Pseudophakic bullous keratopathy

The number of cataract extractions in Switzerland has tripled since 1981. In 1986, a total of 15,500 cataract operations were performed, 95% of which were accompanied by an intraocular lens implantation. In spite of this tremendous increase pseudophakic bullous keratopathy remains a rare indication for keratoplasties: between 1980 and 1986 only 20 grafts were performed at the authors' clinic for irreversible corneal edema following lens implantation. After implantation of posterior chamber lenses, penetrating keratoplasty for corneal decompensation is performed after a significantly shorter period (one year) than with anterior chamber lenses (three years), or in iris-supported lenses (four years). In Switzerland, the incidence of pseudophakic bullous keratopathy among patients with posterior chamber lenses is around 0.1 to 0.3%. A long-term investigation of the endothelial cell density over a period of seven years in 16 patients with a Binkhorst two-loop lens revealed a quite stable and satisfactory cell density of 1600 cells/mm2.     

Biomonitoring of benzene exposure by trace analyses of phenylguanine

Summary From preliminary experiments it was known that radiolabelled benzene and some of its metabolites during its metabolic activation process produce different in vitro DNA-phenyladducts in mitoplasts [5, 11].As we reported previously [9] at least one of these adducts, N-7-phenylguanine, is excreted in the urine of rats in measurable amounts, probably through an excision-repair mechanism after an inhalation experiment. Now we found, after i.p. application of benzene in the urine of rats, a compound separated by cation-exchange chromatography that behaves like a synthezised N-7-phenylguanine reference substance with respect to its retention index and the UV-absorption. This finding could be confirmed by HPLC-measurements with reversed-phase carrier materials. Silylation and gaschromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) separation of the fraction, which contains the phenylguanine, revealed that these fractions contain further phenyl adducts. Furthermore we studied the time-dependent excretion of the DNA-base adduct. Surprisingly the excretion dropped to zero on the fourth day and showed a new increase thereafter.     

Pediatric ophthalmology: reasons for examination and disease pictures

A representative sample of 800 patients was taken from 15,000 children treated between 1972 and 1984 in the Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology of Frankfurt University Eye Hospital. Their charts were reviewed to answer two questions: what are the most frequent reasons for ophthalmological examination in children under 15 years old and what are the most frequent diagnoses? Ophthalmological examinations were most frequently scheduled because of strabismus, errors of refraction and trauma or inflammation of the anterior segment, though also in a large number of cases because of general diseases, most often neurologic diseases such as epilepsy or elevated intracerebral pressure. The diseases diagnosed ophthalmologically were classified as congenital or acquired eye diseases and congenital or acquired general diseases with ocular symptoms. The most frequent are indicated in the text. Acquired diseases were more frequent than congenital diseases, though this group proved to be much larger in pediatric patients than in adult patients.     

Reduced breast cancer mortality among fishermen's wives in Norway

International comparisons show that populations having a high consumption of fish experience low incidence of breast cancer. We compared death rates from breast cancer among socioeconomic groups in a prospective study of 533,276 Norwegian women aged 35–54 years who were followed from 1970 through 1985. Compared with the reference group (wives of unskilled workers) the fishermen's wives had a decreased risk of breast cancer with a relative risk (RR) of 0.67 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.47–0.94) adjusted for age and the number of children. Among fishermen's wives who were parous, adjustment for age at first birth gave an RR of 0.62 (CI=0.43–0.91). This study supports the hypothesis that certain aspects of diet, i. e., fish consumption, may be associated with lower breast-cancer mortality.Drs Lund and Bønaa are with the Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway. Address correspondence to Dr Lund, Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway.     

MR imaging, flow and motion.

The present work is intended as a nonmathematical review of the role of flow and motion in nuclear magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. A historical review of MR flow measurement techniques is given, followed by a short overview of flow models in vitro and in vivo. The theory behind the influence of motion on the modulus and phase MR signal information is discussed and effects such as washin/washout, flow-induced signal void, phase offset, and phase dispersion are defined. A simple approach to the concept of MR angiography is given, and methods for quantitative flow measurements such as the phase mapping technique, are surveyed. Aspects of the measurement of diffusion and microcirculation are given, and finally, an overview of the role of MR flow imaging in present and future clinical application is given.     

Myocardial sestamibi single-photon emission tomography: Variations in reference values with gender, age and rest versus stress?

Reference data files support the evaluation of myocardial perfusion single-photon emission tomography (SPET). The aim of this study was to create a large reference data base for technetium-99m sestamibi SPET, age and gender matched to the general patient population. One hundred and twenty-eight healthy volunteers (76 males and 52 females) with a likelihood of coronary artery disease of less than 5% underwent rest and maximal exercise^99mTc-sestamibi SPET with a 2-day protocol and 180° elliptical rotation. The normalized activity values of^99mTc-sestamibi in the inferior wall differed significantly between men and women. Age variations were found for men in the anterior wall. Normalized activity values in all four walls were strikingly similar during rest and stress. Our results suggest that the use of reference files in^99mTc-sestamibi SPET requires a gender- and, for males, possibly an age-matched reference population. Different reference files at rest and during stress might not be necessary.     

Very old people’s use of the pedestrian environment: functional limitations, frequency of activity and environmental demands

Due to decreased functional capacity as well as high environmental demands there is a risk of diminishing activity outside home in very old age (age 80+). In order to explore differences according to functional limitations (FL) among very old people with respect to frequency of activity, perceived health, overall perception of neighbourhood environment, and perceived problems in the pedestrian environment, data derived from a postal questionnaire survey to very old people living in an urban area in Sweden were used. This explorative study is based on the sub-sample of people aged 80+ who reported outdoor activities (n = 97). Four groups of respondents with different types of FL were identified: with no FL (n = 23), with only movement-related FL (n = 26), with only perception/cognition-related FL (n = 16), and with both movement- and perception/ cognition-related FL (n = 32). The majority of the respondents reported rather high frequency of activity outside home. When examining differences between the four groups, the analysis indicated how the complexity of FL and perceived problems in the pedestrian environment impacted on their activity performance. Persons with both movement- and perception/cognition-related FL were less satisfied with their frequency of activity, experienced their health more negatively and experienced more problems in the pedestrian environment than in the other groups. The findings from this study indicate the importance of considering combinations of FL in creating supportive environments for activity and health.