Long-term survival in an infant with urethral atresia

Complete urethral atresia is an anomaly that previously was incompatible with life. We report on a surviving infant with this anomaly. As a fetus urinary decompression was accomplished with a vesicoamniotic shunt. Peritoneal dialysis was initiated shortly after birth and at 9 months supramembranous scrotal inlay urethroplasty was performed to provide for egress of urine from the bladder. A maternal renal allograft was performed when he was 12 months old. When the patient was 3 1/2 years old he had normal renal function and emptied the bladder to completion through the reconstructed urethra. Although mildly delayed, he continues to progress with all developmental milestones.     

A giant renal artery aneurysm diagnosed post partum

We report a case of a 5.8 cm. right renal artery aneurysm diagnosed intact 8 weeks post partum. Rupture of a renal arterial aneurysm during pregnancy is a rare but well described catastrophic event. There are no previous reports of an intact renal artery aneurysm diagnosed either ante partum or post partum. To our knowledge, this also represents the largest reported renal artery aneurysm. The aneurysm was repaired successfully with kidney salvage and closure of the fistulous connection to the renal vein.     

Selection criteria for the evaluation of living related renal donors

The documented long-term health of the living related renal donor is a tribute to careful preoperative selection and surgical technique. At our medical center 187 prospective donors were evaluated during a 6-year period and 91 underwent donor nephrectomy. Hypertension, renal artery anomalies and donor indecision were the most common reasons for donor rejection. Recipient health and/or death, or a positive crossmatch after pre-transplant donor specific transfusion were other post-arteriogram reasons not to proceed with transplantation. Women were more likely to undergo nephrectomy than men, and older or heavier donors were more likely to be rejected. Using the transcostal, extrapleural surgical approach for nephrectomy there were no deaths or major complications, and the mean postoperative length of stay was 6.4 days. The average postoperative increase in serum creatinine was 0.33 mg./dl. with an average creatinine at discharge of the patient from the hospital of 1.2 mg./dl. The latter creatinine values varied concordantly with donor age. Only 56% of fully evaluated donors (91 of 159) actually underwent donor nephrectomy. The minimal morbidity sustained by these patients re-emphasizes the importance of careful donor selection.     

Knee joint hemarthrosis--differential diagnostic considerations for planning an operation

From 1980 to the end of 1988, arthroscopy has been performed on 620 patients with acute hemarthrosis of the knee joint. Of all the intraarticular lesions, 89.4% required surgery. Arthroscopy has changed in the last decade from diagnostic screening to invasive instrumentation for exact operative planing and alternative operative techniques. Hemarthrosis in stable knee joints was caused by minor lesions (7.84%) that did not require surgical procedures. Seventy-three patients had traumatic patellar dislocations--in 33 cases associated with chondral or osteochondral fractures. In 54.8% of the isolated medial retinacular ruptures, simple suture was performed in 14 cases--3 times arthroscopically and 11 times open, combined with lateral retinacular release without redislocation following. Associated chondral fracture indicated surgery in all cases. Isolated meniscus pathology (12.48%) was treated by arthroscopy alone, and refixation of the medial meniscus was carried out using the inside-out technique in 27 cases. Arthroscopic elevation of lateral tibia plateau fracture--indicated by type II fracture according to the AO classification--was performed in 3 cases with excellent results, and was associated with screw fixation and image intensification in 2 patients. Intercondylar eminence fracture is an excellent indication for arthroscopic refixation in the presence of the mono- or two-fragment type of fracture. ACL rupture is the main intra-articular pathology (64.8%) for hemarthrosis of the knee joint, which was diagnosed as an acute injury within the 1st week following trauma (51.04%). Anterior instability can be detected clinically if a careful examination with the Lachman test, combined with the missing end-point and pivot-shift test, is performed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The cytoskeleton of cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with Huntington's chorea

Cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with Huntington's chorea were prepared for indirect immunofluorescence using monospecific antibodies to tubulin, actin, and fibronectin. The fibroblasts were also visualized by transmission electron microscopy. The fibroblasts were observed after 3 hours of plating and treatment with various concentrations of colcemid and cytochalasin B to test the reaction of the microfibrillar network to stressful conditions. Disorders were not apparent in the cytoskeletal system (microtubules, microfilaments, and intermediate filaments) when compared with normal controls. Fibronectin was arranged in a fibrillar pattern similar to that seen with actin immunofluorescence. This colinear arrangement was not disturbed in Huntington's chorea cells. Microtubules, microfilaments, and 10-nm intermediate filaments became more parallel as the incubation period increased from 3 to 24 hours. This study showed that the cytoskeleton and the attachment of one surface protein (fibronectin) are not affected in Huntington's chorea.     

FPL 62064, a topically active 5-lipoxygenase/cyclooxygenase inhibitor

FLP 62064 [N-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazole-3-amine] is a dual inhibitor of prostaglandin synthetase and 5-lipoxygenase. The compound had anti-inflammatory activity in vivo in a number of models. It inhibited peritoneal inflammation induced by immune-complex when given locally. When applied to the skin, FPL 62064 inhibited UV irradiation-induced erythema and PGE2 formation in the guinea pig and also oedema formation and eicosanoid production in the mouse ear produced by arachidonic acid. Co-injected with arachidonic acid in rabbit skin, FPL 62064 inhibited oedema and eicosanoid formation.     

The efficacy of tobramycin in the treatment of ulcerative colitis

This paper reports a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of oral tobramycin in acute ulcerative colitis. Eighty-four patients with an acute relapse of ulcerative colitis were randomized to receive oral tobramycin or placebo for 1 week as an adjunct to steroid therapy. At endpoint, 31 of 42 (74%) in the tobramycin group achieved complete symptomatic remission compared with 18 of 42 (43%) in the placebo group (P = 0.008). The tobramycin group achieved better histological scores (P less than 0.05) at endpoint. These findings show that treatment with oral tobramycin improves the short-term outcome of patients with ulcerative colitis in relapse.     

Rapid determination of benzalkonium chloride in pharmaceutical preparations with flow injection liquid-liquid extraction

Benzalkonium chloride was assayed by on-line extraction of the benzalkonium ion with picrate to chloroform. The absorbance of picrate was measured. The extractions were performed with a home-made flow injection extraction unit. Calibration curves (1.5-180 x 10(-4)% w/v) were straight lines (r = 0.9993) and the relative standard deviation of a series of injections was less than or equal to 2%. Pharmaceutical benzalkonium preparations, containing xylometazoline, timolol, phenylephrine or carbachol could also be assayed. The method was compared with a modified HPLC assay.