A persisting secular trend for body measurements in Dutch children. The Oosterwolde 11 study

To investigate whether the secular trend for growth in Dutch children still exists, the Oosterwolde I study of 1980 was repeated in 1989. A persisting secular trend was visible for height while the z scores of body proportions show no change during the past 10 years, which suggests that there is no change in the timing of puberty.     

A retrospective study to determine the risk of red cell alloimmunization and transfusion during pregnancy

A retrospective review of post-delivery antibody records was performed at a teaching hospital and a community hospital to determine the frequency of new red cell alloantibody production and transfusion during pregnancy. If alloantibody was undetected at delivery, it was assumed that alloimmunization had not occurred. When antibody was detected, a chart review was performed to determine if the antibody was present at the beginning of the pregnancy or was newly produced during the pregnancy. A total of 17,568 pregnancies were reviewed. Antibody was detected at delivery in 948 (5.4%) cases, of which 89.5 percent (848/948) involved passive anti-D or clinically insignificant antibodies. The remaining 100 pregnancies involved clinically significant IgG antibodies. In 58 pregnancies, the antibody was detected in the first trimester, and in 42, new antibody production occurred during the pregnancy. Thus, the prevalence of new antibody production during pregnancy was 0.24 percent (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.17-0.32). Transfusion records indicated that the prevalence of transfusions during pregnancy was 0.09 percent (95% CI, 0.04-0.14). None of the women with new alloantibody formation during their pregnancies required transfusion; hence, new alloantibody production and the need for transfusion appear to be independent events. The probability of these events occurring together was 2.1 × 10(-6), or 1 in 500,000 deliveries.     

Multiple myeloma presenting as a sellar plasmacytoma and mimicking a pituitary tumor: Report of a case and a review of the literature

A case of multiple myeloma presenting as a plasmacytoma and mimicking a pituitary tumor is reported. The importance of recognizing the existence of plasmacytoma in the differential diagnosis of sellar and parasellar tumors is stressed, as it leads to important differences in management. The literature is reviewed. Patients presenting with plasmacytoma with symptoms of a pituitary adenoma have an average age of 58 years; the male to female ratio is 3:1; diplopia, headache, and progressive visual loss are the most important symptoms; third, sixth, and fourth cranial nerve palsies are the most common signs; and pituitary function is usually normal. CT scan of the sellar region is the imaging modality of choice; pathologically, light and electron microscopy are invaluable in making the correct diagnosis. Making the correct diagnosis allows further appropriate investigation for systemic disease and consequent management.     

Pulsed doppler echocardiography in diagnosis of pulmonary regurgitation: Its value and limitations

Ninety-eight patients were studied with two dimensional echocardiography combined with pulsed Doppler echocardiography to assess the usefulness and limitations of the Doppler technique in the diagnosis of pulmonary regurgitation. The diagnosis of pulmonary regurgitation by pulsed Doppler echocardiography depended on subjective interpretation of the audio signal and objective interpretation of the time interval histogram for the presence of wide frequency dispersion. During cardiac catheterization in 53 of the 98 patients, indocyanine green was injected into the pulmonary artery, and simultaneous sampling was performed from the right ventricle and femoral artery to diagnose pulmonary regurgitation. Pulmonary regurgitation was confirmed by pulmonary arteriogram in one patient. Among 62 patients with adequate pulsed Doppler echocardiographic studies, diastolic turbulence was noted in 21. When diastolic turbulence was less than 50 percent of the period of diastole, no pulmonary regurgitation was demonstrated in patients studied by indicator-dilution technique. However, three of the four patients with diastolic turbulence greater than 50 percent had positive evidence of pulmonary regurgitation. Audio output was more sensitive than the time interval histogram, and only five patients' findings suggested pulmonary regurgitation. Three of these patients underwent dye-dilution studies; two studies were positive for pulmonary regurgitation and one was negative.Thus, interpretation of pulmonary regurgitation based on the time interval histogram alone produces a large number of false positive results. When diastolic turbulence is greater than 50 percent of the period of diastole, both the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis of pulmonary regurgitation are increased. Combining audio output and the time interval histogram results in improved diagnostic capability.