LAPAROSCOPIC cholecystectomy has rapidly become a popular method for removing the gall bladder in the United States and abroad. This procedure originated in the American South and in France in 1988.^{1 , 2} Since then its popularity has spread widely, but ...

IN Western Europe and the United States, pneumonia due to Pneumocystis carinii (PCP) is the most important opportunistic infection in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).^{1 , 2} Therefore, its prevention would be a major step in controlling the ...

IN patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, the most important prognostic factor is tumor stage, and this factor largely determines treatment.^{1 , 2} Surgery is the standard mode of treatment for patients with stage I and II tumors and for some patients ...

CREUTZFELDT—JAKOB disease, a transmissible neurodegenerative disorder of humans, has a worldwide incidence of 1 to 2 cases per million population, with a few exceptions.^{1 , 2} Among Libyan Jews it occurs more than 100 times more frequently, at a rate of ...

PATIENTS with hypertension are heterogeneous in their clinical characteristics, prognosis, and response to therapy.^{1 , 2} The search for a biologic framework within which to understand and investigate this heterogeneity led to the recognition that the ...

IF measurements of bone mass are to be clinically useful, they must be safe, precise, accurate, and of reasonable cost in relation to the information provided. Since when bone mass is low the clinical outcome of concern is fracture, there must be a ...

EOSINOPHILS, like neutrophils and basophils, are a type of granulocyte derived from bone marrow, distinguished by their morphologic features, constituents, products, and associations with specific diseases. The original denominating property of ...

Presentation of Case

A 36-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of a left adrenal mass.

There was a history of von Hippel—Lindau disease. The patient enjoyed excellent health and was vigorous in his physical activities. Nine years before ...

The officers of the Massachusetts Medical Society are pleased to announce the appointment of Jerome P. Kassirer, M.D., as the next Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, effective July 1, 1991. Dr. Kassirer is now Sara Murray Jordan ...

HYPERTENSION is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In its pathophysiologic features and clinical sequelae, hypertension is recognized to be a heterogeneous disorder. Although some patients are at increased risk for coronary heart disease, ...

DOCTORS are often given information about a patient by family members or others and asked to keep it secret from the patient. Deciding what to do after being told such a secret can be a troubling, guilt-provoking experience for practitioners. Are we not ...

To the Editor: The study by Brown et al. (Nov. 8 issue)¹ is an important one. It confirms the results of a previous trial in patients with hypercholesterolemia who underwent coronary venous bypass grafts and were successively treated with a similar ...

To the Editor: Ross and Aron (Nov. 15 issue)¹ recommend that the 1-mg dexamethasone suppression test for evaluating incidentally discovered adrenal masses be abandoned because Cushing's syndrome is rare. Although the authors acknowledge the existence of ...

To the Editor: The clinical trial reported by Dillman et al. (Oct. 4 issue)¹ and the accompanying editorial by Tannock and Boyer² raise some interesting issues of cost and benefit in cancer treatment. We would like to counsel considerable caution in ...

To the Editor: In our opinion, the data provided by Logigian and coworkers (Nov. 22 issue)* are not sufficient to prove that chronic disease of the central nervous system was caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. Our main criticism concerns the interpretation ...

To the Editor: Brain cysticercosis is now treated effectively with either albendazole or praziquantel,^{1 , 2} but most studies demonstrating the efficacy of cysticidal drugs have been based on objective evidence from imaging studies of the disappearance of ...

To the Editor: A 77-year-old man was hospitalized with a two-month history of progressive weakness in all four extremities. Electromyography and studies of nerve-conduction velocity revealed acute denervation consistent with acute idiopathic ...

To the Editor: The pathogenesis of Raynaud's phenomenon is still unclear. Many factors, including abnormal platelet aggregation and serotonin hypersensitivity, have been postulated to contribute to the pathogenesis of Raynaud's vasospasm,¹ but the ...

To the Editor: Recent articles have noted that the validity of patients' preferences may be limited by requests for futile therapy¹ and by irrational choices.² Although these must be considered when informed consent is obtained and shared medical ...

I have often wondered — How should I die? Should it be gently As in a return To my mother's arms?

Or will it be With rage, and will I fight bitterly Against that which I know nothing of?

Or will I Embrace deep darkness — Battered and broken — In sudden, ...

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OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY

A course, entitled "Management Problems in Modern ...

DURING the 1960s it became increasingly clear that patients with permanent kidney failure, previously certain to die, could be kept alive and in at least reasonably good health by long-term dialysis. At the same time, kidney transplantation was becoming ...