Our experience with acycloguanosine treatment of herpes simplex

A 5% ointment acycloguanosine was tried in the treatment of recurrent herpes simplex of the skin and genitalia in 48 patients. The treatment brought limitation of the process, relief of the symptoms, control of local manifestations and toxicity, accelerated epithelization, complete regression and disappearance of the eruption.     

Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy for recurrent spontaneous abortion: a meta-analysis

The aim of this paper was to identify the mechanism/s responsible of the antimetastatic effect of a single low dose of cyclophosphamide (Cy), previously demonstrated by us in the rat lymphoma LTACB. No direct cytotoxic antimetastatic activity of Cy could be proved. In vitro treatment of L-TACB cells with mafosfamide did not alter their invasiveness or their motility. The adoptive transfer of splenocytes from Cy-treated tumor-bearing rats, together with L-TACB cells inhibited their metastatic growth. The single low dose Cy treatment of T-immunodeficient nude mice did not show the antimetastatic effect on L-TACB observed in immunocompetent mice. An inhibition of the metastatic ability due to immunomodulation by Cy is proposed.     

Endocrine factors associated with recurrent spontaneous abortion

The role of endocrine factors as a cause of recurrent spontaneous abortion is controversial. Diabetes mellitus and thyroid disease do not represent a significant risk factor for recurrent pregnancy loss. Luteal-phase defect has been questioned because there are no accurate methods for diagnosis and no convincing evidence of correction with treatment exists. The corpus luteum is an unusual endocrine gland, highly diverse in function and important for successful reproduction in all mammalian species. Much controversy exists about the luteal function in humans and how defects in luteal function affects reproduction. Disagreement has been due to lack of accurate diagnosis and controlled studies to determine whether correction of the luteal-phase defect is worthwhile when treating female reproductive problems. The donor egg recipient model from assisted reproductive technology programs has shown that corpus luteum function can be replaced by estrogen and progesterone administration. The mechanism by which these steroids stimulate a uterus to be receptive to implantation of the embryo is not known. Several proteins produced by the endometrium are candidate markers for uterine receptivity. Further work needs to be done to correlate these markers with subsequent pregnancy outcome. A noninvasive marker for uterine receptivity is ultrasonographic evaluation of the endometrium. Although the sensitivity of this test is high (100%), its specificity is low (only 20% to 60%).     

Our experience with the surgical treatment of carcinoma of the colon

The Authors analyze a series of 441 patients affected by carcinoma of the colon operated on between June 1980 and November 1993. The incidence of the different stages of the disease according to Dukes resulted comparable to that reported in the literature as well as the incidence of morbidity and mortality. Recostruction was performed in all cases with mechanical sutures (T-L for the right colon and L-T for the left colon) and without protection enterostomy. Long-term results evaluated by actuarial methods were influenced by the stage of the disease, and not by sex or duration of symptoms. The need of early diagnosis as well as oncologically correct surgical technique is furthermore confirmed. The importance of clinical trials on adjuvant chemotherapy is emphasized in order to improve survival in patients operated for stage B and C colon cancer.     

Hormone replacement therapy after treatment of breast carcinoma

A correct Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) guarantees a successful treatment of subjective symptoms of oestrogen deficiency and an efficient prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis, of cardiovascular diseases and of M. Alzheimer. In non-substituted postmenopausal women, the risk to die from a myocardial infarction is ten times higher than the risk to die from a carcinoma of the breast or the consequences of a fracture of the femoral neck. In spite of this observation, the acceptance is still insufficient because of an unjustified fear of hormone-induced carcinomas. The incidence of a carcinoma of the breast is not higher in women profiting of a HRT by a correct combination of an oestrogen and a progestogen administered up to 5 years than in untreated controls. Although some but not all authors suspect a slight increase of the relative risk of a carcinoma of the breast to approximately 1.5 after > or = 10 years of HRT, the overall mortality of substituted women is clearly inferior to the one of a non-substituted population. However, the final goal of HRT is not prolongation of life, but a better quality of life. Quality of life is often miserable in women treated for breast cancer. The final answer to the question if women after treatment of breast cancer should be allowed to profit of HRT is still open because formal evidence is missing. However, a woman should not be denied HRT if she lived two years without relapse since her primary cancer and if she does not belong to the subgroup where adjuvant treatment by tamoxifen is appropriate. In the future, selective oestrogen receptor modulators may be used in women after breast cancer.     

Our experience in the percutaneous treatment of varicocele

For its high incidence among young men and its affecting male fertility, varicocele requires an accurate screening, as well as an early and definitive treatment. The Authors report their experience in the treatment of varicocele with sclerotherapy: 24 patients underwent sclerotherapy of the left internal spermatic vein with a success rate of 91%. Complications never required hospitalization or surgery. Percutaneous therapy represents thus the treatment of choice in case of varicocele: compared with surgery, it offers similar clinical results and a lower recurrence rate, and it can be performed on an outpatient basis. Surgery should be performed only when anatomic variants make percutaneous treatment not feasible.     

Intra-epithelial carcinoma of the cervix uteri. Our experience with treatment, the role of conization

The authors re-emphasize that the sure diagnosis of carcinoma of the cervix depends on histology; having considered a series of 15,000 smears in an article on cytological screening for carcinoma of the cervix. They show that the main prop of this histological examination should definitely be conisation. They furthermore prepare an inventory of the different possible methods of treatment of intra-epithelial carcinoma, stating for each method the advantages and disadvantages of the method. Their attitude to treatment is conservative, and they believe that conisation in every case is sufficient when complete removal of the in situ lesion is carried out whatever the age of the patient is. They state the limits of this method and define clearly the contra-indications for such a scheme of treatment, which can only be carried out routinely with the absolutely necessary cooperation of a cytology laboratory and faultless histology.     

Cutaneous mechanical staplers. Our experience

This paper reports the results of a trial, comparing the use of disposable skin staplers with conventional nylon or silk sutures in skin closure. This study began in 1986; 7274 patients undergoing elective and emergency operations were controlled during the postoperative period, 3 and 6 months after surgery. It was shown that skin clips instead of sutures decrease the operative time, produce wound healing with a good cosmetic results, and above all a significant lowering of the wound infection rate.     

Reversal of Hartmann's procedure. Our experience

Hartmann's procedure has progressively changed its indications in the last years; nowadays they are reduced by the increasing of anesthesiology and the introduction of stapler devices. The introduction of staplers makes reconstructive operation easier and it contributes to a sensible increasing of reversal percentage after Hartmann's procedure. Video-assisted techniques make Hartmann's procedure possible for older patients with high-risk of post-operative general complications. The authors describe the results obtained with traditional and video-assisted reversal Hartmann's procedure, comparing with data from Literature.     

Hormone ablation therapy as neoadjuvant treatment to radical prostatectomy

Two hundred consecutive patients with presumed localized prostate cancer had radical prostatectomy alone (n = 119) or were treated for an average period of 3 months with combination therapy using the antiandrogen flutamide and one luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist (Lupron or Zoladex). The positive margins decreased from 35.3% in the group undergoing prostatectomy alone to 11.5% in the group of men who received combination therapy before radical prostatectomy. In 41 apical tumors, the incidence of positive margins decreased from 50% in the control group to 18.6% in the combination therapy group. In stage C disease, the incidence of positive tumor showed a tendency to decrease with the extended duration of endocrine treatment with a rate of 37.5% after 3 months and 16.7% after 6 months. Whether the decreased incidence of positive surgical margins will all translate into prolonged survival remains to be verified by long-term follow-up of these patients. However, the initial results obtained in the present study are very encouraging.     

Our experience with the Univent tube

INTRODUCTION: We describe our experience in managing single lung ventilation (SLP) with the Univent bronchial blocker tube from 1993 to the present. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Patients were grouped based on the following criteria: use of a double lumen tube as an alternative to SLP (group 1), use of SLP and tracheotomy (group 2), or difficult or dangerous orotracheal intubation (group 3). RESULTS: The mean age of the 32 patients (22 men and 10 women) studied was 45.7 +/- 12.2 years. Mean weight was 67.9 +/- 13.4 kg. Ten patients were physical status ASA I, 10 were ASA II, 10 were ASA III and 2 were ASA IV. Group 1 contained 28 patients (18 receiving right SLP and 10 receiving left SLP; use of SLP failed to collapse the lung in 4 patients [14.3%]). Group 2 consisted of 5 patients and group 3 contained 11. The Univent tube was used in 4 patients in group 3 who did not require use of SLP but whose intubation was considered difficult and in whom laryngoscopic findings were consistent with a Cormack-Lehane group III classification. The Univent bronchial blocker tube was used as a guide, such that intubation was achieved on the first try. The tube was removed from 3 patients (8%) in the intensive care recovery ward. The remaining 29 tracheas were extubated in the operating room. No side effects attributable to the Univent tube were recorded. CONCLUSIONS: The advantages and disadvantages of this new tool for the management of SLP mean that it may be useful for specific situations (such as for SLP with difficult intubation or in patients with tracheotomies or aneurysms of the descending thoracic aorta), but that it does not replace conventional methods. We believe that the Univent bronchial blocker tube should be available as part of operating room equipment.     

Our experience with silicone in rhinomentoplasty

Twelve young (mean age 23 years, range 18-28) and 12 elderly (mean age 76 years, range 65-89) volunteers were given a single oral dose of 80 mg valsartan after an overnight fast. Each group consisted of six male and six female subjects. Mean systemic exposure to valsartan was higher in the elderly when compared with the young (AUC(0-24 h), 52% increase and AUC(0-infinity), 70% increase). Variability, as shown by the coefficient of variation (CV), was larger for the elderly subjects and ANOVA of the log transformed AUC showed a significant difference between the two groups. This difference was largely brought about by five elderly subjects (one male, four females), whose AUC was about 2-fold higher than the rest of the group. For the remaining elderly subjects, plasma valsartan AUC was similar to that observed for the young volunteers. This higher systemic exposure in five of the elderly subjects is not thought to be of clinical relevance when data from the patient population are considered. Other covariates--such as body weight, comedication, creatinine clearance, valsartan kinetics (absorption rate, distribution, and elimination)--did not explain the higher AUC in this subset of the elderly group. Data from the present study were compared with population kinetic data obtained from larger clinical trials including hypertensive patients in all age groups. Using this population approach, there was no difference in the pharmacokinetics of valsartan between male and female patients. Also, a relationship between plasma clearance of valsartan and age was established. The median age of patients in the hypertensive pool was 55 years. For an average 70-year-old patient, plasma clearance of valsartan is predicted to fall by 22% compared with an average 55-year-old. For the population this difference is not sufficient to warrant initial dose adjustment based on age per se. The covariate age, does not completely explain the variability in the pharmacokinetics of valsartan within the general population. The treatment was well tolerated.     

Computerized archives in surgery. Our experience

In recent years, the necessity for a surgical department to obtain a wide range of clinical data in a short period is greatly increased. This necessity has been almost satisfied with widespread use of information systems in medicine using database programs and the integration of these database with other programs has allowed graphic representation of data. Anyhow, some difficulties are still present, such as low knowledge in using personal computers and lacking of a common program for all surgical departments. In the article the authors present a computerized program for the filing of medical records in a surgical department. Starting from January 1992, clinical data of all patients admitted in our department have been recorded in the described program. After three years of use, the system has shown to be easy to use, and able to give useful information for data analysis regarding the population observed, the clinical activity performed and the level of quality obtained. For these reasons, it can represent an attempt to diffuse and uniform computerized data recording in surgical departments.     

Our experience with the use of cerium sulphadiazine in the treatment of extensive burns

The development of the burn disease with infection as the most important complication represents still a major problem in burn patients. With the introduction of the method of early surgical excision of the Af1p4r with immediate grafting in major burns, improved survival has been achieved, particularly in children. However, especially in adults, early massive excisions did not prove to be of much benefit for survival. In these cases, more-or-less sequential staged excisional procedures have been introduced by many renown burn surgeons. In 1976 Monafo et al. presented the cerium nitrate-silver sulphadiazine cream (CSD) combination for topical therapy. The addition of 2.2% of the rare earth metal cerium salt to silversulphadiazine causes the formation of a relatively hard, yellow, leather-like eschar with excellent resistance to infection and good long-term adherence to the burn wound. This allows the surgeon to perform late tangential excision and immediate autografting thus decreasing the open wound size and the rate of severe infections originating in the burn wound itself. We report our experience with the treatment of 20 patients with deep burns exceeding 20% of the BSA with cerium nitrate-silver sulphadiazine cream compared with a similar group of burn patients treated by silver sulphadiazine cream alone. CSD proved to be safe and effective in the treatment of deep and extensive burns. Its advantages include easy and painless application and removal, turning the necrotic skin to yellow, and a leathery crust with good resistance to infection, thus enabling later, or staged, sequential excisions in cases where early massive excisions are not possible.     

A cytogenetic study of 514 Chinese couples with recurrent spontaneous abortion

OBJECTIVE: To study the role of chromosomal aberration in the causation of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) in Chinese population. METHODS: A total of 514 Chinese couples with 2 or more spontaneous abortions at less than 24 weeks of gestation were included. For each proband, a minimum of 13 metaphases were analyzed by G-banding. Additional cells (usually 50-100 cells) were screened when mosaicism was suspected. Chi 2 test was used to compare the number and frequency of couples with and without balanced translocation with respect to whether liveborn was present or absent. Chi 2 test for trend was used to show whether a correlation existed between the occurrence of balanced translocation and the number of spontaneous abortions at ascertainment. RESULTS: The overall incidence of chromosome anomaly was 51 out of 514 (9.92%). Chi 2 test for trend analysis showed that the chance of one member of a couple being a balanced carrier increased with the number of spontaneous abortions. The chance of finding translocation in couples with liveborn was higher than that in couples without liveborn, but the difference was not statistically significant. We also found that pericentric inversion 9 did not play an important role in the causation of recurrent abortion. CONCLUSIONS: Cytogenetic analysis is indicated in couples with 2 or more spontaneous abortions and the chance of finding chromosomal aberration increases with the number of abortions at the time of ascertainment.