BESIDES the amount of myocardium at risk, the two main determinants of both infarct size and the amount of viable myocardium after acute coronary occlusion are the duration of occlusion and the extent of collateral blood flow within the occluded vascular ...

THERE is considerable evidence that the periconceptional administration of multivitamin supplements^{1 , 2} or a folic acid supplement alone^{3 4 5} prevents recurrent neural-tube defects. However, about 95 percent of the women who deliver infants with neural-...

PNEUMOCYSTIS CARINII pneumonia (PCP) is the most common serious opportunistic infection among patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, occurring at some point in at least 85 percent of patients.^{1 2 3} The case fatality rate ranges from 5 ...

PNEUMOCYSTIS CARINII pneumonia (PCP) is the most common opportunistic infection used to establish a diagnosis of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).¹ PCP exacts a considerable toll in mortality, morbidity, and expense,² and recurrences are ...

THERE are many well-described causes of chronic diarrhea, but in some patients no cause can be found, even after exhaustive diagnostic studies.^{1 2 3 4 5} These patients often become alarmed at the prospect of endless diarrhea, usually fear they have cancer,...

THE number of cases of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) recognized per year in the United States has increased dramatically, from about 65 in 1967 through 1970 to an estimated 20,000 to 60,000 in the late 1980s and early 1990s.^{1 , 2} This increase is ...

A PRESSING question in diabetes research is whether transplanting a pancreas or pancreatic islet cells can be used as successful therapy. In animals with insulin-dependent diabetes, pancreatic and islet transplantation has repeatedly been successful in ...

Presentation of Case

A 78-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of recurrent bouts of gastrointestinal bleeding.

The patient had a 30-year history of numerous vascular operations for atherosclerotic disease, which began with an aortoiliac ...

IN this issue of the Journal, Czeizel and Dudás¹ report from Hungary that vitamin supplements can prevent the occurrence of neural-tube defects (spina bifida and anencephaly). This report is a landmark in the definition of the requirements for vitamins ...

To the Editor: As the author of a book on guns and violence,¹ I was interested in the article by Kellermann et al. (Aug. 13 issue).² The authors concluded that their case–control study offered "strong" evidence that the presence of guns increased the ...

To the Editor: It is generally believed that neuromuscular blocking agents facilitate the care of patients with acute respiratory failure. The study by Segredo et al. (Aug. 20 issue),¹ in which muscle paralysis persisted in 7 of 16 critically ill ...

To the Editor: Allison et al. (Sept. 10 issue)¹ reported that nonspecific intestinal ulcerations were more prevalent in users than in nonusers of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). They also reported that the prevalence of gastric and duodenal ...

To the Editor: Syringe-exchange programs represent one attempt to slow the spread of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection among injection-drug users.¹ We evaluated such a program in New Haven, Connecticut, operated by the city's health ...

To the Editor: Implantable cardioverter—defibrillator devices (ICDs) placed in patients who have malignant ventricular arrhythmias can be responsible for serious psychological problems, including anxiety and depression.^{1 2 3 4} Some patients report severe ...

A New York court this year issued one of the most disturbing and aberrant appellate opinions of the past two decades concerning the right to refuse treatment.¹ In my view, the judges ruling in Grace Plaza v. Elbaum made a series of errors: they assumed ...

The field of substance abuse has not had a major textbook. Consolidation of information between the covers of a book may be convenient for specialists, but the prime beneficiaries of an encyclopedic textbook on substance abuse are more likely to be ...

Professionals and the general public are both concerned about the possible consequences of parental drug use for infants and children. The media have contributed to the sense of alarm, suggesting that many infants of crack-using mothers may be permanently ...

Reports in the media suggest that an epidemic of perinatal substance abuse is depriving numerous children of a healthy start in life. The editor of this book and the authors of its chapters amass considerable evidence to support that concern. However, ...

The recent flurry of new textbooks of pharmacology suggests that the present standard work, Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics (8th ed. Edited by Alfred G. Gilman et al. New York: Pergamon Press, 1990), does not meet the needs ...

Public Health

AIDS Research in the Netherlands. By the Dutch Program Committee for AIDS Research. 213 pp. Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 1992. Free. ISBN 90–5356–008–4.

Alcoholism in North America, Europe, and Asia. Edited by John E. Helzer and ...

CARDIAC PACING/ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY

The "12th Annual Island Symposium," entitled "Electrical Interventions in Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology," will be held in Maui, Hawaii, Feb. 15–19.

Contact Futura Media Services, P.O. Box 428, Mt. Kisco, NY 10549; ...