Hormonal influences on hemostasis in women

Hemostasis in women is influenced by physiological changes in hormone status associated with the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and hormone-based contraceptives, and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) preparations. These hormonal influences can lead to an increase in the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) due to altered levels of clotting factors and an acquired resistance to the actions of activated protein C. This articles reviews recent evidence for these changes. During the menstrual cycle, changes are observed in levels of von Willebrand factor (VWF), fibrinogen, and activated factor VII. No such effect has been demonstrated in protein S or protein C levels or activated protein C resistance. Pregnancy is a procoagulant state with progressive increase in levels of factors VII, VIII, X, and XII, fibrinogen, and VWF, as well as increased resistance to activated protein C. Hormonal contraceptives and HRT are widely used and have undergone many changes over the years. Recent modifications to the preparations used in combined oral contraceptives (COC) aimed at improving side-effect profiles have also been shown to increase the risk of VTE for third- and fourth-generation COC compared with second-generation COC. This has been shown to be due to changes in activated protein C resistance. This risk of VTE represents a significant public health issue, but increased awareness and further research may allow development of safer future therapies leading to improvements in women's health.     

维持性血液透析患者钙磷乘积与营养状态的关系

目的回顾性分析维持性血液透析患者钙磷乘积与营养状态的关系。方法对武汉市第一医院维持性血液透析110例终末期。肾脏病患者的临床资料进行回顾性分析,统计其透析前血清钙磷和一般营养状态等指标。钙磷乘积≤55（mg／d1）^2为A组,〉55（mg／d1）^2为B组,比较两组的差异。结果与A组相比,B组血磷（P）明显较高（P〈0．01）;血浆白蛋白（Alb）、透析前尿素氮（BUN）、总胆固醇（TC）、三酰甘油（TG）的含量均较高（P〈0．05）;血钙（Ca）、血红蛋白（Hb）、甲状旁腺激素（iPTH）无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。结论血液透析患者钙磷乘积的升高,可能与营养状态的改善,血磷摄入增加有关。     

沙利度胺预防ERCP术后胰腺炎的实验研究

目的评价具有促进TNF-αmRNA降解的免疫调节剂沙利度胺在预防ERCP术后胰腺炎中的作用。方法建立ERCP术后胰腺炎模型，治疗组术前8天起沙利度胺灌胃，并设立假手术组、无治疗组和赋形物对照组。24h后比较血清淀粉酶水平、胰腺水肿程度以及组织学炎症评分，并比较胰腺组织TNF-αmRNA表达情况。结果沙利度胺显著降低血清淀粉酶、减轻胰腺水肿及组织学炎症评分，并显著降低胰腺组织中TNF-αmRNA的表达。结论TNF-α可能在ERCP术后胰腺炎的发生发展中起着重要作用．预防性使用沙利度胺能有效减轻ERCP术后胰腺炎的严重程度。     

Poor outcome in children with refractory/relapsed leukemia undergoing bone marrow transplantation with mismatched family member donors

The utility of bone marrow transplantation for childhood leukemia in patients unable to achieve a remission prior to transplant is controversial. To address this issue, we analyzed a subset of patients with advanced leukemia entered on prospective transplant trials at our hospital. Fifty-eight patients with ALL or AML (age 1-19) were identified. They had failed standard chemotherapy and were in relapse (22 in 1st, 27 in 2nd, three in 3rd, and three in 4th) or had never achieved an initial remission (three) at the time of transplant. Fifty-two patients received marrow from mismatched family members (haplo or DR-identical), while six received marrow from matched siblings. Most patients received myeloablative therapy consisting of total body irradiation, etoposide, cyclophosphamide, and cytosine arabinoside. Marrow from mismatched donors was T cell depleted. Only one of 52 patients transplanted with a mismatched donor survived long-term while three of six patients transplanted in relapse with a fully matched sibling donor are alive 6-10 years post BMT. The major causes of death were infection (39%) and relapse (28%). Acute GVHD grade III-IV was noted in 7% of patients. A comparable group of patients with leukemia transplanted at our center in remission using similarly mismatched family member donors (haplo or DR-identical) had an event-free survival of 28%. In conclusion, our data suggest that BMT utilizing mismatched family member donors is a poor option for patients in relapse at the time of transplant. New treatment strategies need to be developed to effectively manage these patients.     

Double-delayed intensification improves event-free survival for children with intermediate-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a report from the Children's Cancer Group.

Addition of a delayed-intensification (DI) phase after standard induction/consolidation therapy was previously shown to improve outcome for patients younger than 10 years of age with intermediate-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The current trial randomized 1204 patients to regimens containing a single DI phase (405 patients), 2 DI phases (DDI) (402 patients), or a single DI phase in conjunction with increased vincristine and prednisone pulses during maintenance (DIVPI) (397 patients). Estimates of event-free survival (EFS) and survival at 6 years are 79% +/- 1% and 89% +/- 1%, respectively. EFS was improved on DDI compared with either DI (log-rank P =.04; Kaplan-Meier [KM] P =.04; relative risk [RR] = 1.38) or DIVPI (log-rank P =.04; KM P =.01; RR = 1.39).There was no difference in EFS for the DI and DIVPI regimens (log-rank P =.96; KM P =.75). Survival estimates at 6 years were 87% (SD = 2%) for DI; 91% (SD = 2%) for DDI; and 90% (SD = 2%) for DIVPI (P =.17). Significant univariate risk factors for the overall cohort included poor day-7 marrow response, black race, and age of at least 5 years. These data demonstrate that DDI improves EFS of patients younger than 10 years of age with intermediate-risk ALL.     

The Effect of Major and Minor Depression on Medicare Home Healthcare Services Use

OBJECTIVES: To examine the associations between major and minor depression and categories of Medicare home healthcare use.
DESIGN: Observational prospective study (1997–1999).
SETTING: Visiting nurse agency in suburban New York State.
PARTCIPANTS: Five hundred thirty-nine new Medicare admissions aged 65 and older (mean age 78.4), 65.1% female, and 15.0% nonwhite. Approximately 13.5% were diagnosed with major depression and another 10.8% with minor depression.
MEASUREMENTS: Consensus "best estimate" Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) diagnoses for major and minor depression assessed using Structured Clinical Interviews for DSM-IV (SCID) plus medical charts.
RESULTS: Major and minor depression appear to have little association with probability and amount of use of the types of Medicare home health care (skilled nurse, home health aide, therapist (physical, occupational, and speech), and medical social services). Overall, patients with minor depression appear to have utilization similar to that of patients with major depression.
CONCLUSION: It seems likely that any potential incremental depression effect on utilization is being offset by the transitional medical state of the patients that entered Medicare home healthcare directly from a hospital, nursing home, or rehabilitation facility, and the overall severity of disability and chronic illness present in long-term home healthcare patients. Further research is required to determine whether similar findings occur in other home healthcare agencies and whether these are present under the current Medicare Prospective Payment System reimbursement mechanism.     

One‐Year Follow‐Up of Nonrandomized Comparison between Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery and Drug‐Eluting Stent for the Treatment of Unprotected Left Main Coronary Artery Disease in Elderly Patients (Aged ≥75 Years)

Purpose: The present observational study compares in‐hospital and 12‐month clinical outcomes in elderly patients with unprotected left main coronary artery disease treated either with coronary artery bypass grafting or drug‐eluting stent. Methods: From January 2004 to December 2007, 211 patients (pts) with unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) stenosis, aged 75 or older, underwent coronary revascularization either with coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) (106 pts) or drug‐eluting stent (DES) (105 pts). The decision to treat with CABG or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was dependent on the patient's and the physician's choice. The occurrence of major adverse cardiac or cerebrovascular events (MACCE: death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or stroke) and revascularizations was recorded after 1 year of follow‐up. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed using a propensity score method to take potential baseline differences between groups into account. Results: In‐hospital MACCE rates were 5.7% and 3.8% in the CABG and PCI groups, respectively (P = 0.748). After 1 year of follow‐up, these rates were, respectively, 13.9% and 14.9% (P = 0.841), and rates for target vessel revascularization at 12 months were 1.0% and 13.9% (P < 0.001). The PCI group was significantly associated with older age, dyslipidemia, history of cancer, high Euroscore, elevated creatininemia, single‐vessel disease, fewer chronic occlusions of the left anterior descending artery, and more LMCA stenosis ≥70%. The multivariate logistic regression analysis was adjusted for age, diabetes, left ventricular ejection fraction, Euroscore, and plasma creatininemia and stratified on the score of propensity to be treated with PCI. In the subgroup below median propensity score, the adjusted odds ratio for 1‐year MACCE was OR = 0.91 (95% confidence interval: 0.14 to 5.98; P = 0.924) whereas OR was 0.16 (0.04–0.69; P = 0.013) in the subgroup above median propensity score. Conclusions: In patients with a high probability of being treated with PCI (older age, high Euroscore, high creatininemia, single‐vessel disease, …), the 1‐year risk of MACCE was significantly lower in PCI‐ than in CABG‐treated subjects. No significant difference was found in other cases.     

Cytogenetic and histologic correlations in malignant lymphoma

Although a number of studies have indicated correlations between histologic subtypes of tumors and certain nonrandom chromosome changes, cytogenetic studies of lymphoma are in an early stage compared to those of leukemia. No comprehensive analysis of available data has so far been attempted in the literature either. Here we present an analysis of chromosome changes and their correlation with subtypes of lymphoma studied by conventional histology and cell surface markers, as observed in two sets of data: a group of 65 karyotypically abnormal tumors sequentially ascertained and studied by us during the period January 1, 1984 to April 30, 1985, and a larger data set derived by combining our data with those from two published series from the University of Minnesota that are comparable to our data. These combined data, which comprise the largest data set on the cytogenetics of lymphomas assembled so far, enabled a comprehensive analysis of correlation between chromosome change and tumor histology and the patterns of chromosome instability in these tumors. We found several significant associations, some previously described and others now recognized, between nonrandom chromosome gains, breaks, translocations, and deletions and histologic subtypes of tumors that characterize lymphomas. The data indicate that finding of chromosome breaks at certain sites (eg, 8q24, 14q32, 18q21) is of diagnostic value in dealing with cases of unusual lymphoma. Furthermore, nonrandom chromosome breakage exhibited three distinct patterns that reflected three levels of etiologically relevant genetic change.