Cardiac transplantation. Emerging from an experiment to a service.

Cardiac transplantation was resumed at the University Health Center of Pittsburgh in 1980 after a hiatus of 12 years. Prior to April 15, 1986, 270 hearts had been transplanted. Participants have been forced to reorder personal, professional, and institutional commitments to adapt to new demands of pre- and post-operative care and to develop flexibility in the operative scheduling of routine cardiac surgical cases. The actuarial survival has been 78, 69, and 64% at 1, 2, and 3 years. Much has been learned about evolving immunosuppression based on cyclosporine and of the allogenic response. An increasing proportion of recipients are mortally ill (54%), and for these urgent patients the wait for a donor organ continues to lengthen. The cardiac surgeon performing transplantations will need to grow with allied developments in xenotransplantation and mechanical cardiac support devices in order to keep pace with his evolving specialty.     

A randomized controlled trial of electromagnetic therapy in the primary care management of venous leg ulceration

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to establish the potential efficacy, tolerabilityand side-effect profile of electromagnetic therapy as an adjunctto conventional dressings in the treatment of venous leg ulcers. METHOD: A prospective, randomized, double blind controlled clinicaltrial was carried out in a dedicated leg ulcer clinic basedin one urban general practice. Nineteen patients with leg ulcersof confirmed venous aetiology were assessed. The main outcomemeasures were rate and scale of venous leg ulcer healing, changesin patient-reported pain levels, quality of life, degree ofmobility, side effect profile and acceptability to patientsand staff. RESULTS: Sixty-eight per cent of patients attending this dedicated clinicachieved improvements in the size of their ulcer (4, 21%, healedfully) and in reduced pain levels (P < 0.05) during the trial,despite the chronicity of ulcer histories. Patients treatedwith electromagnetic therapy at 800 Hz were found at day 50to have significantly greater healing (P < 0.05) and paincontrol (P < 0.05) than placebo therapy or treatment with600 Hz. All patients reported improved mobility at the end ofthe study. The electromagnetic therapy was well tolerated bypatients, with no differences between groups in reporting adverseevents, and proved acceptable to staff. CONCLUSION: Despite the small numbers in this pilot study, electromagnetictherapy provided significant gains in the healing of venousleg ulcers and reduction in pain. Keywords. Electromagnetic therapy, RCT, leg ulcers, primary care.