A clinically applicable method to preserve urine and bladder washing cells for flow cytometric monitoring of bladder cancer patients

We describe a method to fix exfoliated bladder cells that is suitable for followup of bladder cancer patients by deoxyribonucleic acid flow cytometry. After fixation with room temperature methanol plus acetic acid (20:1, volume:volume) urine and bladder washing samples from these patients can be stored at room temperature for 3 to 7 days and then assessed reliably for the presence of aneuploidy and the percentage of hyperdiploid cells. For those with active transitional cell carcinoma diagnostic accuracy comparing fresh to fixed specimens was improved from 58 to 92% with urine and from 50 to 100% with washing samples. For patients with a history of transitional cell carcinoma who currently are free of disease the false positive rate remains unchanged after fixation. The procedure described is suitable for use in the outpatient clinic and should permit shipping of samples without refrigeration to a central flow cytometry facility for analysis.     

Angioplasty of the deep femoral artery using a semirigid PTFE prosthesis. Experimental studies

Underlining the importance of Profundus Femoral Artery and its capacity to make up for lower limb's haemodynamics during obliterative arteriopathy, the Authors conceive a funnel-shaped intravascular prosthesis, Goretex constructed (PTFE), to introduce, in case of obstruction, in the artery lumen with a suitable instrument. The research is performed through ten oldster dogs whose average weight is twenty-four kilograms. Isolated the deep Femoral Artery and carried out an arteriotomy of about two centimetres on the Common Femoral Artery, we bring the prothesis in Profundis Femoral Artery and we fix it to the wall of the Common Femoral Artery with 8/O microsurgical dots. After thirty days, the arteriographic test shows the patency of the endoprosthesis with normal peripheral flow in nine animals out of ten. By virtue of this preliminary experiment, the Authors point out the semplicity of this intervention, also feasible in local anaesthesia, the good tolerability of the prosthesis and its perfect integration with the surrounding arterious wall, without shifts or dissecting laminar flows between the external prosthesis wall and the vessel lumen of the animal.     

Removal of forearm plates. A review of the complications

We studied 55 patients who had undergone elective removal of forearm plates between 1980 and 1986; 44 plates were removed from the radius and 37 from the ulna. Before removal only 20 patients (36%) had definite symptoms attributable to the plates, but 44 patients (80%) were advised by the surgeon to have the plates removed. In 22 cases (40%) the operation was followed by a significant complication. The complication rate was higher with junior surgeons and was permanent in 50% of cases. It is recommended that forearm plates should be removed only if they are causing significant symptoms, and that the operation should not be delegated to the most junior surgeon.     

Correction on congenital heart defects under conditions of hypothermia without perfusion and non-inhalation anesthesia

The clinical and pathophysiological indices were determined in the operative and immediate postoperative periods in 221 patients with various congenital heart diseases, with consideration for the degree of preoperative disorders of hemodynamics. The operations were conducted under conditions of non-inhalation anesthesia and various-level hypothermal protection without perfusion, with exclusion of the heart from circulation for up to 52 minutes. The main complications developing in the operative and postoperative periods were determined. It is proved that the processes of metabolism and blood oxygen-transport function are interlinked in operations conducted under these conditions. It is also proved that the operations are safe and effective.     

The effect of surgical intervention on the state of the immune system in brain tumors

In patients with benign and malignant brain tumors before the operation, the suppression of the immune system, in particular, proliferative response of lymphocytes to T- and B-mitogens was established. Preoperative preparation of the patients aggravated this process. At day 8-10 after the operation, normalization of the main indices of immunity in patients with benign tumors was noted. In malignant tumors after the operation, the increase in the contents of T- and B-lymphocytes against the background of decrease in their proliferative activity was observed.