Slipped femoral capital epiphysis as a sequela to childhood irradiation for malignant tumors

Five cases of slipped femoral capital epiphysis were noted in children with prior irradiation for malignancy whose femoral head and neck had been included in the radiation portal. Three of the 5 were patients who had lymphoma. As a result of increasing survival rates for these types of patients, this previously unrecognized radiation-related growth disturbance may be more likely to be seen in the future.     

Squamous cell carcinoma of the soft palate

Thirty-eight patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the soft palate treated between 1960 and 1975 were reviewed. Males in the seventh decade predominated. All symptomatic patients complained of sore throat and/or odynophagia. Seventy-eight percent were symptomatic less than three months. Approximately equal numbers of patients presented with T1, T2, and T3 tumors. Twenty-seven percent had cervical metastases when initially seen. The majority (89%) of patients were treated with radiation initially and the remainder (11%) received radiation therapy at the time of postsurgical recurrence with an absolute five year survival of 33%. Patients less than 60 years of age and those with small primary tumors and no neck metastases demonstrated better survival. Radiation therapy to the primary tumor and neck appears to be the preferred modality of initial treatment.     

Three-area epidemiological study of geographic differences in stroke mortality. I. Background and methods

An epidemiological study was conducted to determine the geographical variations in stroke mortality among three U.S. areas. They were Savannah, Georgia (high stroke rates), Hagerstown, Maryland (intermediate stroke rates) and Pueblo, Colorado (low stroke rates). In each area samples were drawn of the population in the 35--54 age group. The subjects were interviewed and examined to obtain the information required on medical conditions and/or living habits which would characterize each area. A brief medical and family history, as well as demographic and personal data, were obtained by interview. The medical examination included blood pressure, ECG, blood and urine chemistry, height and weight. In all three cities the response rate in the final sample selected was 90% (2,375 individuals) interviewed and 74% (1.939 individuals) examined.     

Reversal of pretreatment hypotension and control of hemorrhage in trauma patients by a simple device

The injection of a suspension of Walker 256 carcinoma cells into the carotid artery of rats produced a model of hematogenously spread cerebral metastases. Most animals died from massive extracerebral tumors of the head and jaw; brain tumors were present in only one-quarter. External carotid artery ligation prior to tumor inoculation did not increase the incidence of fatal brain tumor. When cyclophosphamide, 15 mg/kg, was injected as a single dose on the fourteenth day after tumor inoculation, most of the extracerebral tumor disappeared. Fifty percent of the animals so treated were cured of tumor, but 90% of the remainder died of large intracerebral tumors. Severe cytopathic changes resulting from cyclophosphamide were present in extracerebral or choroid plexus tumors but were mild or nonexistent in intracerebral tumors. These selective effects of cyclophosphamide suggest that water-soluble agents are less effective against tumor in the brain than against extracerebral tumors despite the fact that metastatic tumor breaks down the blood-brain barrier.     

Serum thermostable and thermolabile inhibitors of tissue thromboplastin

Besides a thermolabile inhibitor of tissue thromboplastin a thermostable inhibitor was found in human blood serum; molecular weight of the inhibitor (estimated by gel filtration) is 210000-235000 daltons, while molecular weight of a thermolabile inhibitor--480000 daltons. Inhibition of the thrombin formation system by the termostable inhibitor was reversible and was characterized kinetically as a mixed type of inhibition. Both inhibitors were found in blood of rats. Their content varied irrespectively of the state of hemocoagulation. Content of the thermostable inhibitor was distinctly decreased in blood serum after the blockade of reticuloendothelial system by administration of tripane blue.     

Refusal to eat in the elderly

Refusal to eat by the elderly, and subsequent malnutrition, occurs in both institutional and community settings. Causes include physiologic changes associated with aging, mental disorders such as dementia and depression, and medical, social, and environmental factors. Treatment approaches call for management of these causes while considering the roles that medicine, ethics, and culture play in the process.     

Dynamic flow rates of granular particles

Flow rates (W) of powder and granules are usually measured by letting the particulate solid pass through a stationary orifice. This is not a physical duplication of the event in, for instance, a rotary tablet machine, where the dies move in relation to the powder bed. An apparatus is described by which dynamic flow rates (i.e. flow into a moving orifice) can be measured. These dynamic flow rates (W₂ g/sec) differ from static flow rates. They are subject to the same dependence on particle diameter, d, as static flow rate, i.e.: W₂ ? W_m = ? k(d ? d_m)^s, where “m” refers to maximum and k and s are constants. They also exhibit the same type dependence on orifice opening (P cm) as static flow rates, i.e.W₂ = qPⁿ, where q and n are constants. The values for _n are 3 – 3.25, which is somewhat higher than for static flow where n = 2.3 – 2.6.