食管腺癌淋巴结转移与肿瘤侵及食管壁深度的关系

目的 对腺癌侵及食管壁深度与淋巴结转移的关系以及淋巴结转移对预后的影响进行分析研究.方法 澳大利亚弗林德斯大学医学中心自1985年～2003年,手术治疗食管腺癌121例.其中男101例,女20例.年龄36～80岁,平均62岁.本组手术切除率为96.7%（117/121例）.手术清扫淋巴结的数目每例为2～30个,平均8个.无淋巴结转移59例（48.8%）、有淋巴结转移62例（51.2%）.本组病例全部得到随访.结果 当肿瘤位于黏膜层或黏膜下层（T1）时,淋巴结转移的发生率为22.2%（10/45例）、平均淋巴结转移的个数为0.3个、＞4个淋巴结转移的比例为0（0/45例）;当肿瘤侵及食管周围组织（T4）时,淋巴结转移的发生率为85.7%（6/7例）、平均淋巴结转移的个数为5.1个、＞4个淋巴结转移的比例为71.4%（5/7例）,P＜0.05.无淋巴结转移组的5年生存率为52.9%、1～4个淋巴结转移组的5年生存率为11.5%、＞4个淋巴结转移组的5年生存率为0,P＜0.01.结论 肿瘤对食管壁侵及深度和淋巴结转移的发生率及淋巴结转移的数量之间存在正相关性.随着肿瘤对食管壁侵及深度的增加,淋巴结转移的发生率、平均淋巴结转移的数量和＞4个淋巴结转移的比例均增加.有无淋巴结转移和淋巴结转移的数量是影响远期生存率的一个重要因素.     

Low-density lipoprotein subfraction profiles in dialysis patients

Summary: Uraemic dyslipidaemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease in end-stage renal failure patients. In patients without renal failure, high levels and qualitative abnormalities of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) are known to be atherogenic. Recently, LDL subfraction analysis has associated premature coronary artery disease with a high prevalence of small, dense LDL particles characterizing the LDL subclass phenotype B. We therefore examined the lipid profiles, LDL subfraction distribution and phenotypes in our population of haemodialysis (HD; n = 30) and peritoneal dialysis patients (PD; n = 17), and compared them to 40 asymptomatic, non-uraemic volunteers. Dialysis patients had significantly higher triglyceride and VLDL cholesterol concentrations and lower HDL cholesterol and smaller LDL peak particle diameters. PD patients had significantly higher total cholesterol, glycated haemoglobin and fasting blood glucose levels with smaller LDL peak particle diameters (24.4 [0.1] vs 24.8 [0.1 nm] than HD. Both groups showed significant negative correlations between plasma triglyceride and LDL peak particle diameter, and positive correlations between HDL cholesterol and LDL peak particle diameter. All the PD patients expressed the B phenotype (LDL peak diameter ± 25.5 nm) compared to 73% of HD patients. This study demonstrates that HD and especially PD patients have atherogenic lipid profiles which are associated with a predominance of small dense LDL particles and the highly atherogenic LDL subclass phenotype B.     

Appendicitis in the era of ultrasound: Are plain radiographs still useful?

We reviewed plain radiographs of 215 pediatric patients with surgically proven appendicitis to study the value of plain radiography for diagnosis.     

Complications associated with maxillary nerve block anaesthesia via the greater palatine canal

This paper documents the type, frequency and duration of complications associated with regional anaesthesia of the maxillary nerve via the greater palatine canal in a series of 101 patients treated in the Oral Surgery Department, United Dental Hospital of Sydney.     

Horner syndrome

Horner syndrome is an uncommon but important clinical entity, representing interruption of the sympathetic pathway to the eye and face. Horner syndrome is almost always diagnosed clinically, though pharmacological testing can be used to confirm the diagnosis. Imaging modalities such as PET, CT and MRI are important components of work‐up for patients presenting with acquired Horner syndrome. Our patient’s presentation with Horner syndrome unmasked the causative superior sulcus squamous cell carcinoma and a coincidental lower lobe adenocarcinoma. Successful radical treatment of these cancers resulted in complete resolution of the syndrome and disease‐free survival at 18 months. We review the anatomy and pathophysiology underlying this and other causes of Horner syndrome.     

DTPA renal scan assessment of renal allograft dysfunction in rats

The precise cause of allograft dysfunction after renal transplantation often cannot be established by non-invasive means. In clinical practice, radionuclide scans form an integral part of the clinician's armamentarium in the assessment of these patients [1, 2]. Unfortunately, in the clinical setting more than one pathological process may be responsible for the impaired function, making it difficult to correlate the scan appearances with the pathology. In this study in rats we compared the renal DTPA scan appearances of the various pathological processes which may cause renal allograft dysfunction in the immediate post-transplant period.