensitivity. To test this hypothesis, we selected patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCO) and hypertestosteronemia and a group of individuals with adrenal hyperplasia (AH) and elevated DHEA and studied their 1) insulin and glucose responses to a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test, 2) insulin resistance by hypoglycemic responses to a standard dose of intravenous (IV) insulin, and 3) insulin binding and pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) responsiveness to insulin in phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-activated T lymphocytes. PCO patients exhibited elevated basal and glucose-challenged insulin levels and had blunted hypoglycemic responses to IV insulin. Conversely, AH patients had hypoglycemic responses to IV insulin significantly greater than and basal and glucose-challenged insulin levels lower than the PCO patients and weight-matched control subjects. In vitro, T-lymphocyte insulin binding of the PCO patients was 40-60% below control values; in AH patients, insulin binding and PDH insulin sensitivity were above those of the control subjects. Testosterone levels in all study subjects were negatively correlated to T-lymphocyte insulin binding and positively correlated to basal insulin, insulin area under the curve (AUC), and insulin-glucose indices. DHEA levels were positively correlated to insulin binding and inversely related to basal insulin, insulin AUC, and insulin-glucose indices. In all instances, the parameters of insulin sensitivity were more strongly correlated to individuals' ratios of DHEA to testosterone than to either of these androgens alone.