A Decade of Change in Obesity Surgery

Background: The International (formerly National) Bariatric Surgery Registry began collecting data in January 1986. The aim of this study was to examine changes in the practice of surgical treatment of severe obesity that occurred during the decade of 1986 through 1995, as observed in the IBSR data. Methods: All data submitted to the IBSR during the decade were transferred to the IBM mainframe computer for analysis. Characteristics of operative type populations were compared over time using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for age, body mass index (BMI), operative weight and Chi-square (χ²) test for gender. Results: There has been a steady increase over the decade in mean patient weight. The operations used have changed from predominantly ‘simple’ operations to more frequent use of ‘complex’ operations. Within the categories of ‘simple’ and ‘complex’, an increase in the variety of operations occurred. As a group, patients with ‘simple’ operations have been heavier, more often male and public pay patients than those who have undergone ‘complex’ operations. One year weight loss was greater for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RGB) than vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG), but follow-up rates were too low to study the relative merits of the operations used. The reported incidence of operative mortality and serious complications (leak with peritonitis, abscess and pulmonary embolism) remained low. Conclusions: These observations and their implications can be summarized in three statements which relate to action for improved patient care in the beginning of the new century: (1) increasing weight of candidates for surgical treatment during this decade indicates the need for earlier use of operative treatment before irreversible complications of obesity can develop; (2) low risk of obesity surgery, decreasing postoperative hospital stay, and early weight control support the continued and increased use of surgical treatment; (3) continued widespread use of both ‘simple’ and ‘complex’ operations with increased modifications of standard RGB and VBG procedures emphasizes the need for standardized long-term data and analyses regarding both weight control and postoperative side-effects.     

Missed opportunities for participation in prevention of mother to child transmission programmes: Simplicity of nevirapine does not necessarily lead to optimal uptake, a qualitative study

Background  

The objective of this study was to examine missed opportunities for participation in a prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme in three sites in South Africa. A rapid anthropological assessment was used to collect in-depth data from 58 HIV-positive women who were enrolled in a larger cohort study to assess mother-to-child HIV transmission. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the women in order to gain an understanding of their experiences of antenatal care and to identify missed opportunities for participation in PMTCT.     

Effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis serum on cultured chick spinal neurons

We used a quantitative immunoassay to examine the effects of human serum and immunoglobulins on neurofilament protein expression in cultures of chick spinal neurons. Compared with cultures grown in the presence of serum from healthy controls or patients with other neurologic disorders, ALS serum lowered the level of neurofilament proteins. Effects were similar with or without muscle-derived neurotrophic factors; there was no specificity for motor neurons. No neurotoxic activity was found in immunoglobulin fractions, and there was no evidence of circulating antibodies that might neutralize muscle-derived neurotrophic factors or induce cytolysis of spinal neurons.     

Percutaneous transhepatic placement of biliary endoprostheses: results in 100 consecutive patients.

One hundred patients with malignant biliary obstruction underwent palliative therapy by means of percutaneous transhepatic placement of 114 biliary endoprostheses. All patients were then followed up for at least 18 months or until death. Retrospective evaluation of the 95 patients who died showed an average survival time of 5.0 months. The five remaining patients have survived an average of 29.8 months. During the 1st week after stent insertion, a second manipulation was performed to improve stent function in nine patients. Overall, 14 (12.3%) of the stents became obstructed and six (5.2%) migrated; 86 patients required no further therapy for biliary obstruction or stent malfunction. The 30-day mortality rate was 12%; none of the deaths were directly attributable to a complication of the stent placement procedure.     

Predicting drug-resistant patients who respond to add-on therapy with levetiracetam.

INTRODUCTION: Levetiracetam (LEV) is approved for use as add-on therapy in adult patients with partial epilepsy. It is apparent from clinical trials that up to 8% of previously drug-resistant patients may be rendered seizure-free by adding-on levetiracetam. As yet there is no way of predicting these unexpectedly responsive patients. We set out to identify our previously refractory patients who had demonstrated unexpected responsiveness to add-on therapy with levetiracetam, and compared these to patients who had not responded to the drug. We then attempted to characterise any clinical features that differentiated these groups of patients. METHODS: We included all patients with a history of present or previous exposure to levetiracetam who had been unresponsive to at least two other prior anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) and recorded their demographic and clinical data. We divided response into (a) 'seizure-free' (seizure-free for a minimum of 6 months after commencing LEV); (b) 'partial > 50%' (greater than 50% reduction in seizures for a minimum of 6 months after commencing LEV); (c) 'honeymoon' (seizure-free for less than 6 months after commencing LEV and then returned towards baseline frequency); and (d) 'no-response'. For the purpose of analysis we considered the 'seizure-free' and 'partial > 50%' groups as 'responders', and the 'no response' group as 'non responders'. RESULTS: 344 patients were included in the analysis. Fifty-six patients (16.3%) were rendered seizure-free on levetiracetam. Idiopathic generalised epilepsy and post-traumatic partial epilepsy were more common in the responder than the non-responder group (p = 0.005 and 0.05 respectively). Lamotrigine was used significantly more often in combination with levetiracetam in responders than non-responders (p = 0.003). The mean daily dose of levetiracetam was lower in responders than non-responders. DISCUSSION: A higher than expected number of previously drug resistant patients was rendered seizure-free by add-on therapy with levetiracetam. Those who respond best appear to do so at relatively low doses and our data suggest the possibility of a beneficial pharmacodynamic interaction between levetiracetam and lamotrigine. We were unable to identify any clinical factors that clearly predicted which patients would become seizure-free and we hypothesise that response may be determined by genetic or molecular factors. All drug-resistant patients, including those being assessed for surgery, should be considered for a trial of levetiracetam, regardless of their epilepsy classification.     

The roles of gamma-interferon and tumor necrosis factor alpha in an experimental rat model of cancer cachexia

Administration of repetitive sublethal doses of either recombinant human tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or recombinant murine gamma-interferon (IFN) to non-tumor-bearing (NTB) rats caused a significant decline in food intake and body weight. After 3 days rats became resistant to the anorectic and weight loss effects of TNF but maintained persistent diminished food intake and diminished body weight gain while receiving recombinant murine IFN. Passive immunization against recombinant rat gamma-interferon allowed cachectic tumor-bearing (TB) rats to eat more food, have a lesser decline in body weight, live longer, and tolerate larger tumors than similar TB rats given nonspecific control antibody. TB rats treated with an antisera to recombinant murine TNF, which was 100% protective when given to NTB rats 6 h before a lethal endotoxin challenge, did not differ significantly from TB rats treated with control antibody with respect to food intake, body weight, survival, or tumor size. Serum levels of TNF or IFN were not detectable in cachectic tumor-bearing rats. The data indicate that the administration of exogenous IFN can simulate cachexia in NTB rats and that passive immunization against it can partially reverse the cachectic changes associated with cancer and prolong survival. These findings suggest that gamma-interferon may be an important mediator of cachexia in this rat tumor model.