An epidemiological study after a water contamination incident near Worcester, England in April 1994.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether exposure to tap water contaminated in a major river pollution incident with 2 ethyl 5,5 dimethyl 1,3 dioxane (EDD) and 2 ethyl 4 methyl 1,3 dioxolane (EMD) was associated with an increase of self reported symptoms. To assess the extent of association between noticing the water had an unusual taste or odour and self reported symptoms. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: A city and two nearby towns in a semi-rural area of England, UK. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 3861 people who replied to a postal questionnaire asking about symptoms and water consumption sent to a sample of 1000 households in each of three areas--one area supplied with contaminated water (study group) and two control areas that were unaffected (control groups). MAIN RESULTS: The household response rates were 65% for the study group and 56% and 57% for the two control groups. Self reporting of 10 individual symptoms was significantly increased in the study group compared with controls. Within the study group, reporting of one or more symptoms was significantly higher in subjects who consumed contaminated water but not among subjects who used it to wash or cook. Subjects who drank contaminated water showed a dose-response relationship for self reporting of one or more symptoms and for seven individual symptoms. Within the study group, however, only 62% (867 of 1398 subjects) noticed that the water had an unusual taste or odour. Among subjects who did not notice that the water had an unusual taste or odour, no association was found between drinking contaminated water and reporting one or more symptoms, or between drinking contaminated water and reporting of individual symptoms, although a dose-response relationship was shown between the amount of water consumed and self reporting of nausea. Among subjects who noticed the water had an unusual taste or odour, both an association and a dose-response relationship were found between consumption of contaminated water and the self reporting of six symptoms--diarrhoea, nausea, headache, stomach pains, skin irritation, and itchy eyes. CONCLUSIONS: Higher rates of symptom reporting were associated with the water contamination incident. Reported symptoms seemed, however, to be associated with the ability to detect an unusual taste or odour in the water. Because concentrations of the contaminants would be expected to be evenly distributed in the tap water in the affected area, irrespective of taste or odour, and because of the known toxicity of the parent compounds of EMD and EDD, it is concluded that the increase in self reported symptoms in the study group respondents was associated with noticing the unpleasant taste or odour of the tap water and not with the chemical contamination. It is concluded that the observed increase in reporting of nausea with increasing water consumption was due to public anxiety caused by the incident but did not pose a serious risk to the public's health. The increase in self reported symptoms in the area affected by the contamination was an important reminder of the wider health implications of "health scares".     

Post-Prostatectomy incontinence and the Artificial Urinary Sphincter: A Long-Term Study of Patient Satisfaction and Criteria for Success

Purpose

We investigated patient satisfaction with the artificial urinary sphincter and established criteria for a successful outcome by inquiring about patient perceived satisfaction, continence achieved and comparison with the surgeon office records.

Materials and Methods

During 9 years 65 patients with post-prostatectomy incontinence underwent placement of the AMS800^* artificial urinary sphincter. Review of charts and a telephone questionnaire were conducted to determine patient perceived satisfaction.

Results

A total of 50 patients participated in the survey. Median followup was 23.4 months. Preoperative incontinence was severe. Of the patients 90 percent reported continuous leakage, and 70 percent wore an average of 6 diapers and 24 percent wore an average of 7.4 pads daily.The long-term complete continence rate was 20 percent. Of the patients with wetness 55 percent had leakage of a few drops daily and 22 percent had leakage of less than a teaspoon. Of all patients 50 percent had leakage daily, 24 percent had leakage 1 or more times a week and wore an average of 1.5 pads per day, and 6 percent reported changing clothes due to wetness. A total of 90 percent of the patients reported satisfaction with the artificial urinary sphincter and 96 percent stated that they would recommend or had recommended the artificial urinary sphincter to a friend. In retrospect, 92 percent of the patients would have the artificial urinary sphincter placed again, 90 percent of those undergoing revision reported no change in satisfaction and 14 percent reported improved sexual activity.

Conclusions

Patient satisfaction with the artificial urinary sphincter for post-prostatectomy incontinence is uniformly high. Although postoperative continence was not 100 percent, relative improvement in continence was the most significant factor affecting patient perceived outcome. Using these parameters criteria for a successful outcome can be established, and patient concerns regarding the artificial urinary sphincter can be dispelled.     

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in children with cancer

We reviewed the clinical course of 32 children with cancer who received nutrition through a feeding tube placed percutaneously during gastroscopy (PEG). Their median age was 5.1 y (75%, range: 1.8-13.7 y, min: 3.5 mo) when the PEG was done 0.7-23 mo after diagnosis (median: 1.8 mo, 75%; range: 0.9-8 mo). Five of the children underwent bone marrow transplantation with the gastrostomy in place. There was a significant (p     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptobacillus moniliformis</Emphasis> septic arthritis: a clinical entity distinct from rat-bite fever?

Background  

Streptobacillus moniliformis is a zoonotic agent associated with rodent contacts. Although it is more commonly reported to cause rat-bite fever with reactive arthritides, it can also lead to pyogenic infection of the joints.     

Pyloric motor response to intraduodenal dextrose involves muscarinic mechanisms

The delivery of dextrose solutions to the duodenum is associated with the stimulation of phasic and tonic pyloric contraction. In this study, the effects of intravenous atropine on the antropyloroduodenal motor responses to intraduodenal infusions of 25% dextrose were assessed in 10 normal volunteers. Antropyloroduodenal pressures were recorded with a manometric assembly incorporating a sleeve sensor spanning the pylorus, and sideholes in the antrum and duodenum. In each experiment, three intraduodenal infusions of 25% dextrose were given at a rate of 4 ml/min, for a median duration of 19 min (range 17-20). During the second dextrose infusion, intravenous atropine was given as a bolus (15 micrograms/kg) followed by an infusion (4 micrograms/kg.min), which was continued until the end of each experiment. Before atropine was given, the pyloric motor response to the second dextrose infusion was not significantly different from the response to the first infusion, but after administration of atropine there was a rapid decrease in the rate of isolated pyloric pressure waves, from 0.8 to 0.1 per minute (p less than 0.05). The isolated pyloric pressure wave response to the third dextrose infusion was completely blocked, and there was a much smaller maximum increase in basal pyloric pressure compared with the first infusion (p less than 0.01). This study indicates that intraduodenal dextrose reproducibly stimulates isolated pyloric pressure waves and increases basal pyloric pressure by mechanisms that involve muscarinic receptors.     

Serum interleukin-3 levels following autologous or allogeneic bone marrow transplantation: effects of T-cell depletion, blood stem cell infusion, and hematopoietic growth factor treatment

Engraftment of marrow following autologous or allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) may be influenced by quantity and function of stem cells. T lymphocytes, supporting microenvironmental cells, and hematopoietic growth factors (HGF). To elucidate the physiologic role of interleukin-3 (IL-3) in the engraftment process, serum IL-3 levels were measured in over 400 samples from 77 transplant recipients before and for up to 3 weeks following transplantation using a novel enzyme- linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) with a sensitivity of > or = 78 pg/mL. Thirty-seven patients received two to three log T-cell-depleted allografts. In the remaining 40 patients (18 autologous marrow, 12 allogeneic marrow, and 10 autologous peripheral blood [PB] stem cell), T cells were not depleted (non-TCD) from the grafts. A burst of IL-3 (peak levels, 1,500 to 6,000 pg/mL) was detected in the immediate posttransplant period between day 0 and day 14 in all non-TCD recipients and in 21 of 37 (57%) of TCD recipients. A strong inverse relationship between IL-3 levels and absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was observed in both non-TCD recipients (r = -.796) and in TCD recipients (r = -.897). However, both peak IL-3 levels and mean IL-3 levels from day 0 through 14 were significantly lower in TCD recipients compared with either autologous or unmodified allogeneic marrow recipients (P < .01). The lowest peak or mean day 0 through 14 IL-3 levels were observed in matched related recipients undergoing the most aggressive (2.5 to 3.0 log) T-cell-depleted BMT. Autografted patients receiving blood stem cell transplants alone or posttransplant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) or granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) also had significantly lower peak IL- 3 levels (P < .01). In patients receiving TCD grafts, administration of antithymocyte globulin (ATG) posttransplant significantly increased peak IL-3 levels compared with patients not treated with ATG (P < .04). This study shows that endogenous release of IL-3 is strongly associated with myeloid engraftment and inversely related to ANC. Removal of T lymphocytes from donor marrow or acceleration of engraftment by use of stem cells or growth factors appears to blunt the endogenous release of IL-3 whereas use of ATG posttransplant increases IL-3 release.     

Telomerase activation in normal B lymphocytes and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas

Activation of telomerase seems to be a prerequisite for immortalization and is found in permanent cell lines and most malignant tumors. Normal somatic cells are generally telomerase negative, except for bone marrow stem cells. Weak activity is also present in peripheral blood cells. In the present study strong telomerase activity was demonstrated in vivo in normal mature cells of the immune system, as well as in malignant lymphomas. Benign lymph nodes had lower telomerase activity than benign tonsils, which exhibited intermediate to high activity comparable with findings in malignant lymphomas. In benign tonsils the activity seemed to be restricted to germinal center B cells. In benign lymphoid tissues telomerase activity correlated with B-cell numbers and cell proliferation, but this was not observed in the lymphoma group. High- grade lymphomas exhibited higher levels of telomerase compared with low- grade cases. The data showed that in vivo activation of telomerase is a characteristic feature of germinal center B cells. Different signals for activation of telomerase are likely to exist, one of them being immune stimulation. The data suggest that telomerase activity in malignant lymphomas can be explained by an "induction and retention" model, ie, transformation occurs in a normal, mature B cell with reactivated telomerase, which is retained in the neoplastic clone.