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June 13, 2002  Vol. 346 No. 24

Perspective
1842-1843

For a child, the risk of becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a stark example of the difference between being born in a rich country and being born in a poor country. In the United States, the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ...

Original Articles
1845-1853
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About a third of patients with chronic heart failure have an intraventricular conduction delay, which may lead to dyssynchrony of cardiac contraction and further clinical impairment. The patients in this clinical trial were randomly assigned to a group receiving resynchronization therapy with an atrial–biventricular pacemaker or to a control group. As compared with the control group, the resynchronization group had improved functional capacity, quality of life, and ejection fraction over a six-month period.

1854-1862

In patients with sinus-node dysfunction who require permanent pacing for bradycardia, single-chamber ventricular pacing and dual-chamber atrioventricular pacing are alternative options. In this randomized trial, the frequency of the primary end point (death or nonfatal stroke) was not significantly different in the two groups. However, the dual-chamber group had a lower incidence of atrial fibrillation and end points related to heart failure, as well as a slightly better quality of life.

1863-1870

This report describes an analysis of combined data from seven studies of pregnant women with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection to assess whether antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of premature delivery (<37 weeks of gestation) and other adverse outcomes. Rates of premature delivery, low birth weight, low Apgar scores, and stillbirth were similar whether or not the women received antiretroviral therapy and whether the treated women received combination therapy or monotherapy. As compared with combination regimens that did not include protease inhibitors, regimens that included these medications were associated with a greater risk of very low birth weight, after adjustment for several confounding factors, but this finding was based on small numbers of women.

1871-1877

In this double-blind trial, the rate of Staphylococcus aureus wound infections was similar among patients treated with mupirocin ointment (2.3 percent) and those who received placebo (2.4 percent). However, 23.1 percent of 3864 patients were identified as having nasal carriage of S. aureus, and among these patients there were fewer nosocomial S. aureus infections in the mupirocin group than in the placebo group (4.0 percent vs. 7.7 percent, P=0.02).

Images in Clinical Medicine
1878
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Figure 1. A 76-year-old man with sinus node disease who was evaluated after an episode of syncope received a single-chamber pacemaker through the left subclavian approach. A chest film (Panel A) and electrocardiogram (Panel B) were obtained six weeks ...

Review Article
1879-1891

Globally, more than 16 million women are living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Each year, 600,000 children are infected, most of them through mother-to-child transmission. This review focuses on the management of HIV infection during pregnancy in developed countries in which antiretroviral therapy, scheduled cesarean delivery, and alternatives to breast-feeding are available; it discusses strategies for obtaining the best possible outcomes.

Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital
1892-1899

Presentation of Case

A 48-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of bilateral pulmonary infiltrates, bloody sputum, and microhematuria.

The patient was a physician who had been well until about eight years earlier, when paranasal sinusitis ...

Editorials
1901-1902
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Information published in medical journals helps shape diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. For a journal to be of value, it must publish authoritative, up-to-date information that is free of commercial influence. For nearly two decades, the editors of ...

1902-1905

The syndrome of congestive heart failure is responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality.1 Patients with heart failure have shortness of breath and a limited capacity for exercise, have high rates of hospitalization and rehospitalization, and die ...

1905-1906

Infections at surgical sites remain an important cause of illness and death and substantially increase health care costs.1 Prevention is thus important not only for the safety of patients, but also in terms of cost effectiveness. In this issue of the ...

Sounding Board
1907-1910

As a result of the AIDS epidemic, an increasing number of children throughout the world have lost their parents. Africa has been hardest hit by the pandemic, and millions of children have been left orphaned. In this Sounding Board article, Foster, who works in a hospital in Zimbabwe, describes the scope of the problem and argues that external aid agencies must work with local communities to distribute resources effectively to assist children who have been orphaned.

Correspondence
1912-1913

To the Editor: Although the development of the digital-protein-truncation test described by Traverso et al. (Jan. 31 issue)1 is a “tour de force,”2 the 0 percent false positive rate for the detection of mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) ...

1913-1914

To the Editor: Kaufman et al. (Dec. 6 issue)1 define invasive fungal infections by positive cultures of blood, urine, or cerebrospinal fluid. However, it is difficult to evaluate whether all reported cases of fungal infections represented candida sepsis ...

1914-1916

To the Editor: Willett and Stampfer state in their Clinical Practice article (Dec. 20 issue)1 that “assuming a low probability that vitamin E will eventually be proved efficacious [against coronary disease] (and we view the probability as fairly high), ...

1916
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To the Editor: In his review article (Feb. 7 issue),1 McIntosh states that “a macrolide antibiotic is the most reasonable first choice” to treat pneumonia in children who are 5 to 15 years old. We disagree. In the past few decades, antibiotic activity ...

1916-1918

To the Editor: We believe that an important myositis-associated autoantibody, which could be of interest in the differential diagnosis, was overlooked by Drs. Korn and Mauiyyedi in their discussion of Case 26-2001 (Aug. 23 issue).1 Anti–PM-Scl, formerly ...

1918-1919

To the Editor: Attorney General John Ashcroft's challenge to the Death with Dignity Act in Oregon is unusual in that one person with a personal ideology that is based on religious beliefs feels justified in forcing all other citizens to comply with his ...

1919

To the Editor: Autoimmune sclerosing pancreatitis has been reported to be associated with elevated IgG4 levels in Japanese patients.1 It is unknown whether similar elevation in IgG4 levels is present in non-Japanese patients with this condition. Two ...

1919-1920

To the Editor: As part of the debate about the safety of calcium-channel blockers in the late 1990s, the Journal published an article in which reference was made to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television program (The Fifth Estate) about Health ...

Book Reviews
1921
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Few, if any, problems in medicine present as great a challenge to the clinician as cancer during pregnancy. The anxiety of the health care team results from the need to care for both the mother and the fetus. The diagnostic techniques and therapeutic ...

1921-1922

Shortly after the first edition of Principles and Practice of Pediatric Oncology was published in 1989, it became the single most important reference work for pediatric oncologists at all levels of training and experience. Each subsequent edition has ...

Corrections
1923

Hematologic and Cytogenetic Responses to Imatinib Mesylate in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Original Article, N Engl J Med 2002:346;645-652.. The following persons should have been listed as authors: John Goldman (Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College ...

1923

Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura Review Article, N Engl J Med 2002:346;995-1008.. In the right-hand portion of Figure 1, CD154 should be on the T cells, CD40 should be on the macrophage, and the CD4 receptors should have been labeled T-cell receptors. The ...

Health Policy Report
1924-1930

The promising efforts of the Bush administration and Congress to fix Medicare's troubled relationship with physicians have suffered a sharp setback. On the basis of a formula prescribed by law, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ...

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