Fluoroscopically guided peritoneal dialysis catheter placement: long-term results from a single center.

OBJECTIVE: Despite percutaneous fluoroscopy ensuring appropriate placement of peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheters, the efficacy of this method is not well known. Therefore, we evaluated our long-term experience with fluoroscopy-assisted placement of PD catheters. Patients and METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 134 PD catheters in 114 PD patients that were treated in the PD center of a university-based hospital. We evaluated complications related to PD catheters, causes for catheter removal, and catheter survival. We used the multivariate Cox proportional hazard model to identify independent factors related to PD catheter survival. RESULTS: Early complications related to insertion included 1 case of pericatheter bleeding; there were no placement failures. Early complications occurred in 8.5% of patients. Most late complications were migration and leakage, which occurred in 10.4% and 9.7% of patients respectively. The most common cause for catheter removal was intractable and recurrent peritonitis. The 12- and 24-month survival rates of the catheters were 80.0% and 74.9%. The most significant prognostic factor of percutaneous fluoroscopy-assisted PD catheter survival was late leakage (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In addition to the advantages of simplicity, minimal invasiveness, and relative safety, the survival rate of PD catheters placed using the percutaneous fluoroscopy-assisted method was comparable to that of more invasive methods. Percutaneous fluoroscopy-assisted placement of PD catheters should be considered when available, and may be preferred to other placement methods.     

Endoscopic laser photocoagulation for management of neovascular glaucoma

Endoscopic laser photocoagulation was used to treat neovascular glaucoma in 8 eyes of 7 patients. New vessels of the iris and anterior chamber disappeared or stabilized after photocoagulation in 7 eyes (88%). Vision improved in 4 eyes (50%). The endoscopy was excellent for observing the peripheral retina and ciliary process tissues. The endoscopic laser was suitable for wider photocoagulation of ischemic retina against opacity of the anterior eye.     

Accelerated decomposition of 4-hydroxycyclophosphamide by human serum albumin

Cyclophosphamide, a widely used anticancer agent, requires initial metabolic activation to 4-hydroxycyclophosphamide (4-OHCP) to elicit its activity. The rate of decomposition of cis-4-OHCP was much faster in plasma than in buffer at pH 7.4. This plasma activity was not affected by treatment with acid (pH 1.3) or heat (60 degrees C for 30 min). The activity was retained in the macromolecular fraction (greater than 10,000) but not in the filtrate. Serum albumin was identified as the catalyst for the elimination step that generates phosphoramide mustard from aldophosphamide; albumin had no effect on the rate of ring opening of cis-4-OHCP to aldophosphamide. This catalytic activity was dependent on serum albumin concentration and independent of pH over the range of 6.5 to 7.5, in contrast to the buffer-catalyzed reaction. The catalytic rate constants kcat (pH 7.4, 37 degrees C) for phosphate buffer, human serum albumin, and bovine serum albumin were 1.13, 285, and 83 M-1 min-1, respectively. Pretreatment of cis-4-OHCP with serum albumin resulted in a time-dependent decrease in cytotoxic activity against L1210 tumor cells in vitro. These data suggest that the albumin-catalyzed reaction of cis-4-OHCP in plasma represents an important pathway for the transformation of cyclophosphamide metabolites and further emphasize the importance of considering phosphoramide mustard generated extracellularly versus intracellularly and the respective contributions of extracellular and intracellular phosphoramide mustard to cyclophosphamide cytotoxicity in vivo.     

Synthesis of acyclonucleosides (4)

The synthetic study of 3′-azido and 3′-fluoro secouridines toward development of new antiviral agents is described. These acyclic nucleosides were synthesized from, uridine by the method of ring opening reaction of sugar moiety.     

Selective inhibitory effect of new phosphodiesterase inhibitors on PDE isozymes in guinea pig cardiac muscle

Selective inhibition of seven new PDE inhibitors on cyclic nucleotide PDE isozymes was investigated. Three PDE isozymes (PDE I, II and III) of guinea pig left ventricular muscles were used. All tested agents inhibited cyclic AMP hydrolysis by PDE III in a concentration-dependent manner. Some agents represented more potent and selective inhibitory effect on PDE III than that of imazodan.     

Timolol induces HSV-1 ocular shedding in the latently infected rabbit

Timolol iontophoresis into the eye can induce herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) shedding in rabbits latently infected with HSV-1 strain McKrae. Anodal iontophoresis of 0.01% timolol was done at 0.8 mAmp for 8 min once a day for 3 consecutive days. Viral shedding was determined by the presence of HSV-1 in the preocular tear film obtained by eye swabs. In two experiments, iontophoresis of 0.01% timolol resulted in all eyes (18/18) shedding HSV-1 for an average duration of 4.3 days. When 5.0% timolol was applied topically to rabbit eyes supersensitized by iontophoresis of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-HD), all eyes (10/10) shed virus for an average duration of 2.9 days. All eyes (12/12) receiving iontophoresis of 6-HD, pre- and posttreatment with topical application of 5.0% timolol, and posttreatment with topical application of 1.0% epinephrine shed virus for an average duration of 3.6 days. Eyes treated with topical application of 5.0% timolol alone showed no difference in HSV-1 ocular shedding, compared with untreated eyes. We concluded that both iontophoresis of 0.01% timolol and topical application of 5.0% timolol to adrenergically supersensitized eyes induced HSV-1 shedding reliably and with a high frequency, and that topically applied timolol does not block the HSV-1 ocular shedding induced by epinephrine in adrenergically supersensitized eyes.     

Evaluation of the NucliSens EasyQ HIV-1 v1.1 and RealTime HIV-1 kits for quantitation of HIV-1 RNA in plasma

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) RNA viral load is an important biomarker to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of antiretroviral drugs and to monitor disease progression in HIV-infected individuals. We compared HIV-1 RNA quantitation between two different kits, the NucliSens EasyQ^® HIV-1 v1.1 (EasyQ, bioMérieux) and RealTime HIV-1 (RealTime, Abbott), using HIV-1 RNA quality control (QC) materials, cell-cultivated viruses, and the plasma samples of 104 patients with HIV. Correlation between the two kits for HIV RNA-1 quantitation with clinical samples was high (R = 0.91). Based on results obtained with quality control standards, the reproducibility of the RealTime kit was higher than the EasyQ kit: the viral load value and coefficient of variation of each kit was 4.11 ± 0.136 and 3.3% for EasyQ and 3.55 ± 0.042 and 1.2% for RealTime, respectively (P < 0.002).This is the first comparative analysis of the detection limit and reproducibility of two different quantitation kits using clinical plasma samples from Korean HIV-1-infected patients. It will serve a useful reference to determine correction values for each HIV-1 RNA quantitation kits and to choose an appropriate assay kit for each laboratory.     

Predictors of Remission and Relapse of Diabetes after Conventional Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer: Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

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