A TEN-YEAR HOSPITAL SURVEY OF EYELID CANCER

Two hundred and four cases of malignant eyelid tumours, managed at the Concord Hospital, were reviewed. These cases spanned a ten-year period between 1973 and 1982 and all were treated surgically. The nature of each tumour was confirmed by histopathological examination. Included in this review were the site of the tumour, the tumour pathology, the surgical management, the type of surgeon involved, the ocular complications, the management of recurrences and any mortality. The importance of preventing recurrences by adequate initial surgery with frozen section control is emphasized.     

Clinical exophthalmometry: a comparative study of the Luedde and Hertel exophthalmometers

Exophthalmometry, the quantitative assessment of the position of the globe in the orbit, is a clinically useful measurement. The purpose of this study was to examine the performance of a simple exophthal-mometer that would lend itself to accurate and convenient use in clinical practice. In this study, two observers independently performed exophthalmometry on 100 eyes using the Hertel and Luedde instruments. The results were compared between instruments and between observers. There was no statistically or clinically significant difference between measurements taken with the Luedde as compared with the Hertel instrument. The Luedde exophthal-mometer has a number of advantages over the Hertel exophthalmometer, and represents a simple, inexpensive and equally reliable means of evaluating clinically the anteroposterior position of the eye in the orbit.     

A possible mechanism of action of danazol and an ethinylestradiol/ norgestrel combination used as postcoital contraceptive agents

Twenty-seven women requesting postcoital contraception were randomly allocated to take an ethinylestradiol/dl-norgestrel combination or danazol. Urine specimens were assayed for luteinising hormone (LH) and pregnanediol-3-glucuronide (P3G) levels from the day of the postcoital treatment to the next period. In addition, the urine samples of these recruits and 12 additional women were assayed for the Beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (B-hCG). A consistent pattern of alteration in urinary steroids was lacking, indicating a heterogenous effect on ovarian function. There was no evidence of early pregnancy in successfully treated cases. We suggest that the main mechanism of action of these drugs is at the endometrial level.     

Civil defence in the United Kingdom

What must be avoided in the nuclear age is wishful thinking. Wishful thinking occurs in an atmosphere of maximum terror (as in Mutual Assured Destruction), and where there is little opportunity for reality testing (as in the East‐West communication barrier). In the small, densely populated island of Britain, the size of today's growing nuclear threat will create responses where delusional thinking can easily dominate. A belief in effective civil defence may induce a sense of false security which may in turn direct attention from the fundamental problem of East‐West mistrust.     

Global thinking,local action

This article examines the risk of proliferation of nuclear weapons to several Third World countries, exemplified by recent events in Iraq, and the possibility of rapid acquisition of a nuclear weapons capability in developed countries. It considers the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations in preventing proliferation and calls for wider powers for the latter. The role of the civil nuclear power industry and of reprocessing of nuclear fuel to produce plutonium is stressed, with emphasis on the part played by nuclear power in Japan and the THORP reprocessing plant at Sellafield.