A prospective randomized trial between Euro-Collins and University of Wisconsin solutions as the initial flush in hepatic allograft procurement.

University of Wisconsin solution is currently recognized as the best solution for long-term organ preservation. It is recommended that UW solution be used as the in situ flush prior to organ explantation. The purpose of our study was to determine if hepatic allograft function was impaired by flushing the graft in situ with Euro-Collins and later flushing the graft ex vivo with UW solution, prior to cold storage. Fifty-six donors were randomly assigned to either an EC (n = 24) or UW (n = 32) in situ flush. The livers flushed with EC in situ were later flushed with 1 L of UW on the back table and stored in UW solution. Livers flushed with UW in vivo were similarly flushed and stored in UW on the back table. Concerning the donor allograft, there was no statistical difference (P greater than 0.05) between groups in sex, race, blood type, arterial anatomy, age, prothrombin time (PT), partial thromboplastin time (PTT), total bilirubin (TBR), direct bilirubin (DBR), aspartate amino transferase (AST), or alanine amino transferase (ALT). In addition, the recipients were compared for differences in sex, race, blood type, preoperative status, number of rejections, recipient age, length of surgery, and ischemia time and patient survival. There was no significant difference between groups (P greater than 0.05). There was no significant difference in patient survival (P = 0.238). Values for TBR, AST, ALT, PT, PTT, and AP were collected immediately preoperatively and postoperatively and on postoperative days 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28. There was no difference between groups in these values (P greater than 0.05). In our study there was no difference between the groups with respect to graft performance. This would justify the use of EC as an in situ flush during solid organ procurement and flushing with UW solution on the back table with an estimated savings of $400 to $1200 per procurement.     

Knee arthroplasty in rheumatoid arthritis: A report from the Swedish Knee Arthroplasty Register on 4, 381 primary operations 1985-1995

The Swedish Knee Arthroplasty Register has data on 4, 381 primary operations performed 1985-1995 for rheumatoid arthritis. Of these, 192 were performed with unicompartmental prostheses and 4143 with tricompartmental. 77% were women and the mean age was 66 years. There were 126 first, 20 second, and 1 third revision in tricompartmental arthroplasties, mainly for loosening, infection and patellar problems. There were 38 first, 3 second, and 1 third revision in unicompartmental arthroplasties, mainly for progression of RA and loosening .

Cumulative revision rates (Kaplan-Meier) were calculated. Tricompartmental knees had a 10-year cumulative revision rate of 5% and uni-knees 25%. Patients treated before 1990, men and patients younger than 55 had higher revision rates than patients treated after 1990, women and older patients, respectively. Cemented tibial components resulted in lower revision rates than uncemented ones. There was no significant difference in revision rates between patellar replaced and unreplaced knees or between the 9 commonest implant types.     

The Workup for Bariatric Surgery Does Not Require a Routine Upper Gastrointestinal Series

Background: Morbid obesity is a serious disease that afflicts over five million Americans, threatening their health with such co-morbidities as diabetes, arthritis, pulmonary failure and stroke. Surgery is the only effective therapy, providing long-term control of weight, diabetes, pulmonary failure, and hypertension for as long as 14 years. Because the operation presents a major expense, this study examined whether X-ray examination of the gut could be omitted safely as a cost-saving measure. Methods: The records of 814 consecutive morbidly obese patients who underwent gastric bypass were reviewed to determine: (1) whether these individuals had undergone an upper gastro-intestinal (GI) series, and (2) if these studies influenced therapy or caused cancellation or postponement of surgery. Results: Of the 814 patients, 657 (80.7%) underwent a preoperative GI radiography. Of these examinations, 393 (59.8%) were normal, with the following abnormalities in the remaining 264: hiatal hernia, 164; esophageal reflux, 39; Schatzki's ring, 18; small bowel diverticula, four; renal stones, four; malrotation, three; gall stones, two; pyloric ulcer, one; possible pelvic mass, one; calcified leiomyoma, one; and dysphagial lusoria, one. None of these findings resulted in cancellation or a delay in surgery. Conclusions: The upper GI series can be safely omitted from the routine preoperative evaluation of patients undergoing gastric bypass. At a cost of $741.00 per examination, this change represents significant potential savings. Similar evaluations of other routine preoperative tests may well provide a better basis for the evaluation of these complex patients.     

Assessment of costs to donor hospitals for organ transplantation

In 1987, die Department of Health in the UK set up a working party to identify reasons contributing to a shortfall in donor organs. One recommendation was reimbursement to the District Health Authorities for costs incurred in providing the donor organs. The figure chosen was not to be seen as an incentive to donate organs, merely as an appropriate compensation for the costs incurred. There would be no direct payment to doctors, trustees or relatives of the donor. With the development of the competitive health care environment in the United Kingdom, the reimbursement of donating hospital costs is being considered with these data.     

Hazardous chemicals: psychological dimensions of the health sequelae of a community exposure in Texas.

STUDY OBJECTIVE--A chemical spill from an oil refinery exposed the local community to more than 40,000 lb of highly toxic and corrosive hydrofluoric acid. A community based symptom prevalence study found an association between exposure and physical symptoms: the psychological impact of the disaster and its potential effect on the reporting of physical symptoms is examined here. DESIGN--The study used a population based survey design consisting of two phases: phase I, the exposure phase, and, phase II, the symptom prevalence phase. SUBJECTS--In phase I, information indicative of exposure was collected on 10,811 individuals in a door to door survey of a geographically defined area. In phase II, symptom prevalence information was gathered through in-person interviews with 2509 subjects selected from the phase I census in a sampling scheme that balanced across the exposure categories with regard to age, gender, and predisposition. The refusal rate in both phases was < 5%. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS--Stepwise logistic regression analyses were used to assess the relative predictive importance of psychological variables and hydrofluoric acid exposure in explaining the reported physical symptoms two years after the disaster. The findings show a linear relationship between the level of hydrofluoric acid exposure and the degree of psychological stress two years after the accident. High exposure had a long term (more than two years) impact on physical health for some self reported symptoms, even after controlling for the psychological impact. Some physical symptom reports, however, were better explained by psychological status than by exposure to hydrofluoric acid. The physical symptoms for which exposure was the major predictor were those for which the biological plausibility of a relationship with hydrofluoric acid exposure was direct. CONCLUSIONS--Measures of psychological status should be included in symptom studies of health sequelae to man-made disasters so that the physical effects of exposure can be more accurately assessed.     

Adenocarcinoma of the proximal small intestine. A marker for familial and multicentric cancer?

BACKGROUND. Adenocarcinoma of the small intestine is uncommon. The Hawaii Tumor Registry (HTR) has identified 49 of these tumors since 1960, and the Japan-Hawaii Cancer Study (JHCS) has identified only four of these tumors among a cohort of 8006 Hawaiian-Japanese men followed up for a period of 22 years. Each of the four men reported by the JHCS had multicentric gastrointestinal cancers. METHODS. Newly diagnosed cancers are recorded separately by the HTR and JHCS, and linkage is maintained between the two files. Family histories are available from the JHCS, and these are supplemented by a state population file maintained by the Department of Genetics, University of Hawaii. RESULTS. Five men, all Japanese, were found to have carcinoma of the proximal small intestine. Each had multicentric carcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract. Carcinoma of the stomach and colon was found in the primary relatives of each of four men whose families lived in Hawaii. CONCLUSIONS. The familial clustering of uncommon neoplasms (small bowel carcinoma and multicentric large bowel carcinoma), and the concurrence of gastric and colonic carcinoma suggests that these subjects have a genetic trait that increases susceptibility to a broad range of carcinogens.