Deleterious effects of low-dose oestrogen theraphy on coronary status in patients with prostatic cancer

The effects of oestrogen therapy and of orchidectomy on coronarystauts, as reflected by exercise ECG-testing before and afteryear of tretment, were assessed in a randomized study of patients(N=100) prostatic cancer. Oestrogen was given as polyestradiolphosphate 80 mg i.m. per month in combination with 150 µgor in pre-traetment exercise test results Twelve months afterstart of therapy the oestrogen group showed a significantlygreater depression of the ST-segment during maximal exercisein leads CH₂ (P<0.0005) and CH⁵)P<0.01) compared withthe pre-treatment depression. Twenty-five per cent (N=13) ofthe patients in the oestrogen group suffered cardiovascularcomplications during the yera the of therapy, whereas no suchcomplications were observed in the orchidectomy group. However,even the patients in the oestrogen group who had not sufferedcardiovascular complications had significantly greater depressionsof the ST-segment during exercise both in lead CH₂ (P<0.0005)and in CH₅ (P<0.05). There was no significant change in theST-segment level in the orchidectomy group twelve months aftersurgery. In summary, we found of an induction of myocardialishaemia during treatment with exogenous oestrogens at low dosagein patients with prostatic. This deleterious effect of oestrogenon the coronary status argues against oestrogen therapy, sinceoedtrogen has not been shown to be more beneficial than orhidectomyagainst prostatic carcinoma.     

Potentiation of central effects of L-dopa by an inhibitor of catechol-O-methyltransferase

Summary The effects of a COMT-inhibitor, U-0521, and a MAO-B-inhibitor, l-deprenyl, on L-dopa-induced circling behaviour were compared in 6-OHDA-lesioned rats. The actions of U-0521 and l-deprenyl on the anticataleptic effect of L-dopa were also studied. Both U-0521 and l-deprenyl were found to potentiate L-dopa-induced circling behaviour and anticataleptic effect of L-dopa. In both test systems the L-dopa potentiation of l-deprenyl was longer-lasting than that caused by U-0521. Thus inhibition of COMT, like inhibition of MAO, is able to enhance the central effects of L-dopa. This principle might be beneficial in the treatment of Parkinson's disease especially if COMT-inhibitors with greater performance can be developed.     

Immunologic defects as possible causes of therapeutic failures in children with transposition of the great arteries

Summary Recurrent and severe infections and absence of thymic shadow in X-ray examination were observed in children with the transposition of the great arteries (TGA). Among 45 children (29 boys and 16 girls) with TGA whose age ranged from 3 days to 16 years and who were hospitalized during 1 year, infectious diarrhea was observed in 77.7% cases, urinary tract infections in 44.5%, respiratory tract infections in 42.2%, sepsis in 17.5%, and meningitis in 8.8%. Nine of the children died, sepsis was a cause of death in seven children, and there were postsurgical complications in two children. Immunologic abnormalities in children with TGA included a decreased level of T-lymphocytes and T_29° subpopulation, impaired mitogen-induced lymphoproliferation in vitro, and increased nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction activity of monocytes. Impaired parameters of cellular immunity correlated with worst clinical status. No disorders of humoral immunity were observed. These observations may be important for forming opinion about proper therapy and the cause of death in children with TGA.All results have been included in T. Marek-Szydowska's doctoral dissertation and were communicated at the 65th Annual Meeting of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Rechtsmedizin, St. Gallen, Switzerland, Sept. 9–13, 1986     

Controversies in plastic surgery: Suction-assisted lipectomy (SAL) and the hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) protocol for obesity treatment

The advent of SAL (suction-assisted lipectomy) has dramatically increased the number of obese patients coming to our consultation offices. Despite several articles suggesting a conservative approach to fat suction, some reports insinuate that SAL might be a useful tool for obesity treatment. This hypothesis is refuted by a vast body of evidence that concludes that the adipose tissue may regenerate in adult humans. Therefore, surgical procedures are not advised as the method of choice to manage the disease. On the other hand, the terms obesity and being overweight may not be interchangeable. Obesity may be a disease whereas being overweight is asign of the disease. Consequently, proper preoperative selection of candidates for SAL becomes mandatory. The hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) method for obesity treatment appears to be a complete program for the management of obesity. It contains pharmacologic, dietetic, and behavior modification aspects in a 40-day course of treatment. Some data suggest hCG to be lipolytic, thus explaining former clinical observations regarding body fat redistribution in treated patients. hCG commercial preparations contain -endorphin, an opioid peptide linked to mood behavior. This article speculates on the possible actions of the complex hCG -endorphin in the neuromodulation of mood and energy metabolism. The method comprises a behavior modification that helps in handling the patient better. There are some correlations between a current behavior modification program and the basic guidelines contained in the hCG protocol. Thus, the hCG method appears to be a reasonable alternative in the management of a long-standing, unsolved problem of human metabolism.     

Field processes in stereovision

There is, as yet, no satisfactory theory of stereopsis, despite the fact that our overt knowledge of solid seeing is now about 150 years old, and that contributions to our understanding come today from many fields: ophthalmology, psychology, psychophysics, neurophysiology, computer modelling, and optical-TV display technology. We review herein, and demonstrate for the reader whenever possible, certain key perceptual properties of the stereoscopic event of which any general theory must take account: vector stereoscopy and the neural grid, depth in empty visual fields, the relationship between stereoscopic and cognitive contours, stereoscopic contour formation in the presence of blur (thus, at low levels of central visual acuity), the phenomenon of cortical locking and of neural grid evocation in the presence of either peripheral or central rivalry, certain unusual ranges of figural mismatch and the concept of the horopter in relation to modern single cell electroneurophysiology in animals and to the constancy of visual directions. Some comments are also made on the concept of disparity processing by single cortical neurons, together with a short discussion of the implications of certain views of the genetics of stereovision for the perception of novel random texture sine-wave stereograms.We conclude that any theory pertinent to ophthalmology and visual science must combine the global concepts of cortical integration, the neural lock and the neural grid, herein introduced, with the more classical concepts of particulate or local binocular cortical correspondence. Certain preliminary steps in this direction are presented.     

Pharmacokinetics of cefradine, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim and their metabolites in a patient with peritonitis undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Cefradine and co-trimoxazole pharmacokinetics were studied in a patient with peritonitis that complicated continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Concentrations in the plasma reached after oral administration of 500 mg cefradine four times daily and 400/80 mg co-trimoxazole four times daily were for cefradine 100g/ml, for trimethoprim 15g/ml, and for sulfamethoxazole 100/ml, respectively. In the dialysate concentrations were reached of 35–70/ml cefradine, 2–5/ml trimethoprim and 8–17g/ml sulfamethoxazole. The values for sulfamethoxazole are regarded too low to be clinically effective. Half-lives protein binding values and CAPD clearances are presented. Low CAPD clearances were obtained during the night and high values during the day. The dosage yielded too high plasma trimethoprim concentrations, while sulfamethoxazole dialysate concentrations were too low. It seems questionable therefore whether co-trimoxazole can be used orally for the treatment of CAPD peritonitis.     

Prevalence and prognostic significance of cardiac arrhythmias detected by ambulatory electrocardiography in subjects 85 years of age

24 hour ambulatory electrocardiography was performed in a representativegroup of people born in 1897. Out of 73 people included in thestudy, 22 were without known heart disease, 15 had definiteischaemic heart disease (IHD) and 36 symptoms of possible cardiacorigin. An R-R interval in excess of 2000 ms was seen in only3 subjects and Wenckebach A-V block in only one. One subjectwithout a history of syncope had a nocturnal episode of completeA-V block with an escape interval of 8000 ms. The most strikingdifference between healthy subjects and patients with IHD wasthe higher number of patients with more than 1000 ventricularpremature beats (VPBs) per 24 hour and ventricular coupletscompared with the number of healthy subjects with such findings.At follow-up two years later 11% had died, with the highestmortality in patients with IHD (33%), and out of 8 patientswith IHD who had more than 1000 VPBs per 24 hour, 4 (50%) haddied compared with only one (14%) of those with less than 1000VPBs. Our results seem to indicate that more than 1000 VPBsper 24 hour is a very unusual finding in healthy 85 year oldindividuals. When it occurs in very old people, it is usuallyin connection with IHD, and in this setting it signifies a poorprognosis.     

Some problems of the systemic degeneration and atrophies

Summary Report on a family of three brothers in which the prevailing features of the clinical findings were those of Friedreich's heredo-tabes.Histologically besides the degeneration of the peripheral proprioceptive neurone and of the ventral spinocerebellar tract, several other systems proved affected.For similar categories of cases, it does not seem useful to introduce a complicated terminology, and thea potiori denomination of the classical syndrome should be retained. Yet, both the clinical and the pathological examinations have to seek carefully in every individual case for the presence of pathological features which do not belong to the basic syndrome, and note them in the characterisation of the case. Although in systemic degeneration it is the most distal part of the neuronal unit where degeneration starts, the source of it lies in the originating nerve cell. For the pseudosystem-degenerations in the sense of Seitelberger this holds true only exceptionally, if at all.Dedicated to Prof. F. Seitelberger on the occasion of his seventieth birthday     

Left ventricular function before and after kidney transplantation. A prospective study in patients with juvenile-onset diabetes mellitus

The aim of the present investigation was to discover whetherdisturbed left ventricular (LV) function limits renal replacementtherapy in patients with juvenile onset diabetes mellitus. Seventeenpatients given functioning kidney grafts were studied non-invasively(M-mode echocardiography, apexcardiography, phonocardiography)before renal transplant and an average of six, 13 and 44 monthsafter transplant. The main pretransplant findings were pronouncedLV hypertrophy with impaired diastolic LV function (prolongedrelaxation time + signs of decreased LV distensibility) anda hyperdynamic circulation. Most of these abnormalities were significantly less severe aftersuccessful kidney transplantation. LV mass decreased by 37%44 months after transplant (p<0.01) and LV diastolic andsystolic volumes decreased with a subsequent increase in ejectionfraction from 0.65 to 0.78 (p<0.01). The LV distensibilityand filling pattern improved significantly while the prolongedrelaxation time was unchanged. These findings imply that pretransplant disturbances in LV functionare related more to factors such as hypertension, volume overloadand uraemia than to diabetes per se because no pronounced improvementin the metabolic disorder resulting from diabetes can be expected,even after the most successful transplant. Disturbed LV functionshould not, therefore, exclude uraemic diabetics from renalreplacement.