A study of periapical lesions correlating the presence of a radiopaque lamina with histological findings.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the presence or absence of a radiopaque lamina of 60 human periapical lesions with the histological findings from a case study in dental practice. STUDY DESIGN: Paralleling radiographs were taken of 60 teeth with periapical radiolucencies. The periapical radiographs were scanned, and standardized images were evaluated on a computer screen for the presence or absence of a radiopaque lamina by 2 calibrated observers according to agreed criteria. The serially sectioned histological specimens were obtained from the extraction of 13 endodontically treated teeth and 27 nontreated teeth, as well as 20 post-treatment teeth with apical periodontitis removed during periapical surgical procedure; the specimens were classified according to agreed criteria. The findings of the 2 evaluations were compared. RESULTS: Out of 57 electronic images that could be interpreted, 10 lesions had a radiopaque lamina, but of these only 3 were histologically diagnosed as cysts, while 7 were granulomas or abscesses. Out of 47 lesions without a radiopaque lamina, 40 were histologically diagnosed as granulomas or abscesses, while 7 were cysts. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of periapical lesions cannot be made on the basis of the presence or absence of a radiopaque lamina, but requires histological examination of serial sections.     

The effect of low dose lofepramine in depressed elderly patients in general medical wards.

A double-blind randomised controlled trial of the effect of low dose lofepramine (70 mg once daily) against placebo was carried out on depressed elderly inpatients on general medical wards for the elderly, comparing measures of depression and side-effects between the randomised groups. Patients were identified for the study using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Brief Assessment Schedule Depression Cards (BASDEC). Sixty-three subjects were randomised: 46 patients completed the entire trial of 28 days treatment. BASDEC and GDS were administered on day 8 post-admission, and depressed patients were randomised double-blind to either low dose lofepramine (70 mg daily) (n = 23) or placebo (n = 23). Assessment of changes in depressive states were made using the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) on days 8, 18 and 36 post-admission. Both groups improved by a similar amount during the trial. Lofepramine tended to be more effective than placebo in those patients who were more depressed (GDS > or = 18). On the other hand, subjects who were less depressed (i.e. GDS < 18) improved more on placebo than lofepramine. Low dose lofepramine may prove useful in moderately or severely depressed patients treated for only 4 weeks. However, low dose lofepramine is not indicated for mild (GDS 15-18) depression.     

Carcinoma of the body and tail of the pancreas.

Recently, several institutions have reported improved results in the treatment of patients with carcinoma of the head of the pancreas. In an attempt to determine whether similar trends could be demonstrated for patients with carcinoma of the body and tail of the pancreas, the records of all 113 patients with an adenocarcinoma of the body or tail of the pancreas treated at The Johns Hopkins Hospital between 1972 and 1989 were reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups: those diagnosed between 1972 and 1982 (41 patients) and those between 1983 and 1989 (72 patients). No significant differences in tumor stage were observed between the two groups. The proportion of patients who underwent surgery decreased from 68% to 47% (p = 0.02). The number of patients who had bypass operations (15% versus 17%) or pancreatic resection (5% versus 10%) was similar in the two groups, but the proportion of patients who underwent exploratory laparotomy with biopsy only decreased from 49% to 21% (p = 0.002). The postoperative 30-day mortality (7% versus 3%), postoperative morbidity (18% versus 21%), median survival (4 months versus 3 months), and the 1-year survival (8% versus 9%) did not differ significantly between the two groups. One patient survived for 6 years after resection, and another patient is still alive 3 years after resection. Thus, unlike adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas, it appears that treatment results for patients with adenocarcinoma of the body or tail of the pancreas have not improved in recent years, the only change being a decreased need for exploratory laparotomy with biopsy only.     

Sticking coefficients of adsorbing proteins.

The protein sticking coefficient, phi, the fraction of collisions that result in adsorption, is a function of the molecular interactions between the protein and the surface. A random walk and diffusion-to-capture model was used to describe the kinetics of protein adsorption. The assumption of a constant sticking coefficient leads to a first-order model of the kinetics. A solution of the problem of adsorption from a semi-infinite medium with first-order kinetics at the boundary was obtained by numerical simulation on the computer. The results of the computer simulations match the time dependence observed experimentally. A correlation was developed to estimate phi from experimental data. phi has been found to be in the range 10(-5)-10(-8) for several protein adsorption kinetic studies reported in the literature.     

EEG findings in hypomelanosis of Ito.

The EEG findings in 15 children with Hypomelanosis of Ito have been reviewed and related to the clinical and CT scan data. Although no consistent electroclinical associations were found in the group as a whole, there was some association between the presence of abnormal rhythmic EEG activity and the radiological appearances of neuronal migration defects. In addition, the possibility is raised that there may be a distinctive sub-group of children with Ito's syndrome who present with an early onset of intractable seizures and who have a neuronal migration defect.     

Development and characterization of a monoclonal antibody to human embryonal carcinoma

A monoclonal anti-testicular carcinoma antibody was obtained via the somatic cell fusion technique by immunization of BALB/c mice with freshly prepared single cell suspension from a patient with testicular embryonal carcinoma with choriocarcinoma components. The hybridoma supernates were screened against the testicular carcinoma cells used in the immunization as well as normal mononuclear white blood cells isolated from the same patient. An antibody (5F9) was selected which bound to fresh tumor cells from two patients with embryonal testicular carcinoma and failed to bind to fresh tumor cells from 24 patients (2 seminoma, 2 melanoma, 3 neck, 2 esophageal, 1 ovarian, 3 colon, 1 prostate, 2 breast, 1 liposarcoma, 3 endometrial, 1 kidney, 1 adrenal, 1 larynx and 1 bladder tumors) or cell suspensions prepared from normal liver, lung, spleen, ovary, testes, kidney, red blood cells or white blood cells. The antibody was tested for its binding to several well established cancer cell lines, and was found to bind to the BeWo human choriocarcinoma and two human embryonal carcinoma cell lines. The antibody did not react with 22 other cell lines or with hCG. The antibody was labeled with 131I and injected into nude mice bearing BeWo tumors and evaluated for tumor localization by performing whole body scans with a gamma camera 5 days later. Six mice injected with the antibody showed positive tumor localization without the need for background subtraction while six mice injected with MOPC-21, a murine myeloma immunoglobulin, demonstrated much less tumor localization. Tissue distribution studies performed after scanning showed specific tumor localization (8:1 tumor: muscle) for the monoclonal antibody and no specific localization for MOPC-21. This antibody thus has selective reactivity with the surface of tumor cells from embryonal carcinoma (testicle) and choriocarcinoma both in vitro and in vivo.     

Albumin adsorption on alkyl chain derivatized polyurethanes. II. The effect of alkyl chain length

Linear alkyl chains containing 2, 10 and 18 carbon atoms were grafted to 10% of the urethane nitrogens in a polyether-polyurethane. The polyurethane was synthesized from methylene bis(p-phenyl isocyanate), 1,4-butanediol, and polytetramethylene oxide of 1000 molecular weight in a molar ratio of 3/2/1. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and attenuated total reflectance optics were used to study the adsorption of 5.0 mg/ml human serum albumin (HSA) at 37 degrees C to the derivatized and non-derivatized polymers. Both delipidized HSA and HSA containing 6.5 mol stearic acid per mol of albumin were used to study the effect of chain length upon the initial adsorption rate, the total amount adsorbed in 1 h, and the desorption rate. The initial adsorption rates revealed that non-specific adsorption was similar upon all four polymers. An increase in initial adsorption rate upon the C-18 derivatized polymer was attributed to a specific binding interaction between the HSA and the grafted alkyl chains. The conformational stability of the HSA also affected the adsorption rate. The total amount adsorbed after 1 h decreased as the alkyl chain length increased from 2 to 18 methylene groups. The desorption rate decreased in magnitude as the alkyl chain length increased from C-2 to C-18. These results support a hypothesis that alkyl chain length influences the interaction between albumin and an alkylated polymer system.