Anti-HBs responses after combined injection of recombinant yeast and plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccines

Anti-HBs responses to a combined injection of recombinant yeast and plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccines were evaluated in 119 healthy members of medical staff. They were divided into three age- and sex-matched groups. Group I (YHB-YHB-YHB) were given recombinant yeast vaccine at 0, 1 and 6 months, group II (PHB-YHB-YHB) were given plasma-derived vaccine at 0 month, and then recombinant yeast vaccine at 1 and 6 months, and group III (YHB-YHB-PHB) were given recombinant yeast vaccine at 0 and 1 month and then plasma-derived vaccine at 6 months.
The seroconversion rate in each group at 7 months were similar (group I: 91.2%, group II: 88.5%, and group III: 94.1%). Acquired antibody titre (S/N ratio) was higher, however, in group II than in group I (group I: 37.6 ± 29.1 versus group II: 57.4 ± 44.9).
The present study indicated that in this combined injection method, cross antigenicity was observed between plasma-derived vaccine and recombinant yeast vaccine and that high antibody titres could be obtained by a combined injection of a recombinant yeast vaccine and a plasma-derived vaccine when compared with the recombinant vaccine alone. Accordingly, this combined vaccination method is recommended because of its easy availability.     

Shift of Atrial Reentrant Tachycardia with Transient Entrainment to an Uncommon and a Common Type of Atrial Flutter

Atrial reentrant tachycardia (ART) which demonstrated transient entrainment shifted to an uncommon type of atrial flutter (AF) with premature atrial stimulation, and then returned to ART spontaneously, Subsequently, this ART shifted to a common type of AF by rapid atrial pacing, which was further transformed into an uncommon type of AF and finally terminated by rapid atrial pacing. The mechanism of AF in clinical cases is still controversial, but in this case, AF, both uncommon and common types, is considered due to macro-reentry within the atria. To explain (he shift of ART to AF and mutual transformation between common and uncommon type of AF, we made a schematic figure of reentry loop within (he atria of ART and AF.     

Psychological stress in middle-aged and aged executives

Abstract Neurotic symptoms were considered to be present in 21.9% of the 210 employees of a company following data analysis from a General Health Questionnaire (GHQ, 60 question items). The results in middle-aged and aged executives were compared. The total GHQ score was ≪ 17 in 18/55 executives aged 40 years or above, but in only 9/60 non-executives controls was a significant difference observed ( P > 0.05) between executives and non-executives. The scores for three subordinate scales, namely somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, and social dysfunction, were higher in the executives than in the non-executives and showed a significant difference ( P > 0.05) in the anxiety and insomnia scale. These results suggest that middle-aged and aged executives are more likely to have neurotic symptoms and more frequently to have anxiety and insomnia than their controls. We would like to apply this method to aid in the prevention, early detection and early management of stress.     

Clinical Results of 99mTc Labelled Bleomycin Scintigraphy in Various Malignant and Benign Diseases: Comparison with 67Ga Citrate Scintigraphy

Scintigraphy after ^99mTc bleomycin (BLM^*) administration wasperformed on 390 patients suspected of having malignancy. Inmost of the cases scintigraphy after 67Ga citrate (Ga^*) administrationwas performed simultaneously. These results were analyzed accordingto the location of the lesion, clinical diagnosis, histologicalfindings, size of the lesion and effect of treatment. In 239 malignant cases, BLM^* scintigraphy gave 193 (81%) positiveresults, while Ga^* scintigraphy gave 114 positives in the 176examinations (65%). BLM^* scintigraphy was found favorable fortumors located close to the body surface, and excellent resultswere obtained in tumors of the thyroid, breast, extremitiesand face, while poor results were found in tumors of the abdominaland pelvic regions and in malignant lymphomas. On the otherhand, Ga^* scintigraphy gave useful information on malignantlymphomas but poor accumulation was observed generally in adenocarcinomas.Such different characters of the two scintigraphies were consistentin metastatic lesions and in follow-up studies after varioustreatments. In 126 cases with various benign diseases, BLM^* gave 21 falsepositives (17%), but Ga^* scintigraphy gave 35 positives in 77cases (45%). Of note was that BLM^* gave 23% positives in 53cases with inflammatory and granulomatous changes, while Ga^*gave a high 73% figure in these cases. In 25 various brain lesions,BLM^* scintigraphy gave better results than ⁹⁹mTc pertcchnetatescintigraphy in metastatic brain tumors and tumors located inthe brain basis or the occipital region. In conclusion, BLM^* scintigraphy was considered much more reliablethan Ga^* scintigraphy in differentiating malignant from benigndiseases. However, the two materials were also found to havedifferent characters and they were considered rather compensatoryto each other. Therefore, the selection of suitable materialor parallel study by both materials was considered to be commendable. ^*Part of this study has been supported by the research fundfor radiopnarmaceutical cancer diagnosis from the Japanese Ministryof Weifare, and has been reported in preliminary forms.