The dexamethasone suppression and thyrotropin-releasing hormone tests in depressed borderline patients

Borderline patients can be both a diagnostic and a therapeutic enigma. We investigated a group of 24 depressed women with borderline personality disorder or strong borderline features by DSM III criteria for the presence of either an abnormal dexamethasone suppression test (DST) or a blunted TSH response to TRH, abnormalities which have been reported in major depression. Thirteen of the 24 borderlines failed to suppress on the DST, compared with one of 14 normal women (p < 0.01). Nine of the 24 borderlines had a blunted TSH response to TRH, compared with one of 11 normal women. Neuroendocrine abnormalities were found in a total of 75% of the borderline women, independent of whether or not they met DSM III criteria for major depressive disorder. The results of this study support the notion that many borderline patients with depression have a genuine affective component to their illness, perhaps biologically similar to major depression in non-borderlines.     

A review of mammography test objects for the calibration of resolution, contrast, and exposure

Mandated and voluntary accreditation and quality control programs for mammography require the use of standardized mammography test objects. We evaluated eleven commercially available test objects and three prototype test objects, comparing them with respect to their resolution targets, contrast targets, and the dose they required when imaged by the same automatic exposure meter. Ion chamber and/or thermoluminescent dosimeter measurements of exposure were made with each test object, while attenuation was measured for seven. Measurements of dosage using acrylic (5 test objects) and tissue equivalent epoxy (9 test objects) showed as much as a 400% variation in the radiation supplied by the same automatic exposure device when differences in thicknesses of test objects were normalized. Speck visibility was as dependent on the composition of the specks and of the surrounding material as on the size of the specks. Contrast targets were adequate in only three test objects. Optical density differences between images of a 4-cm-thick breast and of different test object materials, also 4 cm in thickness, exposed to the same radiation, imply that untested acrylic or epoxy resin materials should not used in the calibration of automatic exposure controls.     

Granular cell odontogenic cyst: a unicystic ameloblastoma with late recurrence as follicular ameloblastoma

This report is a follow-up of the original case of granular cell odontogenic cyst described by Gold and Christ in 1970. The lesion, originally treated by enucleation in 1965, recurred 18 years later as a follicular ameloblastoma with prominent plexiform and acanthomatous histologic patterns. No histologic evidence of granular cells was noted in the recurrent lesion. The recurrent ameloblastoma was treated by marginal resection of the body of the mandible and immediate reconstruction with an iliac bone graft. The anatomic restoration was excellent, and there is no recurrence 5 years postoperatively. This case supports the view that the granular cell odontogenic cyst is a unicystic (monocystic) granular cell ameloblastoma, and that the presence of granular cells in ameloblastoma is not a permanent feature and may be of little value as a prognostic indicator of aggressiveness.     

Neurological complications of acquired immune deficiency syndrome: analysis of 50 patients

Fifty patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome had complications affecting the central or peripheral nervous systems or both. The patients were either male homosexuals, intravenous drug abusers, or recently arrived Haitian refugees. They ranged in age from 25 to 56. Central nervous system complications were of four kinds: (1) Infections included Toxoplasma gondii abscesses in 5 patients, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in 2, cryptococcal meningitis in 2, Candida albicans in 1, and possible Mycobacterium avium intracellulare in 3. Eighteen patients suffered a subacute encephalitis possibly attributable to cytomegalovirus infection. (2) Tumors consisted of primary lymphoma of the brain in 3 patients and meningeal invasion by systemic lymphoma in 4. (3) Vascular complications included nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis in 2 patients and cerebral hemorrhages in the setting of thrombocytopenia in 3. (4) Undiagnosed central nervous system problems were evidenced as focal brain lesions in 3 patients and self-limiting aseptic meningitis in 4. Peripheral neuropathy occurred in 8 patients.     

Further Observations on the Production of Anti-human Globulin Reagents by the Injection of Formol-treated Red Cells

Anti-complement antiglobulin was produced by immunising rabbits with formol-treated A₁ cells coated with heat-inactivated anti-A serum.
Anti-human-gammaglobulin was produced by immunising rabbits with their own formol-treated cells.
The mechanism of production of the two antiglobulin reagents is discussed.

Résumé

De l'anti-globuline anti-complément est produite par immunisation de lapins par des érythrocytes A₁ traités au formol et sensibilisés par un sérum anti-A inactivé par la chaleur.
De la gammaglobuline anti-humaine est produite par immunisation de lapins avec leurs propres érythrocytes traités au formol.
Le mécanisme de production de ces deux anti-globulines est discuté.

Zusammenfassung

Durch Immunisierung von Kaninchen mit formalinbehandelten A₁-Zellen, welche mit hitzeinaktiviertem Anti-A-Serum beladen worden waren, gelang es Anti-Komplement-aktive Antiglobulinseren herzustellen. Durch Immunisierung von Kaninchen mit ihren eigenen formalinbehandelten Erythrozyten gelang es, Anti-Human-Gammaglobulinseren zu erzeugen. Der Mechanismus der Entstehung der beiden Antiglobulinreagenzien wird diskutiert.