Brenner tumours--a clinicopathological study

In a clinicopathological study of 70 Brenner tumours in 61 patients seen at Groote Schuur Hospital during the 30-year period 1956-1985, 68 were benign, 1 malignant and 1 proliferating. Fifty-seven were pure tumours and the remainder were mixed with other ovarian neoplasms. The age range of patients was 26-71 years (median 49 years). Most of the Brenner tumours were incidental findings and probably not responsible for the symptoms or signs, which were most commonly a pelvic mass (28 patients) and abnormal vaginal bleeding (15).     

Loss of constitutional heterozygosity in human astrocytomas

Summary Inactivation of tumour suppressor genes or anti-oncogenes as well as activation of dominant acting oncogenes seem to be important mechanisms in the pathogenesis of gliomas. We compared constitutional and tumoural genotypes at different restriction fragment length polymorphism loci (RFLP) on chromosomes 10 and 17 in 15 unrelated individualsLoss of heterozygosity (LOH) pointing to chromosomal loss or deletions was detected for at least one chromosme 17 marker in 11 gliomas (astrocytomas grades I–III and glioblastoma multiforme), whereas LOH for chromosome 10 loci was only detected in 3 out of 9 cases of glioblastoma multiforme and was not detected in low grade gliomas. Since LOH for chromosome 10 loci seems to be restricted only to glioblastoma multiforme, it is possible that recessive mutations on chromosome 10 are engaged in tumour progression from astrocytomas to glioblastoma multiforme. As LOH of chromosome 17 markers occurs in astrocytomas as in glioblastoma multiforme, chromosome 17 loci probably are involved in early tumour development.     

Donor conditions and graft survival - a retrospective study

In a retrospective study (one centre) the influence of donor and recipient factors were evaluated (n = 308). Head injury as the cause of death and anastomotic time less than 35 min were associated with a significantly better graft survival rate (P < 0.05). Although some of the donor factors influence graft survival, a stricter selection of grafts is not advisable, firstly because fewer kidneys would then be offered, and secondly because even comparatively bad graft survival rates are still better than dialysis.     

Diagnosing osteoporosis by using dental panoramic radiographs: the OSTEODENT project.

OBJECTIVES: Measurement of cortical thickness and subjective assessment of cortical porosity on panoramic radiographs are methods previously reported for diagnosing osteoporosis. The aims of this study were to determine the relative efficacy of the mandibular cortical index and cortical width in detecting osteoporosis, both alone and in combination, and to determine the optimal cortical width threshold for referral for additional osteoporosis investigation. STUDY DESIGN: Six hundred seventy-one postmenopausal women 45 to 70 years of age were recruited for this study. They received dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans of the left hip and lumbar spine (L1 to L4), and dental panoramic radiographic examinations of the teeth and jaws. Three observers separately assessed the mandibular cortical width and porosity in the mental foramen region of the mandible. Cortical width was corrected for magnification errors. Chi-squared automatic interaction detection analysis (CHAID) software was used (SPSS AnswerTree, version 3.1, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). RESULTS: Chi-squared automatic interaction detection analysis showed that the cortical porosity was a poorer predictor of osteoporosis than mandibular cortical width. For the 3 observers, a mandibular cortical width of <3 mm provided diagnostic odds ratios of 6.51, 6.09, and 8.04. The test is therefore only recommended in triage screening of individuals by using radiographs made for purposes other than osteoporosis. CONCLUSION: When evaluating panoramic radiographs, only those patients with the thinnest mandibular cortices (i.e., <3 mm) should be referred for further osteoporosis investigation.     

Recto-colonic reflex is impaired in patients with irritable bowel syndrome

Motor and sensory dysfunction of the gut are present in a subset of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Recent studies have demonstrated the presence of a recto-colonic inhibitory reflex in healthy humans. It is not known whether this reflex exists in IBS. We studied rectal compliance, perception and the recto-colonic reflex by measuring volume responses of the descending colon to rectal distentions by barostat in 26 IBS patients and 13 healthy controls under both fasting and postprandial conditions. In the fasting state, rectal distention inhibited colonic tone and phasic motility to a similar extent in health and IBS. After a meal, rectal distention inhibited colonic tone and phasic motility to a lesser degree (P < 0.05) in IBS than health. Under postprandial but not fasting conditions, rectal distentions of increasing intensity were associated with higher pain scores in IBS than in health. Rectal distention inhibits tonic and phasic motility of the descending colon in healthy controls and in IBS patients. Postprandially this recto-colonic inhibitory reflex is impaired and attenuated in IBS patients compared with controls. These findings point to an altered reflex function in IBS and have implications for pathophysiology and therapy.     

Combined approach of FTIR imaging and conventional dissolution tests applied to drug release.

A new method is developed to study drug release using a combination of FTIR imaging and conventional dissolution tests. FTIR imaging in attenuated total reflection (ATR) mode allows simultaneous measurements of the distribution of different components in the tablet, e.g., drug, polymer and water as a function of time. These imaging measurements were carried out in a combined compaction and flow-through cell, which was linked to a UV detector to quantify the amount of dissolved drug. In this way, changes in drug concentration in the aqueous solution can be studied similarly to the conventional dissolution test. This combination provides quantitative information of changes in both the tablet and the liquid phase. A tablet composed of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and niacinamide was prepared and analysed using this setup. Mathematical processing of the measured spectra with a partial least squares (PLS) calibration was utilised for accurate quantitative analysis of the concentrations of different components. The results of FTIR imaging and the dissolution test are compared.