The value of pretreatment clinical and biochemical parameters in patients with newly diagnosed untreated prostate carcinoma and no indications for bone metastases on the bone scintigram

Between 10% and 25% of patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer without bone metastases at the time of diagnosis will develop metastases during follow-up. To determine the value of clinical and biochemical parameters for assessment of prognosis at the time of diagnosis, a retrospective study was performed in 124 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer without bone metastases. The mean follow-up was 41 months, during which time 36 patients died and 15 patients developed metastases. Bone scans were classified from 0 (=normal) through 2 (=abnormal, but not typical for metastases) and were correlated with age, alkaline phosphatase (AP), prostate-specific antigen (PSA), tumour grade, T-stage and N-stage. In patients with a class 2 scan, additional roentgenograms and follow-up were used to exclude metastases at initial stage. All parameters, including therapy, were finally correlated with the development of metastases and survival. For survival 38 patients with proven metastases were used as controls. For all parameters tested, no statistically significant differences were found between the three bone scan classifications. The interval between diagnosis and the development of metastases ranged from 12 to 72 months. For the risk of development of metastases only PSA was found to be a significant correlate (P=0.0075). However, when tumour stages were clustered in limited disease (T0–2) and extensive disease (T3–4), the incidence of metastases was significantly higher in patients with extensive disease than in those with limited disease (P=0.0021). Finally, age, PSA and Anderson classification were found to be significant correlates of survival, but in stepwise analysis PSA was selected as the most prognostic variable (P<0.0001). In contrast with a typical pattern of metastases on bone scintigraphy, an abnormal scan (class 1 and 2) at the time of diagnosis is not a poor prognostic parameter of the risk of death. In conclusion, in patients with prostate cancer without bone metastases at the time of diagnosis, pretreatment PSA and tumour stage can be used for the assessment of risk of development of metastases during follow-up and survival. For this purpose, tumour stage should be clustered in limited and extensive disease. Received 14 April and in revised form 9 June 1997     

全肠外营养对老年晚期消化系统恶性肿瘤病人生存期的影响

目的:评估全肠外营养(TPN)对老年晚期消化系统恶性肿瘤病人生存期的影响。方法:回顾性分析121例老年晚期消化系统恶性肿瘤病人TPN治疗后的生存期。结果:TPN治疗后,患者生存期不同程度延长,为9～126天,平均68.1天,多数在两月左右。结论:TPN可延长老年晚期消化系统恶性肿瘤病人的生存期。     

Lithium increases slow wave sleep: possible mediation by brain 5-HT2 receptors?

The effect of lithium on slow wave sleep (SWS) was studied in ten normal male volunteers using home based cassette sleep recording and automatic sleep stage analysis. Lithium increased SWS, an effect consisten with a reduction in brain 5-HT₂ receptor function.     

Getting to Dissemination

The combination of a stage model of psychotherapy and treatment manualization has been a major step forward in treatment development and efficacy testing, but not in dissemination. I argue that the technological model of treatment development makes research on the practical application of these technologies difficult. If we continue on our present course, research on dissemination will be uncommon, expensive, and largely irrelevant to the practical issues that need to be faced. It makes more sense to proceed directly to dissemination research. Alternative methods, including manipulated training designs, will permit this, but these fundamentally challenge the implicit assumptions of the stage model.     

第2产程剖宫产术对母婴的影响

本文对我院近 4年来第 2产程 (以下简称 2程 )剖宫产 6 1例进行回顾性分析。资料表明 :第 2产程剖宫产术易合并羊水污染及术时并发症 ,新生儿Apgar氏评分低 ,术后并发症高于对照组 (P <0 .0 5 ) ,提示第 2产程剖宫产术比一般头位急症剖宫产术对母婴不利 ,其并发症的发生与第 2产程的延长相关 (P <0 .0 1) ,故应把握时机尽量减少宫口开全后施行剖宫产。     

Bent knees and tiptoeing: late manifestations of end-stage Parkinson's disease.

We describe a unique gait phenomenon of bent knees in 9 patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease (mean age, 73.1 +/- 11.1 years), 3 of whom also manifested tiptoeing. The bent-knee posture appeared only during ambulation; in the recumbent position, full or nearly full extension was possible in all patients. The abnormality emerged after long-standing disease (6-23 years from onset) and failed to respond to dopaminergic treatment. Most of the patients also had bent spine (camptocormia). The pathogenesis of these phenomena are unknown, but they might represent a rare type of dystonia.     

舒利迭加无创通气治疗稳定期慢性阻塞性肺疾病的临床研究

目的探讨舒利迭(吸入型肾上腺皮质激素与长效β2-受体激动剂的预混制剂)联合双水平气道正压通气(B iPAP)对稳定期慢性阻塞性肺疾病(COPD)的治疗作用。方法稳定期COPD病人52例,舒利迭TM50/250,1吸/次,2次/d;B iPAP,吸气压力(IPAP)10~20cm H2O,呼气压力(EPAP,也称PEEP)3~6cm H2O,吸氧浓度(FiO2)3L/m in,每天夜间通气6~8h。观察治疗前、治疗后12周病人临床症状、生活质量、健康状态和肺功能。结果治疗前、治疗后12周病人的临床症状、急性加重次数及严重程度、健康状态和生活质量、肺功能等指标比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论舒利迭联合B iPAP治疗稳定期COPD病人能够明显改善其症状,提高生活质量,有一定的临床应用价值,对减缓COPD病人肺功能下降有积极意义。     

Misoprostol in preventing postpartum hemorrhage: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess misoprostol's ability to prevent postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) where no alternatives exist. Comparison to oxytocics demonstrates how similarly misoprostol achieves a level of effectiveness-obtainable only in hospitals-in remote locations around the world. METHOD: Using the Mantel-Haenszel fixed-effects model and the DerSirmonian and Laird random-effects model, summary statistics indicated that misoprostol's excess risk of PPH was only 4% when compared to oxytocics. RESULT: This risk difference was well within the range of expected results for all uterotonic agents and does not warrant branding misoprostol as an inferior drug. CONCLUSION: Conventional uterotonic drugs should not be used to set the lowest-accepted level of effectiveness in settings where they are entirely unsuitable. Continuing to weigh the benefits of one effective drug against another only delays the distribution of misoprostol in countries where it is the only feasible choice and must be measured against no treatment at all.     

Integrated plasma cortisol concentration in children with asthma receiving long-term inhaled corticosteroids.

We assessed the effect of long-term therapy with inhaled beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) on the pituitary-adrenal axis, by measuring the integrated concentration (IC) of plasma cortisol in eight children with asthma (age, 6-16 years) who regularly used inhaled BDP in doses ranging from 8 to 26.5 micrograms/kg (200-450 micrograms/day) for 6 months to 4 years. The control group included six children (age, 6-16 years) who had the IC of plasma cortisol measured as part of an endocrinological evaluation and were found to be healthy. Cortisol concentration was measured in blood samples collected continuously over a 24-hr period. Mean IC of plasma cortisol in the study group was significantly lower than in the healthy controls (mean +/- SD, 4.9 +/- 3.3 vs 9.1 +/- 1.9 micrograms/mL; P less than 0.02). Cortisol response to 0.25 mg ACTH (iv) was abnormal in one of the eight BDP-treated patients. No correlation was found between IC of plasma cortisol and the BDP dose, severity of asthma, height percentile, or the Tanner stage. We conclude that long-term therapy, even with relatively conventional doses of inhaled BDP may cause reduction in the normal physiological secretion of cortisol. The clinical relevance of low IC of plasma cortisol is not clear, but it may reflect partial suppression of the pituitary-adrenal axis.     

血钙水平与肾癌肿瘤大小、分期的相关性分析

目的分析肾细胞癌患者血钙水平和肿瘤大小与分期的相关性，从而进一步发现与病情相关的规律和了解病情。方法按照血钙水平将肿瘤大小／分期相应地分3组，即降低、正常和升高各3组。利用SPSS10．0软件，对3组不同的肿瘤大小／分期病例进行差异性分析和相关性研究。结果3组不同的肿瘤大小差异性分析（Kruskal-wallisH）显示，X^2=4．768，df=2，P=0．092；Spearman相关分析显示相关系数为．0．166，P=0．029。3组不同的肿瘤分期差异性分析（Kruskal-Wallis H）显示，X^2=4、277，df=2，P=0．118；Spearman相关系数为．0．157，P=-0．039。结论3组不同的肿瘤大小之间差异性无统计学意义，血钙水平与肿瘤大小间存在负相关；3组不同的肿瘤分期之间差异性无统计学意义，血钙水平与肿瘤分期间存在负相关。