The potential impact of digital video subtraction angiography on screening for renovascular hypertension

The success of digital video subtraction angiography (DVSA) in screening hypertensive patients for renal artery stenosis and the apparent value of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) prompted re-evaluation of the philosophy of indiscriminate medical therapy for newly discovered cases of hypertension. DVSA was diagnostic in 87% of cases. The cost of screening for renovascular hypertension by DVSA and treatment by PTA when feasible is about the same as that of medical therapy. Considering the problems of noncompliance and drug side effects associated with medical antihypertensive therapy, DVSA screening for renovascular hypertension in a broader population seems both medically and economically sound.     

Combined modality therapy for advanced Hodgkin's disease: long-term followup data

From 1969 to 1979, 155 patients with advanced Hodgkin's disease were treated with a combined modality protocol (combination chemotherapy and irradiation to all sites of disease). The actuarial 10-year survival of all patients who started therapy is 78%, and the relapse-free survival is 67%. Within the group of patients with advanced disease, age greater than 40 years and/or stage IV disease with multiple extranodal sites of involvement adversely affected prognosis. Since 1978, these patients have been treated with MOPP-ABVD and irradiation, with a resulting 3-year survival of 87% compared with 58% for those treated with MVVPP in prior years. A comparison between MVVPP and MOPP, also begun in 1978, has thus far yielded no significant differences. Second malignancies have occurred in four patients apparently cured of their Hodgkin's disease: two patients with acute leukemia and two with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Avascular necrosis of bone has developed in nine patients. There have not been other serious long-term complications. This combined modality treatment approach appear to offer a significant survival advantage compared with treatment programs using chemotherapy alone.     

Timing and patterns of recurrences and deaths from prostate cancer following adjuvant pelvic radiotherapy for pathologic stage T3/4 adenocarcinoma of the prostate

To determine the timing and patterns of late recurrence after radical prostatectomy (RP) alone or RP plus adjuvant radiotherapy (RT). Between 1970 and 1983, 159 patients underwent RP for newly diagnosed adenocarcinoma of the prostate and were found to have positive surgical margins, extracapsular extension and/or seminal vesicle invasion. Of these, 46 received adjuvant RT and 113 did not. The RT group generally received 45-50 Gy to the whole pelvis, then a boost to the prostate bed (total dose of 55-65 Gy). In the RP group, 62% received neoadjuvant/adjuvant androgen deprivation vs 17% in the RT group. Patients were analyzed with respect to timing and patterns of failure. Only one patient was lost to follow-up. The median follow-up for surviving patients was nearly 20 years. The median time to failure in the surgery group was 7.5 vs 14.7 years in the RT group (P=0.1). Late recurrences were less common in the surgery group than the RT group (9 and 1% at 10 and 15 years, respectively vs 17 and 9%). In contrast to recurrences, nearly half of deaths from prostate cancer occurred more than 10 years after treatment. Deaths from prostate cancer represented 55% of all deaths in these patients. Recurrences beyond 10 years after RP in this group of patients were relatively uncommon. Despite its long natural history, death from prostate cancer was the most common cause of mortality in this population with locally advanced tumors, reflecting the need for more effective therapy.