Bone marrow transplantation for patients with Philadelphia chromosome- positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia

We report the treatment outcome of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in ten patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Six patients are alive and well for 6 to 30 months (median 19 months) after transplantation. Four patients died with transplant related complications. In view of the poor prognosis associated with this disease, marrow ablation followed by allogeneic or syngeneic marrow grafting may be the preferred treatment modality if a suitable marrow donor is available.     

Fractionated total-body irradiation and high-dose etoposide as a preparatory regimen for bone marrow transplantation for 94 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in chronic phase

Ninety-four consecutive patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in first clinical chronic phase, median age of 34.0 years (range, 6.8 to 52.4 years), with a histocompatible sibling donor, were treated with fractionated total body irradiation (1,320 cGy) and high-dose etoposide (60 mg/kg) followed by allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The median time from diagnosis to BMT was 7.0 months (range, 2.3 to 72.0 months). Sixty patients were treated before BMT with hydroxyurea alone, four patients with busulfan alone, one patient with interferon alone, and the other 29 patients were treated with various combinations of these drugs. Cumulative probabilities of overall survival, event- free survival, and relapse at 5 years were 73%, 64%, and 14%, respectively. The median follow-up time for surviving patients was 38 months, ranging from 12 to 88 months. By stepwise Cox regression analysis, significant prognostic variables were age at transplant, acute graft-versus-host disease > or = grade II, cytomegalovirus- associated interstitial pneumonitis, and years from diagnosis to BMT.     

Central regulation of intestinal basal and stimulated water and ion transport by endogenous opiates in dogs

The influence of intracerebroventricular (ICV) vs intravenous (IV) administration of (D-Ala2, Met5) enkephalinamide (Dalamide) on normal and stimulated (cholera toxin) jejunal fluxes of water, Na+, and K+ were investigated in dogs prepared with a Thiry-Vella (TV) loop. Intestinal transport in the TV loop and concomitant transit time were measured during an infusion (2 ml/min) of an isotonic electrolyte solution alone, or containing 0.4 micrograms/ml of cholera toxin (CT). Basal net water absorption was slightly, but significantly (P less than 0.05), increased during an ICV infusion of Dalamide at 0.5 ng/kg/min, while the secretory effects of cholera toxin were markedly reduced by nearly 75%. Similar effects were observed for Na+ and K+ movement. In contrast, Dalamide infused intravenously at a five times higher dose, ie, 2.5 ng/kg/min did not affect the control and CT-stimulated water and electrolyte movements. The jejunal loop transit times were halved during CT infusion. Similar values were observed under Dalamide ICV administration as well as during a five times higher dose of Dalamide administered intravenously. It was concluded that (1) Dalamide administered into the CNS, but not peripherally, increased the absorption of water, Na+, and K+, causing a net reduction in their secretion induced by cholera toxin; and (2) these effects did not result from changes in transit time. These results also suggest that Met-enkephalin can act in the brain to affect the intestinal transport of water and electrolytes in dogs.     

Lipomatous tumors of the liver: evaluation with CT and US

Seven cases of lipomatous masses within the liver parenchyma were demonstrated with computed tomography (CT). Five of these cases were obtained from a retrospective review of 50 cases of renal angiomyolipoma in which the liver was adequately demonstrated. The other two cases were from the files of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and had no associated renal lesions. Three of the five cases were associated with tuberous sclerosis. In all seven cases, the fatty tumors appeared on CT scans as a well-defined, 0.8-13-cm mass, with attenuation coefficients of less than -30 HU. On ultrasound studies, the lesions were well circumscribed, highly echogenic, and similar to hemangiomas. While distinctly rare lesions, these lipomatous masses are not as unusual as the literature would indicate. One may anticipate such masses in patients with renal angiomyolipomas and in a relatively high percentage of those with tuberous sclerosis.     

Integration of local inputs in visual cortex

In mammalian visual cortex, local connections are ubiquitous, extensively linking adjacent neurons of all types. In this study, optical maps of intrinsic signals and responses from single neurons were obtained from the same region of cat visual cortex while the effectiveness of the local cortical circuitry was altered by focally disinhibiting neurons within a column of known orientation preference. Maps of intrinsic signals indicated that local connections provide strong and functional subthreshold inputs to neighboring columns of other orientation preferences, altering the observed orientation preference to that of the disinhibited column. However, measuring the suprathreshold response using single-cell recordings revealed only mild changes of preferred orientation over the affected region. Because strongly tuned subthreshold inputs from cortex only marginally affect the tuning of a cortical cell's output, it is concluded that local cortical inputs are integrated weakly compared to geniculate inputs. Such circuitry potentially allows for the normalization of responses across a wide range of input activity through local averaging.      

Incidence of injury in elite junior Rugby Union: a prospective descriptive study

The high incidence of injury in Rugby Union is well documented, particularly at elite levels of competition. This article describes the incidence and nature of all injuries sustained by elite Western Australian junior Rugby Union players during the 26 weeks up to and including the 1997 National Championship campaign. Informed consent was gained for each participant (n = 44) prior to completion of an extensive baseline questionnaire. Exposure and injury data were collected at each training session and game. The injury incidence rate over the 26 week period was 13.26/1000 player hours. Injury data were analysed by phase of play, position, severity and if occurred at games or training. The incidence of injury was significantly associated with the position played (chi2 = 67.49, p value = 0.008) and the phase of play in which the injury occurred (chi2 = 8.07, p value = 0.042). Tackling was the most dangerous phase of play (52% of injuries) and the most common site of injury was the lower limb (37%). Most injuries occurred during games (56%) and the flanker was the position most at risk of injury (12%). Further research is needed to identify the aetiology of injury at all levels of competition and to use these findings to develop effective injury prevention strategies in this sport. Position-specific risk factors should also be investigated, as should the mechanism of injury associated with tackling which is the phase of play in which significantly more injuries occur in rugby.     

Prevention of transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease: selection of an adequate dose of gamma radiation

To determine the optimal dose of gamma radiation necessary to inhibit T- lymphocyte function and prevent transfusion-acquired graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD), a donor plateletpheresis component was initially divided into ten 20-mL samples. One sample was not irradiated, while the other nine samples were treated with gamma radiation at doses ranging from 500 to 4500 cGy. T-lymphocyte function was subsequently measured by mixed lymphocyte cultures and mitogen stimulation assays. The results were assessed in each test by calculating the percentage of inhibition of each irradiated sample as compared to that of the unirradiated sample. The accuracy of the delivered dose of gamma radiation was measured with thermoluminescent dosimeters. It was concluded that a nominal dose of 3000 cGy (actual dose delivered, 2898 cGy) is the appropriate amount of gamma radiation needed to eliminate T- lymphocyte-mediated graft-versus-host disease.     

VALIDATION OF A SUBENDOCARDIAL ISCHAEMIC SHEEP MODEL BY INTRACORONARY FLUORESCENT MICROSPHERES

1. We evaluated the use of non-radioactive fluorescent-labelled microspheres (FM) for the measurement of regional myocardial blood flow (RMBF) in an ischaemic sheep model. 2. Injection of FM directly into the coronary artery was compared with left atrial injection. There was a good correlation in the measurement of RMBF between these two injection methods (r = 0.92; n= 107 data points). Injection into the coronary artery requires less FM (one twentieth of that required by atrial injection) and is more economical. 3. The use of a fluorescent technique without filtering myocardial tissue was investigated. Calibration curves from the fluorescence plus myocardial tissue samples were similar to those of the pure fluorescence samples and both showed a linear relationship between fluorescent intensity and the number of microspheres (r > 0.97). These results indicate that the extraction of six fluorescent dyes (blue-green, yellow-green, green, orange, red and crimson) directly from the aqueous solution using ethyl acetate is effective. 4. A subendocardial ischaemic model was produced by partially occluding the circumflex artery (CxA) with concomitant left atrium (LA) pacing. During ischaemia, the endocardium/epicardium (Endo/Epi) flow ratios in the ischaemic area changed from 1.04 ± 0.12 to 0.47 ± 0.17 (P < 0.05; CxA injection) and from 1.08 ± 0.12 to 0.51 ± 0.05 (P < 0.05; LA injection). The ratio in the non-ischaemic area remained unchanged (1.12 ± 0.26 to 1.01 ± 0.22; not significant). 5. RMBF calculation using coronary inflow as the reference flow was also compared with that using the traditional method. We found that, in this study in which a non-filtering technique was applied, using coronary inflow as the reference flow was superior to the conventional distal sampling method.