Pleural effusion following coronary perforation during balloon angioplasty: an unusual presentation of the postpericardiotomy syndrome.

We report on the development of features of the postpericardiotomy syndrome following coronary perforation during balloon angioplasty, in a patient that was managed conservatively. The case illustrates that while cardiac tamponade does not invariably follow coronary perforation, late consequences derived from this complication may occur. It also widens the spectrum of conditions where the postpericardiotomy syndrome has been observed.     

DISEASE-MODIFYING ANTIRHEUMATIC DRUGS IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: CURRENT CONCEPTS

SUMMARY Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs are used in virtually all patients with established rheumatoid arthritis. An increasingly large number of new drugs is now available. Furthermore, old therapies are being used in novel ways. Treatment is now begun earlier and patients are rarely left untreated. This report summarises recent developments regarding the drugs currently in use and those that may be available in the near future.     

Antibody-mediated specific binding and cytotoxicity of liposome-entrapped doxorubicin to lung cancer cells in vitro.

Liposome entrapment of doxorubicin has been shown to reduce its cardiotoxicity in vivo and increase its therapeutic index. A further improvement in therapeutic index could be achieved through targeting of liposome-entrapped drug selectively to cancer cells. Monoclonal antibodies against the squamous lung cancer cell line KLN-205 have been ligated to the surface of long-circulating (Stealth) and conventional liposomes. The antibody-bearing liposomes showed specific, competitive uptake by KLN-205 cells as compared to liposomes bearing nonspecific isotype-matched antibodies or antibody-free liposomes. Doxorubicin-containing antibody-liposomes resulted in as much as a 15-fold decrease in the 50% inhibitory concentration for doxorubicin against KLN-205 cells as compared to free doxorubicin or doxorubicin entrapped in antibody-free liposomes.     

Non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging assessment of myocardial changes and the effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition in diabetic rats

A non-invasive cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique was developed to allow, for the first time, detection and characterization of chronic changes in myocardial tissue volume and the effects upon these of treatment by the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor captopril in streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic male Wistar rats. Animals that had been made diabetic at the ages of 7, 10 and 13 weeks and a captopril-treated group of animals made diabetic at the age of 7 weeks were scanned. The findings were compared with the results from age-matched controls. All animal groups (n = 4 animals in each) were consistently scanned at 16 weeks. Left and right ventricular myocardial volumes were reconstructed from complete data sets of left and right ventricular transverse sections which covered systole and most of diastole using twelve equally incremented time points through the cardiac cycle. The calculated volumes remained consistent through all twelve time points of the cardiac cycle in all five experimental groups and agreed with the corresponding post-mortem determinations. These gave consistent myocardial densities whose values could additionally be corroborated by previous reports, confirming the validity of the quantitative MRI results and analysis. The myocardial volumes were conserved in animals whose diabetes was induced at 13 weeks but were significantly increased relative to body weight in animals made diabetic at 7 and 10 weeks. Captopril treatment, which was started immediately after induction of diabetes, prevented the development of this relative hypertrophy in both the left and right ventricles. We have thus introduced and validated quantitative MRI methods in a demonstration, for the first time, of chronic myocardial changes in both the right and left ventricles of STZ-diabetic rats and their prevention by the ACE inhibitor captopril.     

上颌阻生尖牙的临床诊断与治疗

目的：对阻生上颌尖牙的病因、临床检查、诊断及其相应的治疗进行了临床研究。方法：选取57例上颌尖牙阻生患者，通过病史询问、临床检查、X线片和模型测量的综合分析，从临床角度对阻生牙进行了诊断分类，采用不同的方法进行了矫治，并对矫治效果进行了评估。结果：采取适宜有效的治疗办法，均取得了满意的治疗效果，牙周膜愈合成功率达100％，活髓牙成功率达93．6％，牙龈形态良好者达89．4％。结论：尖牙阻生情况各异，治疗方法多样，根据临床分类选择合适的治疗方法，是矫治成功的关键。