Diagnostic considerations of tongue-base malignancies

Forty-two patients with malignancies localized to the base of the tongue were treated at Sahlgrenska Hospital between 1971 and 1980. These patients were re-analyzed with respect to symptomatology and clinical outcome. Pain in the mouth, throat, and ears as well as swallowing difficulties were the most frequent overt symptoms of disease. In general, patients experienced symptoms for at least 3 months before a positive tumor diagnosis was made. In all, 75% of the patients were found to have large tumors which extended beyond the base of the tongue. Most of the patients were treated with irradiation. The overall 3-year survival rate was 28%, while individual patient survival was related to the size of the primary tumor and to the occurrence of lymph node metastases. Careful attention to symptomatology may reduce delays in establishing an accurate diagnosis and consequently improve the prognosis for patients with these cancers.     

Diverting the paralyzed larynx: A reversible procedure for intractable aspiration.

Some unfortunate patients suffer disorders which in one way or another, usually neurologically, severely restrict the larynx in its role as a protector of the lower airway. Aspiration ensues, and unless it can be successfully managed, repeated episodes of a violent pneumonitis may lead to terminal chest problems. In some patients, even the cuffed tracheostomy tubes of new and improved design do not adequately prevent aspiration over an extended time interval, as evidenced by repeated bouts of aspiration pneumonia despite these cuffed tubes and despite optimal intensive care. For these patients with intractable aspiration, and in whom recovery is expected only after a prolonged period of time, we have suggested a diverting procedure which employs a tracheo-esophageal anastomosis, as an effective yet reversible solution. Such an anastomosis with concomitant tracheostomy allows aspiration of saliva and even food to occur through the malfunctioning larynx but diverts it back into the esophagus through the tracheo-esophageal anastomosis. In normal mongrel dogs we demonstrated that an end-to-side tracheoesophageal anastomosis is well tolerated and can be performed without damage to the intrinsic larynx or recurrent laryngeal nerves. The tracheoesophageal lumen remained patent and the anastomosis intact for as long as these animals were observed prior to reconstruction. The reversibility of the tracheo-esophageal anastomosis was demonstrated in these dogs by excising the anastomosis, repairing the esophageal defect, and restoring the continuity of the trachea by end-to-end anastomosis. Vocal cord motion remained intact, the dogs ate normally, and barked once again. A tracheo-esophageal anastomosis was performed in a 60-year-old white female who had suffered lower cranial nerve damage as a result of a large acoustic tumor and the excision thereof. Despite every effort to control aspiration, pneumonitis occurred and became fulminant. The diverting tracheo-esophageal anastomosis was performed with relative ease and was well tolerated by the patient. Aspiration was totally and dependably controlled, and no further chest complications occurred. Her nasogastric feeding tube was removed, and she ate a regular diet with very little difficulty. She gained in strength, became much more alert mentally, and is now taking care of herself in a nursing home. We are following her progress by indirect laryngoscopy and barium swallow examinations and at five months post anastomosis, we are possibly seeing the first signs of lower cranial nerve recovery. We hope that reconstruction and restoration of function will soon be possible. We feel that the results to date of our animal experimentation and of our case report are satisfactory. Many questions remain unanswered, however, and for this reason we must emphasize a very conservative approach to the clinical application of this procedure.     

Major depressive episode related to long unemployment and frequent alcohol intoxication

We studied the association between two major problems--unemployment and major depressive episode--and the impact of different timing of periods of unemployment and risk factors, especially alcohol intoxication, for major depressive episode among the unemployed. Major depressive episode during the last 12 months, plus current and past employment status and frequency of alcohol intoxication, were assessed within the nationally representative, cross-sectional 1996 Finnish Health Care Survey, in which non-institutionalized individuals aged 15-75 years were interviewed by using the Short Form of the University of Michigan version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (the UM-CIDI Short Form). Of the 5993 subjects interviewed, 3818 (64%) were occupationally active and included in the logistic regression analysis, showing that even after adjusting for other potentially confounding variables, current unemployment was associated with major depressive episode (odds ratio, OR=1.78, 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.38-2.29). Further analysis revealed that the increased risk of major depressive episode was only related to long-term unemployment. Frequent alcohol intoxication (at least once a week) increased the risk of major depressive episode remarkably. Compared with the group "Constantly employed, no frequent alcohol intoxication", long-term unemployment with no frequent alcohol intoxication had moderately increased risk of major depressive episode (OR=1.72 (95% CI 1.29-2.30) and those with frequent alcohol intoxication had highly increased risk [OR=11.27 (95% CI 5.51-23.09) vs. OR=1.72 (95% CI 1.29-2.30]. Long-term unemployment is associated with increased risk of major depressive episode. Frequent alcohol intoxication among long-term unemployed individuals greatly increases the risk of depression.     

Understanding the pattern of functional recovery after stroke: facts and theories

Longitudinal studies show that almost all stroke patients experience at least some predictable degree of functional recovery in the first six months post stroke. However, the non-linear pattern as a function of time is not well understood. Several mechanisms are presumed to be involved, such as recovery of penumbral tissues, neural plasticity, resolution of diaschisis and behavioural compensation strategies. Rehabilitation is believed to modulate this logistic pattern of recovery, probably by interacting with these underlying processes. However, prediction models that are adjusted for the effects of time after stroke onset suggest that outcome is largely defined within the first weeks post stroke, although functional improvement has been found to extend beyond six months post stroke. In addition, kinematic studies show that functional improvement is more than recovery from impairments alone, suggesting that patients are able to improve in terms of gait or dexterity deficits using behavioural compensation strategies. Therefore, understanding the impact of task-dependent cortical activation patterns in non-invasive methods requires not only information derived from longitudinal studies pertaining to functional outcomes, but also a better understanding of what is kinematically learned during the acquisition of new skills.     

Serum lipids in schizophrenia and other functional psychoses: a general population northern Finland 1966 birth cohort survey

OBJECTIVE: To compare fasting serum lipid concentrations of subjects with schizophrenia with a comparison group. METHOD: The study sample consists of 5654 members of the northern Finland 1966 birth cohort who participated in the field study with blood samples after overnight fasting and clinical examination in 1997-98. Total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides (TG) and glucose were analyzed. Analysis of variance were used for comparing differences in lipids means between diagnostic categories. RESULTS: Mean fasting TC in subjects with schizophrenia was 20 mg/dl higher than in the comparison group. TC and TG levels in the group of other psychoses resembled the schizophrenia group. CONCLUSION: Blood lipid levels in subjects with schizophrenia and other functional psychoses were high. As these persons are at special risk for hyperlipidemia their lipid levels should be regularly monitored, and cholesterol lowering diet, as well as medication, should be considered.     

Discordant resistance to kanamycin and amikacin in drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

It is generally thought that there is full cross-resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis between the aminoglycoside drugs kanamycin and amikacin. However, kanamycin resistance and amikacin susceptibility were seen in 43 of 79 (54%) multidrug-resistant Estonian isolates, indicating that there might be a need to test the resistance of M. tuberculosis isolates to both drugs.     

Restimulation of tumour-specific immunity in a patient with AML following injection with B7-1 positive autologous blasts

Leukaemic blast cells lack co-stimulatory molecules such as B7, necessary for T-lymphocyte activation. We have used modified CD80+ (B7-1+) tumour cells, with autologous, IL-2 producing, stromal marrow cells in a series of subcutaneous vaccinations to provide a localised environment for the enhancement of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) in a patient with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).Localised inflammation was evident after the fifth and sixth injections with a reduction in the number of circulating blasts in the following 2 weeks. Peripheral blood in vitro CTL activity increased 36-47% after five injections.CD4 T-lymphocytes (5.7%) expanded from post-injection skin biopsies, expressed intracellular IFNgamma and perforin when exposed to autologous B7-1+ blasts and when co-cultured with either B7-1+ or unmanipulated autologous blast cells showed proliferative responses.In this patient, co-injection of B7-1+ tumour cells, together with a local source of sustained IL-2, resulted in an autologous anti-leukaemic in vitro immune response.     

Emotional eating and eating disorder psychopathology

The study examined to what extent emotional eating, restrained eating, and bulimic tendencies are found together in naturally occurring groups, and whether these groups differ in terms of the psychological characteristics relevant to eating disorders. One hundred twenty-seven normal-weight women filled in The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire, The Eating Attitudes Test, The Eating Disorder Inventory, and five measures of psychological well-being. Cluster analysis revealed three dieter subgroups (Normal Dieters, Emotional Dieters, and Bulimic Dieters) and one nondieter group. The results showed that only some restrained eaters were emotional eaters and that only some emotional eaters had bulimic tendencies. In addition, emotional and bulimic dieters differed from nondieters more strikingly in terms of eating disorder psychopathology and low psychological well-being than normal dieters did. The results suggest that emotional eating is not responsible for overeating only but may, in concert with chronic dieting, also relate to the general psychopathology found to underlie eating disorders.     

Postnatal changes in plasma ceruloplasmin and transferrin antioxidant activities in preterm babies

Postnatal changes in plasma ceruloplasmin ferroxidase and transferrin iron-binding antioxidant activity were studied in 10 healthy preterm babies during the first 6 weeks of life. Ceruloplasmin levels and ceruloplasmin ferroxidase activity were low at birth, remained stable for the first 3 weeks, and increased between 3 and 6 weeks. The transferrin levels were also low at birth, and this finding persisted throughout the 6-week study period. However, although the plasma iron-binding antioxidant activity was correspondingly low at birth, it thereafter rose and remained high. In four cord blood samples, but not in subsequent postnatal samples, peroxidation was actually stimulated in the assay measuring plasma iron-binding antioxidant activity. We have previously shown that this phenomenon is probably due to the presence of non-protein-bound iron.