The excretion of 17-ketosteroids in patients suffering from mastopathia fibrocystica and mammary carcinomas.

Comparative investigations of the urinary excretion of different 17-ketosteroids in healthy women and patients suffering from mastopathia fibrocystica and/or mammary carcinomas had the following results: 1. A clear age dependency of the excretion of 17 ketosteroids during the regenerative period has been shown in all groups investigated, but it could not be observed during the postmenopausal phase. 2. There are no hints by the excretion values for a remarkable contribution of mammary carcinomas to the hormone metabolism of the host. 3. The excretion values of patients suffering from mastopathia fibrocystica confirm epidemiological results, which consider this from of mastopathia a precancerous one.     

Inaccuracies associated with the automated measurement of mean cell hemoglobin concentration in dehydrated cells

Because of discrepancies between electronically and manually measured values of mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) encountered in studies of pathologic red cells, we studied the effect of cell water content on MCHC measurements by both methods. A series of red cell samples with varying water contents (54%-164% normal) were prepared from normal cells using the antibiotic nystatin. MCHC was then measured, using the microhematocrit centrifuge and three different electronic cell counters in common laboratory use. For MCHC values above 36 g/dl as measured by the spun hematocrit method, all three electronic counters under estimmated the MCHC, with increasing error as the true MCHC increased. For MCHC values below 30 g/dl, the values from two conductivity based instruments agreed with those from the spun hematocrit method, whereas one instrument based on light scattering overestimated the MCHC. These results indicate that inaccuracies in the measured mean cell volume (MCV) of dehydrated or otherwise undeformable cells may lead to spurious values for MCHC when electronic cell counters are used.     

Successful intracytoplasmic sperm injection with spermatozoa from a patient with dysplasia of the fibrous sheath and chronic respiratory disease

The present report describes a successful intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure performed with immotile spermatozoa from a young man with a combination of dysplasia of the fibrous sheath and dynein deficiency, a recently described variant of the immotile cilia syndrome. This methodology provides the only suitable solution for these patients in whom all other assisted fertilization technologies have previously failed, and opens the possibilities for treatment of male infertility due to severe, irreversible sperm defects such as the one reported here.      

Protection of ovarian function by oral contraceptives in women receiving chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease

It has been reported by us and by others that after chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease the ovary contains fewer than 5 primordial and primary follicles per 5 x 5 mm biopsy section. In young women this is associated with premature menopause. We report here that before treatment the tissue contains 18--55 such follicles per biopsy section. When women took combination oral contraceptives throughout the course of MVPP therapy, the posttreatment ovarian biopsy tissue had more than 20 follicles per histologic section. Normal menses were established in the five women who discontinued oral contraceptives at the end of MVPP therapy, and one of them is now pregnant.