PARKINSON'S disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized histopathologically by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra that project to striatal neurons in the caudate nucleus and putamen. The resulting decrease in striatal ...

AFTER the discovery that Parkinson's disease is caused by the death of dopamine-producing cells in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra,¹ levodopa was found to produce dramatic clinical benefit by replacing dopamine in the caudate nucleus and ...

THE drug l-methyl-4-phenyl-l,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is a selective neurotoxin that produces parkinsonism in humans¹ and monkeys^{2 , 3} and induces a condition that closely resembles idiopathic Parkinson's disease.^{1 , 4} Transplantation of fetal ...

LACTIC acidosis is a common disorder of acid–base metabolism that occurs in patients with many life-threatening illnesses. The mortality rate among patients with lactic acidosis is high,^{1 2 3} but whether lactic acidosis influences the prognosis ...

CARDIAC involvement in primary (AL) amyloidosis commonly results in progressive heart failure owing to restriction of ventricular filling (restrictive cardiomyopathy).^{1 2 3 4 5} (AL stands for "amyloid light chain," describing the protein deposited in ...

Both the two-dimensional echocardiogram (Panels A, B, and C) and the cardiac-biopsy specimen (Panel D) of a 68-year-old man with increasing symptoms of cardiac failure and a history of hypertensive heart disease demonstrate the presence of cardiac ...

MISOPROSTOL was the first analogue of prostaglandin E₁ to be commercially available. It was developed after prostaglandins of the E series had been found to inhibit the secretion of acid and prevent gastric injury caused by various substances, with the ...

Presentation of Case

A 25-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of intermittent coccygeal pain throughout his life, with recent worsening.

The patient was in good general health until one year earlier, when he underwent resection of a ...

For five years there has been widespread interest in the possible benefits of implantation of tissue into the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease, starting with reports of success with autologous adrenal medulla tissue¹ and fetal ventral ...

In this issue of the Journal, three papers report that transplanting fetal tissue into the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease can substantially ameliorate the signs of this disease.^{1 2 3} An accompanying editorial deals with the scientific and ...

Human fetal tissue has been described as having tremendous plasticity and availability, and as possibly being less prone to rejection than adult tissue. These properties have led many researchers to consider it a possible source of transplantable tissue ...

To the Editor: Recruitment has begun in the United States and Canada for the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial, a randomized clinical trial of 16,000 healthy women designed to determine whether tamoxifen prevents breast cancer, reduces the risk of ...

To the Editor: In their study of the prognostic value of the level of expression of H/Ley/Leb antigens in patients with lung carcinoma (July 2 issue),¹ Miyake et al. excluded from their analysis 26 patients who had received preoperative radiation or ...

To the Editor: Kahn and his coauthors from the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (Aug. 27 issue)* seem to have mislabeled the graph in their article on the clinical advantage of a low dose of didanosine relative to a higher dose of didanosine or to zidovudine. ...

To the Editor: Case Record 22–1992 (May 28 issue)¹ described a 6 1/2-year-old girl with a diagnosis of cat scratch disease. The addendum noted that Afipia felis was detected in the patient's lymph-node specimen by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) assay ...

To the Editor: The report by Donahue et al. (Aug. 6 issue)¹ documented the dramatic decrease in the risk of transmitting hepatitis C virus (HCV) through blood transfusion as a result of sequential improvements in blood-donor testing over the past five ...

To the Editor: Karjalainen et al. (July 30 issue)* hypothesize that since antibodies to bovine albumin that cross-react with a beta-cell antigen are found in higher titers in children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus than in normal children and ...

To the Editor: The letter from Dr. John Lister about the Canadian health care system (Aug. 6 issue)¹ describes efforts by Canadian governments to contain health care costs. The letter is very misleading, however, in its presentation of the effect of ...

The figures have become familiar. Tobacco use has been declared "the single most important preventable cause of [premature] death in the United States, accounting for one of every six deaths, or some 390,000 deaths annually."¹ The health goals of the ...

Why should a book entitled Diagnosis of Salivary Gland Disorders, written by two surgeons (one an otolaryngologist and the other an oral surgeon), be reviewed in the Journal by an internist? Neither by training nor by inclination are internists likely to ...

The third edition of Reproductive Endocrinology, edited by Yen and Jaffe, will continue to serve as the gold standard in this field because the editors have done an outstanding job with such new areas of reproductive science as molecular endocrinology and ...

Physicians' Guide to Rare Diseases, written for primary care physicians, was intended to aid in the diagnosis of rare disorders; it also supplies information on support groups and sources of treatment and provides references for genetic counseling. Each ...

Epidermolysis bullosa, although primarily manifested by cutaneous lesions, is a systemic disease the management of which requires the participation of clinicians in virtually all fields of medicine, including dermatologists, pediatricians, surgeons, ...

It was often said in the past that physicians weren't interested in common diseases — a fact exemplified in rheumatology by the huge number of papers on systemic lupus while there were almost none on the most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis. The ...

In the first section of this book, Lauffer does an excellent job of reviewing the historical evidence leading to the recognition that iron is an essential element in the maintenance of an adequate level of hemoglobin, myoglobin, and numerous cellular ...

Wound Healing will serve as a review for investigators in the field and as a compilation of some of the latest findings for surgeons. It begins with a brief overview that relates recent findings in growth-factor research and the possible use of the tools ...

BIOTECHNOLOGY

A conference, entitled "International Patent Protection for Biotechnology Companies," will be held in Washington, D.C., Jan. 11 and 12.

Contact IBC USA Conferences, 225 Turnpike Rd., Southborough, MA 01772–1749; or call (508) 481–6400.

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Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital (Case 17–1992) (April 23, 1992;326:1137–46). On page 1142, in the right-hand column, under "Pathological Discussion," the sentence beginning in the third paragraph, sixth line, should have read as follows:...

Effect of Family History, Body-Fat Distribution, and Reproductive Factors on the Risk of Postmenopausal Breast Cancer (May 14, 1992;326:1323–9). On page 1324, in the Results section, the second sentence should have read, "The 4368 women (12.2 percent) who ...

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (September 24, 1992;327:951–3). In the first paragraph of the editorial, the last sentence should have stated that amniocentesis is usually not recommended before 12 weeks of gestation. We regret the error.