Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in a patient with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is an acquired chronic hemolytic anemia associated with an unusual susceptibility to hemolytic crisis, infection, and venous thrombosis which would be aggravated by a number of factors including surgery. We report a case of PNH undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and discuss the corresponding perioperative management.     

Inter-ethnic differences in postoperative pethidine requirements.

A preliminary study of 24 hours' postoperative analgesia using a patient-controlled analgesia technique was undertaken in eight European and fourteen Asian adult patients. All patients had upper abdominal surgery and received weight-related doses of pethidine postoperatively via a Cardiff Palliator. Both groups had a similar degree of analgesia as assessed by visual analogue score but the Asian patients were more sedated in the postoperative period. The Asian patients made 24% fewer demands for analgesia and had a smaller mean (SD) pethidine consumption, 7.62 (2.04) mg.kg-1, compared with the European patients, 9.97 (2.14) mg.kg-1, (P less than 0.05) during the first 24 hours. Further research is necessary to determine whether the smaller requirement for analgesia in Asian patients is a result of pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic differences.     

Phase II study of high-dose ifosfamide in hepatocellular carcinoma

Summary A phase II study of high-dose ifosfamide in hepatocellular carcinoma was conducted among 17 Chinese patients. The dose of ifosfamide used was 2.5 g/m² daily given as a continuous infusion for 5 days. In all, 15 patients were evaluable for tumour response. There was no complete or partial responder. The treatment was well tolerated. The most frequent toxicity was alopecia, which occurred in 11 patients, and 5 patients developed mild haematological toxicity. There was no evidence of liver or bladder toxicity. Overall, 14 patients were evaluable for survival. The median survival was 92 days (range, 30–568 days). We conclude that high-dose ifosfamide is well tolerated but ineffective in hepatocellular carcinoma in Chinese patients.     

Effects of sulfobromophthalein and ethacrynic acid on glyceryl trinitrate relaxation.

The effects of sulfobromophthalein (SBP) and ethacrynic acid (ECA), both inhibitors of glutathione S-transferase (GST), or glyceryl trinitrate (GTN)-induced vasorelaxation were investigated in rabbit aortic strips. The aortic strips were pre-contracted with phenylephrine, followed by relaxation with 0.5 microM GTN, with or without 0.1 mM SBP or ECA. ECA was observed to inhibit GTN relaxation approximately 32%, whereas SBP did not alter the GTN activity. The dinitrate metabolites (GDN) of GTN in the tissues were also measured. The amounts of both GDNs were decreased in the ECA-treated, but not the SBP-treated group. Moreover, in the ECA-treated group, a strong correlation was obtained between the loss of GTN activity and the decrease in GTN metabolism. Concentration-response studies also revealed that ECA attenuates GTN relaxation. The slope factor of the concentration-response curves was decreased by ECA, but not by SBP, although both inhibitors caused a mild decrease in Emax. In the 9000 g supernatant of rabbit aorta, ECA was also observed to inhibit GTN metabolism more significantly than SBP. The results suggest that the mechanism of GTN activation may involve a GST isozyme that possesses high activities towards ECA.     

Echocardiographic demonstration of important abnormalities of the mitral valve in congenitally corrected transposition.

Whereas abnormalities of the morphological tricuspid valve are common in the setting of discordant atrioventricular connections, there are only a few postmortem reports of abnormalities of the mitral valve in this condition. This report describes two patients with discordant atrioventricular connections, in whom important abnormalities of the mitral valve were found during life by cross sectional echocardiography.     

Rectus sheath haematoma requiring laparotomy

Rectus sheath haematoma is a well‐documented but unusual cause of acute abdomen. Combination of clinical features and appropriate radiological investigations can make for a prompt diagnosis. Most authors advocate conservative management and it has been reported that patients were directly discharged from the emergency department. We report a case of rectus sheath haematoma which progressed with clinical deterioration and necessitated surgical intervention for clot evacuation. Causes, physical signs, radiological features and classification of rectus sheath haematoma are discussed. It may be necessary to continue close clinical monitoring after diagnosis of rectus sheath haematoma.     

Hwa-byung. A community study of Korean Americans.

One hundred nine Korean American community subjects were interviewed regarding their experiences with hwa-byung (HB), a Korean folk illness label commonly used by Koreans with a myriad of physiological and psychological complaints. During these interviews, standard instruments were also used to assess their depressive and somatic symptoms. The results indicated that a relatively high proportion (12%) of the subjects labeled themselves as having suffered from HB. While no apparent sociodemographic differences were found between HB and non-HB subjects, significantly more HB subjects fulfilled the diagnosis of DSM-III major depression and also had previous diagnoses of depression. The HB subjects also had significantly higher scores for the total, depressive, and somatic subscales and 16 of the 20 individual items of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale. These data confirm previous observations of substantial overlap between HB and DSM-III major depression among Koreans and Korean Americans, and suggest that HB may be a culturally patterned way of expression for Koreans experiencing major depression and related conditions. The clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are also discussed.     

Serum intact parathyroid hormone levels in elderly Chinese females with hip fracture

Summary Serum intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), 25 hydroxyvitamin D(25OHD), 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)₂D), albumin, and ionized calcium were measured in 61 Chinese female patients with hip fracture and 61 control subjects. Hip fracture patients had low albumin, ionized calcium, and 250HD levels. Serum PTH and 1,25 (OH)₂D values were not different between the two groups. We conclude that although 250HD level in hip fracture patients is low, there is no evidence of secondary hyperparathyroidism, suggesting that the low 250HD levels may be a secondary phenomenon in response to the fracture.