Renal cell carcinoma: the Ochsner Medical Institution experience (1945-1978)

We reviewed 161 patients operated upon for renal cell carcinoma between 1945 and 1978. Life table and survival analyses were computed to compare the effects of stage, tumor differentiation, cell type, surgical technique, renal vein involvement and sex on the years of survival. Patients with stage I and well differentiated tumors had the best prognosis. All patients surviving 10 years or more had well differentiated tumors. The type of nephrectomy did not affect survival and lymphadenectomy was only of value in staging the disease. The stage and differentiation of the tumor were more important to outcome than choice of therapy.     

How should multiple organ dysfunction syndrome be assessed? A review of the variations in current scoring systems

There are many scores for evaluating multiple organ dysfunction (MODS) which differ appreciably, and this makes it difficult to compare results from different research groups. In addition the variables used to describe organ dysfunction are not always as organ-specific as they should be. In this review we have studied 20 MODS scoring systems to illustrate the variety in variables used to assess organ dysfunction.     

Craniofacial resection. An alternative incision and skull base repair

Neoplasia of the superior group of paranasal sinuses (frontal, ethmoidal and sphenoidal) has an extremely poor prognosis. Resection, preceded or followed by radiotherapy offers a 5 year survival of less than 30% (1). Satisfactory surgical excision has been undermined by difficulties of access to the cribriform plate area, a common site for residual disease. Furthermore the practice of piecemeal removal invariably resulted in inadequate clearance. The craniofacial approach allows not only excellent access to the anterior skull base but also in bloc excision. The results of treating 7 patients with craniofacial resection for tumours in this area are presented. Particular reference is made to a horizontal forehead skin crease incision for intracranial access. A new technique using a combination of surgical, pericranium, partial thickness skin and fibrin glue to repair the skull base defect is described.     

Calcium Binding of Two Microalgal Polysaccharides and Selected Industrial Hydrocolloids

Binding of calcium ions to polysaccharides from two freshwater microalgae, Palmella texensis (UTEX 1708) and Cosmarium turpinii (UTEX LB 1042) (PTP and CTP, respectively), and six industrial hydrocolloids was studied. The amount of bound calcium decreased with a decrease in pH below 6. Scatchard analysis showed that PTP, guar and locust bean had low calcium affinity and one type of binding site. Alginate bound calcium with the greatest affinity (k= 1.31 × 10⁶) among the hydrocolloids examined and appeared to have one type of binding site. Gum arabic and CTP appeared to have two types of binding sites. The order of magnitude of uronic acid in each hydrocolloid did not agree with the order of calcium binding affinity as an intrinsic association constant indicating limited importance of the chemical nature of hydrocolloids to the effect of linear charge density.     

A short parameter-fitting routine for compartmental models

We have developed a program of 298 FORTRAN statements which obtains the inter-pool exchange rates and other parameters of a compartmental system, working directly from the time course of tracer activity after a bolus injection. The fitting problem - data and model - is specified by the user in a natural syntactic style. The program calculates least-squares estimates, confidence limits and intercorrelation estimates for the fitted parameters. Its small size and conceptual simplicity make the program a powerful practical tool for analyzing tracer studies.