Muscle mass index in haemodialysis patients: a comparison of indices obtained by routine clinical examinations.

BACKGROUND: Measurement of muscle mass is useful for evaluating protein nutritional status. Various methods for estimating muscle mass in haemodialysis patients have recently been developed. METHODS: The validity of the estimate of creatinine production calculated with the creatinine kinetic model (CKM) was examined in 46 haemodialysis patients by comparing it with the actual creatinine production, this being determined from the sum of creatinine appearing in the dialysate and the estimated metabolic degradation. The correlation of various other muscle mass indices with creatinine production was also investigated in these patients. RESULTS: The estimate of creatinine production using CKM was significantly correlated with creatinine production calculated from the spent dialysate plus an estimate for the extra-renal creatinine degradation (r=0.90, P<0.001). A Bland-Altman analysis revealed that the mean prediction error for the estimate of creatinine production by CKM was +0.10 g/day and the limits of agreement were +0.34 to -0.14 g/day. The cross-sectional area of the thigh muscle measured by computed tomography (CT) was also significantly correlated with creatinine production (r=-0.86, P<0.01). In contrast, the correlations of 3-methylhistidine production measured in the spent dialysate, the mid-upper arm muscle circumference and the skeletal muscle mass estimated by an anthropometric prediction model with creatinine production were lower (r<0.82). CONCLUSION: Creatinine production calculated using CKM and CT measurement of thigh muscle area are valid methods for estimating muscle mass during routine clinical examinations of haemodialysis patients.     

高热惊厥214例临床分析

本文分析了214例高热惊厥,结果为:检出率4.35％;男女之比为1.61:1;好发年龄为6个月～6岁(93.5％);首发年龄为6个月～4岁(89.9％);惊厥发作时体温多在39℃以上(74.6％);惊厥发作多在发热后12h内(72.4％);每次热病中惊厥发作1～3次(99.5％);惊厥持续时间多在15min内(91.0％);致惊厥发作的热性疾病以上呼吸道感染为最多;214例中63例复发,其中2例转癫痫,61例尚未发现智力低下或其他异常。从2例转癫痫的临床及脑电图看,提示惊厥发作愈重,持续时间愈长,转癫痫的可能性愈大。     

脑膜瘤端粒酶的活性在判断复发和恶变中的价值

【目的】探讨端粒酶作为脑膜瘤标志物 ,在肿瘤良恶性鉴别、恶性程度评估以及预后预测等方面的意义。【方法】利用TRAP ELISA方法定量检测 6 1例 (份 )肿瘤标本端粒酶的活性 (以ΔA =A4 50 -A690 表示 ) ,结合肿瘤的分类和患者的临床资料 ,分析端粒酶活性作为肿瘤良恶性及判断预后的标记物的可行性。另取正常脑组织标本 2 0例作为对照。【结果】 30例脑膜瘤中 ,2 9例脑膜瘤均未测到端粒酶活性 ;1例端粒酶阳性 (阳性率 3 3%) ,ΔA =0 2 37;全组ΔA平均值 =0 0 49。 15例恶性脑膜瘤中 14例呈端粒酶阳性 (93%) ,ΔA =1 2 37～ 2 5 16 ;1例端粒酶阴性 ,ΔA =0 0 76 ,全组ΔA平均值 =1 6 30。 16例复发性脑膜瘤端粒酶均阳性 (10 0 %) ,ΔA =1 0 34～ 1 4 78,平均 1 2 5 5。脑膜瘤和复发性脑膜瘤、脑膜瘤和恶性脑膜瘤的端粒酶的阳性率和酶活性表达强度方面差异明显 (P分别为 <0 0 0 1、<0 0 1和 <0 0 0 0 5、<0 0 1)。 2 0例正常脑组织中未检测到端粒酶活性。【结论】端粒酶活性的激活在恶性脑膜瘤和复发性脑膜瘤中是较常见的现象。端粒酶作为肿瘤标志物 ,在脑膜瘤的良恶性鉴别、恶性程度评估、预后预测等方面具有重要的意义。     

PGA指数和透明质酸在诊断慢性乙肝肝纤维化中的价值

目的：寻找一种简便实用的诊断慢性乙型肝炎纤维化的方法。方法：以78例经肝穿刺病理证实的慢性乙型肝炎为对象，测定并比较了由PT、GGT、ApoA1组成的PGA指数和HA、LN、PⅢP、C－IV与肝内纤维化程度(S)和炎症活动度（G）的关系。结果：（1）LN、PⅢP、C－IV在轻度慢性乙肝时无明显升高，在中度慢性乙肝时明显高于正常，但与轻度慢性乙肝无差异，而PGA指数和HA不仅在轻度慢性乙肝时显著升高，而且在轻中度间差异明显.因重度慢性乙肝和活动性肝硬化时，五项指标均显著增高。（2）在G2－4期，HA、LN、PⅢP、C－IV均明显高升，但在G1期，只有PGA指数高于正常，且各期间差异显著。（3）在S1－2期，只有PGA指数、HA、C－IV明显上升，但C－IV的上升幅度远低于PGA指数和HA。（4）加以PGA＞4．5或HA＞200μg／L作为判断临界值，则两者判断肝纤维化的敏感性均＞94％，精确性＞91％，特异性＞86％，如两者结合，则分别达到98．3％、95．2％和96．4％。结论：PGA指数和HA均是反映慢性乙型肝炎患者肝内纤维化程度的良好指标，两者联合检测则可达到最大的价值效益比。     

儿童髓母细胞瘤中VEGFR-2的表达

目的：探讨血管内皮生长因子受体VEGFR－2在儿童髓母细胞瘤中的表达及临床意义。方法：采用免疫组化LSAB法检测84例获随访的儿童髓母细胞瘤中的VEGFR－2表达，按术后生存期3，5，10年分为A，B，C三组，使用Cox回归统计分析。结果：84例儿童髓母细胞瘤中，VEGFR－2阳性表达74例（88．09％），A，B，C三组间VEGFR－2阳性表达分别为100％，88．89％，55．33％（P＜0．01），Cox回归分析显示VEGFR－2是影响生存时间的一个独立的预后因子，它与预后存在负相关关系。结论：VEGFR－2表达水平可作为儿童髓母细胞瘤的预后指标之一。     

Lithium-induced changes in the body mass index

A total of 117 manic-depressives who had been on lithium for a mean duration of 4.7 years were examined before lithium therapy and subsequently at intervals. Information relating to pre-lithium height and weight and current weight were determined and used to calculate the body mass index (BMI) for each individual. Other relevant variables such as age, sex, cumulative lithium dose, duration of therapy, thyroid profile and serum lithium levels were recorded. The results indicated that, although there was a nonsignificant increase in BMI for the whole population, lithium and sex were not significant predictors of any increase in BMI. In nearly 27% of patients BMI actually slightly decreased during lithium therapy. The overall conclusions from this study are that, in the population studied, lithium may not have exerted any pharmacological effects to increase BMI.     

Adjuvant radiotherapy in carcinomas of the uterine cervix: the prognostic value of hemoglobin levels

Anemia has been associated with a poorer treatment response and reduced survival in women undergoing primary radiotherapy (RT) or radiochemotherapy for advanced cervical carcinoma. This study aimed to determine the influence of anemia on outcome in patients with cervical carcinoma undergoing adjuvant RT. Medical records were reviewed for 183 cervical cancer patients who had received adjuvant RT because of risk factors after radical surgery (n= 109) or inadequate primary surgery (simple hysterectomy; n= 74). Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to study hemoglobin levels before and during adjuvant RT in relation to recurrence-free and overall survival. Hemoglobin values > or =11 g/dL were considered normal, while those <11 g/dL indicated anemia. Hemoglobin levels before RT influenced significantly overall survival and recurrence-free survival across the whole group (overall survival--log rank(all patients)= 7.5; df = 1; P= 0.006). However, subgroup analysis showed that the observed difference was mainly due to the group of women who had undergone inadequate primary surgery (overall survival--log rank(inadequate surgery)= 10.8; df = 1; P= 0.001). Multifactorial regression analyses comparing hemoglobin before RT with grading and tumor stage confirmed the prognostic value of hemoglobin values. Maintaining normal hemoglobin values before and during adjuvant RT seems to be important, especially in patients who have had inappropriate simple hysterectomy, which may resemble a therapeutic situation.     

Gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography in the clinical outcomes utilizing revascularization and aggressive drug evaluation (COURAGE) trial, Veterans Administration Cooperative study no. 424

Background  Stress gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (gSPECT) is increasingly used before and after intercurrent therapeutic intervention and is the basis for ongoing evaluation in the Department of Veterans Affairs clinical outcomes utilizing revascularization and aggressive drug evaluation (COURAGE) trial. Methods and Results  The COURAGE trial is a North American multicenter randomized clinical trial that enrolled 2287 patients to aggressive medical therapy vs percutaneous coronary intervention plus aggressive medical therapy. Three COURAGE nuclear substudies have been designed. The goals of substudy 0 are to examine the diagnostic accuracy of the extent and severity of inducible ischemia at baseline in COURAGE patients compared with patient symptoms and quantitative coronary angiography and to explore the relationship between inducible ischemia and the benefit from revascularization when added to medical therapy. Substudy 1 will correlate the extent and severity of provocative ischemia with the frequency, quality, and instability of recurrent symptoms in postcatheterization patients. Substudy 2 (n _ 300) will examine the usefulness of sequential gSPECT monitoring 6 to 18 months after therapeutic intervention. Together, these nuclear substudies will evaluate the role of gSPECT to determine the effectiveness of aggressive risk-factor modifications, lifestyle interventions, and anti-ischemic medical therapies with or without revascularization in reducing patients’ ischemic burdens. Conclusions  The unfolding of evidence on the application of gSPECT in trials such as COURAGE defines a new era for nuclear cardiology. We hope the evidence that emerges from the COURAGE trial will further establish the role of nuclear imaging in the evidence-based management of patients with stable coronary disease. The COURAGE trial was supported by the Cooperative Studies Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Unrestricted research grants were obtained from Merck & Co; Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging; Astellas Pharma; Kos Pharmaceuticals; Data Scope; Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals; Astra-Zeneca-Canada; Schering-Plough Coorporation, Ltd; Sanofi-Aventis, Inc; First Horizon; and GE Healthcare. All industrial funding for this trial was directed through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Additional funding for this substudy was provided by grants to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Canadian Institutes of Health Research from Astellas Pharma and Bristol-Myers-Squibb Medical Imaging.     

Comparison between a swim-up and a Percoll gradient technique for the separation of human spermatozoa

Two methods of separating human sperm were compared using twenty-two semen samples. The sperm were separated by a swim-up technique or by self-migration on a Percoll gradient followed by medium change. After separation, the sperm obtained were assessed for progressive motility, ATP content, energy charge index ([ATP + 0.5 ADP]/[ATP + ADP + AMP]) and morphology. In general, and especially for semen samples containing less than 20 X 10(6) sperm/ml, separation by Percoll gradient selected sperm that were superior to those separated by the swim-up technique. The relatively high energy charge index (greater than 0.8) showed that the sperm tolerated the separation conditions well. It is suggested that self-migration on a Percoll gradient should prove useful for obtaining sperm of high quality.