ATAXIA-TELANGIECTASIA is a multisystem disease characterized by cerebellar ataxia, immunodeficiency, and the inability to repair radiation-induced damage to the DNA.¹ The immunodeficiency typically consists of a functional and numerical defect of T cells ...

SPECIFIC chromosomal abnormalities associated with neoplastic diseases appear to be involved in the oncogenic process as a result of either the modification of normal cellular genes that creates dominant oncogenes or the loss of dominant tumor-suppressor ...

WITHIN the past three years, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry have concluded in policy statements that lead at low doses is a serious threat to the central nervous systems of infants and ...

MELANOCORTINS (ACTH and α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone-like peptides) are known to affect the function of the nervous system in animals and humans.¹ Evidence obtained from studies in animals suggests that these peptides exert a beneficial effect on ...

THE liver is the chief site of ethanol metabolism, but other tissues may contribute to ethanol metabolism as well. In particular, local metabolism of ethanol in gastrointestinal tissue has been reported,^{1 , 2} but its extent was believed to be negligible.³ ...

MORE than 80 years ago, Sir James MacKenzie¹ noted: "The more I study the symptoms of heart failure, and the more I reflect on the part played by the heart muscle, the more convinced I am that... heart failure is due to the exhaustion of the reserve force ...

CONGENITAL adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency is the most common cause of female pseudohermaphroditism. The severe classic disorder results in excess adrenal secretion of androgen from early fetal life, thereby causing the virilization ...

Presentation of Case

A 63-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of chronic bilateral maxillary sinusitis and hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

The patient was in a stable state of health until five months earlier, when x-ray films of ...

The paper by Carbonari et al. in this issue of the Journal calls attention to the rapidly expanding knowledge of the molecular processes underlying ataxia—telangiectasia.¹ Previous observations provided a description of the major distinctive immunologic ...

Cisplatin is a chemotherapeutic agent that has dramatically altered the prognosis for patients with a variety of tumors. Its promise as an anticancer agent was recognized in the mid-1960s when Rosenberg et al.¹ were studying the effects of electric fields ...

The concentration of alcohol in the blood and other tissues is the result of its intake route, usually oral, its distribution, and its rate of elimination. Although the enzymes primarily responsible for alcohol metabolism, the alcohol dehydrogenases, are ...

To the Editor: The Medical Progress article by Mossman and Gee (June 29 issue)¹ was a well-documented review of asbestos-related diseases. In two respects, however, the review may add to the controversies surrounding the management of asbestos-related ...

To the Editor: I enjoyed the excellent discussion by Dr. Richard Kradin of the case of the 65-year-old ex-shipyard worker with pulmonary infiltrates and an axillary mass (July 13 issue).¹ I was disappointed, however, that the expected discussion of a ...

To the Editor: The article by Pape and colleagues (April 20 issue)* on Isospora belli infection in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) provides valuable information about the treatment and prophylaxis of an infection of increasing ...

To the Editor: A striking decrease in the blood CD4+ lymphocyte count is considered to be a reliable sign of the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 infection, and profound CD4+ lymphocytopenia is usually associated with severe ...

To the Editor: Physicians often inquire about blood transfusion in obtaining a patient's medical history. We suggest the addition of a complementary question: "Have you ever donated blood?"

An affirmative response instantly conveys a wealth of useful ...

To the Editor: Biron and colleagues (June 29 issue)¹ reported on a patient with severe herpesvirus infections in whom natural killer cells were absent. In 1982, we described a 17-year-old girl in whom lysis of K562 cells mediated by natural killer cells ...

To the Editor: The recent study by Brown et al. (July 13 issue)* concludes that epidermal growth factor applied topically to clean, split-thickness wounds of uniform depth (donor areas for grafting) accelerates wound healing. The investigators assessed ...

To the Editor: The recent review of drug therapy in the elderly by Montamat et al. (Aug. 3 issue)¹ contained a formula for estimating creatinine clearance (Cl_cr). This appears to be derived from the classic formula of Cockcroft and Gault²:

To convert to ...

To the Editor: The Current Concepts article by Drs. Libow and Starer on the care of the nursing home patient (July 13 issue)¹ presented a comprehensive, updated, and practical overview of the major problems facing physicians in the nursing home setting. ...

To the Editor: Instead of seeking advice from the University of Iowa Travel and Tropical Medicine Clinic, many residents of this area consult an embassy or consulate. After several prospective travelers requested unneeded vaccinations on the basis of ...

This is the third edition of a book that was first published in 1977 and was revised in 1983. The authors have updated their treatment of important ethical issues and added considerable material, most notably on the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, ...

This collection of essays by 10 professors of philosophy in medicine (bioethics) from Canada and the United States attempts to reconcile two apparently opposing approaches to our conceptions of bioethics, the principles-based, or theoretical, and the so-...

Glancing through the stack of business magazines that regularly accumulate on my desk, I note that the issues surrounding health care costs are once again creeping onto the national agenda. One such issue is the role of the public hospital. In Competition ...

In his introduction to this book, Federman describes the doctor–patient relationship as "the most extraordinary social contract in human history." The authors (both from Harvard Medical School) have produced a remarkably comprehensive book of instructions ...

The changes in American society over the past two decades have affected all of us, but none more than our children. Current policies assume a society that no longer exists for many: one in which families are cohesive and supportive; a child's basic needs ...

The past decade was one of turmoil in the organization and financing of health care services. Entire cost-containment industries blossomed in ambition and withered in ineffectiveness. This interesting new book captures two different spirits of the 1980s, ...

Pediatrics

Adolescent Group Psychotherapy. (American Group Psychotherapy Association Monograph Series.) Edited by Fern J. Cramer Azima and Lewis H. Richmond. 246 pp. Madison, Conn., International Universities Press, 1989. $30.

Handbook of Pediatric ...

NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PHLEBOLOGY

The 3rd annual congress will be held in Phoenix, Feb. 19–21.

Contact Dr. Helane Fronek, Div. of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery-SW 208, 10666 N. Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, CA 92037.

PRACTICAL SURGICAL CHALLENGES IN ...