Outpatient lumbar myelography. Initial results in 79 examinations using a low-dose metrizamide technique

Seventy-nine patients underwent lumbar myelography on an outpatient basis, with a low (3.75 g) dose of metrizamide as the radiocontrast agent and a 25-gauge spinal needle used for lumbar puncture. No patient experienced significant neurotoxicity following the examination; 70.8% (56 of 79) experienced minimal (23%) or no (48%) side effects. Three patients (3.8%) were admitted to the hospital for management of common side effects (headache, nausea/vomiting, back pain). We obtained postmyelographic computed tomographic scans on 96% (76 of 79) of the patients. Our initial results suggest that outpatient lumbar myelography is safe and can be performed with a very acceptable incidence of side effects.     

Chemical exposure in manufacture of phenoxy herbicides and chlorophenols and in spraying of phenoxy herbicides

Exposure patterns are reported for manufacturing and sprayer cohorts incorporated in the “IARC International Register of Workers exposed to Phenoxy Herbicides and Contaminants.” Information was based on company questionnaires, company reports, plant visits, and serum 2,3,7,8-TCDD measurements. In addition to phenoxy herbicides and chlorophenols, workers in manufacturing plants may have been exposed to raw materials, process chemicals, other agents synthesized or formulated, and impurities of all these agents. Sprayers also had a complex exposure pattern, including phenoxy herbicides and some other pesticides, their carriers and additives, and residues of chemicals formed during manufacture. Occurrence of agents, including dioxins, varied between countries. Biological monitoring and industrial hygiene data were rarely available, most since the late 1970s. Exposure of workers depended mainly on the jobs they performed, but several factors influenced level of exposure. A quantitative exposure classification is not feasible in this study. Semiquantitative exposure estimates may be derived through a critical interpretation of biological monitoring and industrial hygiene data together with individual work histories. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Anticentromere antibody in primary biliary cirrhosis.

An autoantibody specific for the centromere region of chromosomes and recently detected in the serum of patients with scleroderma was found in ther serum of 10 (9.1%) of 110 consecutive patients presenting with primary biliary cirrhosis. It was found exclusively among those with scleroderma, giving a prevalence of 50% in that group, and all patients with telangiectasia or calcinosis had the antibody. It was not found in 80 patients with chronic active hepatitis, including the 'autoimmune' variety. The pathogenetic significance of anticentromere antibody is not yet established, but this study confirms its specificity for scleroderma in the context of primary biliary cirrhosis.