Long-term experience with implanted intrathecal drug administration systems for failed back syndrome and chronic mechanical low back pain

Background  

Continuous intrathecal drug delivery has been shown in open studies to improve pain and quality of life in those with intractable back pain who have had spinal surgery. There is limited data on long term effects and and even less for patients with mechanical back pain without prior spinal surgery.     

Reproducibility of automated periodontal probing around teeth and osseointegrated oral implants

Three different probing devices (Audio‐Probe®, Florida‐Probe®, Peri‐Probe®) were tested in order to determine the clinical probing depth (CPD) around clinically stable oral implants and their homologous teeth and to evaluate their reproducibility. In all 37 patients. in the age range of 24–80 years, who had undergone periodontal therapy and placement of 1 or more oral implants (ITI®), were selected for the study. The CPD was determined on 75 oral implants in total and at 4 sites of both the implants and the control teeth at 3 visits, each 1 week apart. At the 1st visit, the Florida‐Probe® and the Audio‐Probe® were used. At the 2nd visit, the Florida‐Probe® and the Peri‐Probe® and, at the 3rd visit, again, the Florida‐Probe® and the Audio‐Probe® were used. At each visit bleeding on probing (BOP) was registered. A statistically significant ( P <0.05) difference between the mean scores of implant and tooth sites was found showing slightly higher values for implant sites. A tendency for the deeper pockets to bleed more frequently than the shallow pockets was observed. The comparisons of differences of the readings of the Audio‐Probe® on 2 different occasions were smaller than for the Florida‐Probe®. However, comparisons between 2 different probes showed significantly greater measurement errors than when comparing the probes alone. There was a tendency for the Peri‐Probe® to yield the highest and the Audio‐Probe® the lowest values in inflamed sites. It was concluded that all 3 probing devices appeared to have adequate reproducibility both around teeth and oral implants. For clinical use in daily practice, the Audio‐Probe® was found to be the most simple device with the highest 1 reproducibility.     

电化学方法研究环丙沙星及其镁、锰络合物与脱氧核糖核酸的相互作用

用电化学的方法,研究环丙沙星(CPFX)及其镁、锰络合物与脱氧核糖核酸(DNA)的相互作用及其极谱伏安行为。结果在0.1mol·L^-1NH₃-NH₄Cl(pH9.2)溶液中,环丙沙星可与DNA作用,产生一新的极谱峰 Ep=-1.72V(vsAg/AgCl),在有Mg²⁺或Mn²⁺存在时则生成三元络合物,产生一电位更负的新峰,峰电位Ep=-1.78V,提示Mg²⁺或Mn²⁺离子参与药物与DNA的作用。对它们的还原峰性质研究表明,电极还原反应是完全不可逆的,电流具有吸附性。本文还探讨了电极还原机理,认为参与电极还原的是三元络合物中的环丙沙星分子,进一步推测CPFX-Mg是嵌入DNA的双螺旋结构中。     

Crystallization and preliminary diffraction analysis of caudoxin and notexin; two monomeric phospholipase A2 neurotoxins.

Two monomeric neurotoxic phospholipases A₂ have been crystallized and their diffraction properties characterized. Crystals of caudoxin (from the venom of Bitis caudalis) and notexin (from the venom of Notechis scutatus scutatus) were grown at neutral pH, in the absence of calcium ion, and diffract to a resolution of 2.3 and 1.6 Å, respectively.     

Diagnosis, treatment and outcome of parathyroid cancer. A report of eight patients.

Eight patients presented parathyroid cancer between 1963 and 1990. There were seven women and one man with a median age of 55.5 years (range 34-81). At admission the median serum calcium concentration was 3.75 mmol/l (range 3.0-5.0), and four patients presented with a hypercalcaemic crisis. Six patients had a pathological bone resorption and five had reduced kidney function or urinary stones. All cases were treated by en bloc resection of the tumour and affected adjacent structures. One patient with a local lymph node metastasis died after seven months, and one in whom it was impossible to remove the tumour died after 14 months. Two patients had recurrences three and nine years after the operation, respectively. The first was treated with mithramycin, but died 33 months later, the other was reoperated on and was still normocalcaemic 2-9 years after diagnosis.     

Tuberculosis notifications in Australia, 2001.

In 2001, there were 997 cases of tuberculosis (TB) reported to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, of which, 967 were new cases of TB and 30 cases were relapses. The incidence rate of TB in Australia in 2001 was 5.1 cases per 100,000 population. The highest incidence of TB was reported in people born overseas (19.3 cases per 100,000 population), followed by Indigenous Australians (9.8 cases per 100,000 population). In contrast, the incidence rate of TB in the non-Indigenous Australian-born population was 1.0 cases per 100,000 population. This pattern of TB incidence rates amongst the sub-populations of Australia has been observed for over 10 years. Eighty-six per cent of TB cases completed treatment in 2001. Treatment was unsuccessful in 7 cases and only 22 cases defaulted. The National Tuberculosis Advisory Committee has published a National Strategic Plan with performance indicators to ensure that this enviable record of TB control is maintained and improved.     

Genetic changes at the beta-2-adrenergic receptor locus on chromosome 5 in human colorectal carcinomas.

Matched normal/tumor DNA pairs from 44 colorectal carcinoma patients were examined for tumor-specific genetic changes using a probe for the beta-2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2R) gene on chromosome 5. This locus (5q31-q32) maps close to the site of chromosomal deletions recently reported to occur in colorectal carcinomas and distal to the chromosomal location of the familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) gene (5q21-q22). Our investigation shows tumor-specific allele loss or allelic rearrangement of at least 29% at the AdRb2R locus on chromosome 5 in informative cases. These results suggest that the mechanism by which colorectal carcinomas lose genetic material on chromosome 5 can affect this functional gene located distally to the FAP gene. The possible functional significance that ADRB2R gene changes may have in neoplastic progression is discussed.     

Fibronectin: a discrimination marker between small invasive carcinomas and benign proliferative lesions of the breast

The connective tissue glycoprotein, fibronectin (FN) is known to be increased in the stromal desmoplastic response associated with invasive breast carcinoma (IBC). In a previous study of 77 IBCs we found that all tumours, irrespective of desmoplasia, displayed an intense stromal immunoreactivity for FN, although those with a high metastatic potential tended to lack this in foci along their infiltrating border (Christensen et al. 1988). In order to test the diagnostic value of this observation, FN immunoreactivity was estimated semiquantitatively in 131 small primary IBCs, 23 in situ carcinomas, 20 borderline lesions, 142 benign proliferative breast lesions and 35 samples of normal breast tissue. All IBCs, including those without apparent desmoplasia, were accompanied by an intense stromal staining for FN forming a diffuse or pericellular pattern around the tumour cells (FN positive reaction). This was not seen in the benign lesions (FN negative reaction) with the exception of an FN positive, linear staining around some cysts and ectatic ducts and a diffuse staining of the connective tissue core of some intraductal papillomas. Intraductal carcinomas, multiple papillomas and radial scars could display a substantial staining for FN, sometimes enclosing small islands or tubules of epithelial cells. However, the fact that all IBCs of this study produced an overall reliable and consistent FN positive stromal reaction, which was only interrupted in minute foci along the infiltrating border in a few of the largest tumours (11/131), makes immunohistochemical staining for FN an excellent adjunct to morphology in tracing small, primary IBCs.