Placing a barrier in the inferior vena cava to prevent pulmonary embolism arising from venous thrombi was first suggested by Trousseau in 1868.¹ The procedure became common after intracaval filters became available in the late 1960s.² However, ...

Each year in the United States between 100,000 and 500,000 children are sexually molested by men.¹,² Proportionally high rates have also been reported in Canada,³ Australia,⁴ the United Kingdom,¹,⁵ the Netherlands,¹ Denmark,⁶ Germany,¹,⁶ and Belgium.⁷,⁸ ...

Genital infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, its prevalence in young women ranging from 20 to 46 percent in various countries.¹–⁵ The effect of this infection on public health is compounded by ...

Many studies have examined the risk of recurrence of seizures.¹–¹² The wide variation found in the risk of recurrence among those who have had a first seizure seems to be explained by differences in study design or differences in the characteristics of ...

Figure 1. Immunofluorescence staining with antiglucagon antibody reveals glucagon cells at the periphery of a heart-shaped islet of Langerhans in the pancreas (×800).

The attraction of leukocytes to tissues is essential for inflammation and the host response to infection. The process is controlled by chemokines, which are chemotactic cytokines. This review introduces the burgeoning family of cytokines, with special ...

Classic analgesic nephropathy is a slowly progressive disease resulting from the daily use for many years of mixtures containing at least two antipyretic analgesics and usually caffeine or codeine (or both), which may lead to psychological dependence. The ...

Presentation of Case

A 51-year-old man with refractory anemia and excess blasts in transformation was admitted to the hospital because of fever, dyspnea, and a pulmonary infiltrate.

The patient had been well until 21 months earlier, when unexplained ...

Interruption of the inferior vena cava to prevent pulmonary thromboembolism has been practiced since the late 1930s. Initially, this treatment strategy involved a major retroperitoneal surgical procedure to ligate or clamp the vena cava and was associated ...

People convicted of sexually abusing children are usually incarcerated, a strategy that has not been successful but for which the costs have been staggering ($2,055,528,000 in the United States in 1990¹). In this issue of the Journal, Rösler and Witztum ...

Each year thousands of reviewers contribute their expertise to peer review, a process that contributes critically to the quality of the Journal. The editors and the authors of the papers submitted to the Journal are grateful for the help of all our ...

The past two decades have witnessed dramatic changes in professional values and social expectations regarding medical care and decision making at the end of life. Increased emphasis on patients' autonomy and participation have made open discussion, both ...

To the Editor: The conclusion by Barendregt et al. (Oct. 9 issue)¹ that smoking cessation would eventually lead to increased health care costs is questionable because the authors underestimate differences in health care use between smokers and ...

To the Editor: In the October 9 issue, Rigotti et al.¹ report on an evaluation of the effectiveness of enforcing laws that ban tobacco sales to minors as a strategy to reduce tobacco use by adolescents. The authors conclude, “We found no meaningful ...

To the Editor: A 12-year-old girl presented in 1996 with cough and dyspnea on exertion. A chest roentgenogram taken when she was three years old showed reticulonodular infiltrations that were interpreted as evidence of recurrent pneumonia. At the age of ...

To the Editor: In their review of the evaluation and management of traumatic lacerations, Singer et al. (Oct. 16 issue)¹ provide much helpful information, but the technique recommended for suture closure includes a dangerous surgical practice. In the ...

To the Editor: In the article entitled “Trends in Health Care Coverage and Financing and Their Implications for Policy,” Smith (Oct. 2 issue)¹ analyzes the health care market and concludes that the market has failed to provide adequate amounts of ...

To the Editor: We were very pleased to see Glasier's timely and thorough discussion of emergency postcoital contraception (Oct. 9 issue).¹ However, two points dealing with missed oral-contraceptive pills are troublesome.

First, the instructions for ...

The practice of dermatology is not normally associated with the emergency room. Nevertheless, persons with acute dermatologic problems regularly crop up in the casualty department, and an informal survey of my own accident and emergency department at St. ...

Dermatologists love to argue about disease taxonomy, and their efforts to define diseases over the past two centuries have relied primarily on phenotypes observable with the naked eye. That organ of detection can recognize distinctions that are more ...

As all physicians are well aware, diseases of the skin pose serious public health problems throughout the world. The range of these conditions is wide, spanning inflammatory and infectious processes and dire neoplastic disorders such as malignant ...

The practice of pediatric neurology is substantially different on either side of the Atlantic Ocean and somewhat different on either side of the English Channel. The publication of this very “British” textbook provides an opportunity to review these ...

In the majority of children with cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and other chronic neurodevelopmental disorders, no specific cause can be identified. The inability of physicians to provide information about the cause of a child's disability is often a ...

Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital (Case 1-1998) Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital, N Engl J Med 1998:338;112-119.. On page 118, the Laboratory Diagnosis should have read, “Encephalitis associated with Bartonella quintana,”...