Join the 200th Anniversary Celebration

Issue IndexA searchable index of tables of contents

Find An Issue

By Volume and Issue
By Date

Table of contents for

June 24, 2004  Vol. 350 No. 26

Perspective
2635-2637

Dr. Peter J. Barnes discusses the accelerated loss in FEV1 and its relation to the pathogenesis of the disease.

2637-2639

Before the middle of the 20th century, the prospect that a child with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) would reach adulthood was essentially nil. Once dialysis and transplantation became available, that death sentence was lifted, as increasing numbers of ...

2639-2642

Cutaneous viral warts are common, benign, usually self-limited papillomas with a preference for the hands and feet. A wide range of local therapies based on destruction, keratolysis, immunostimulation, or antimitotic effects have been tried for the ...

2642-2644

In this issue of the Journal, Schuelke et al. (pages 2682–2688) describe a child with substantial muscle hypertrophy and a splice-site mutation in the gene encoding myostatin. Myostatin is a member of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) family. ...

Original Articles
2645-2653

Physiological observations indicate that the small airways are the predominant site of airway obstruction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this detailed pathological study of airway specimens obtained during resection from patients with COPD and various levels of airway obstruction, the mass of airway wall tissue was closely linked to the degree of airflow impairment.

2654-2662
  • Free Full Text

Data from a large Australia–New Zealand registry were analyzed to determine long-term survival among children and adolescents with end-stage renal disease who were younger than 20 years of age when renal-replacement therapy was initiated. Survival was 79 percent 10 years after the initiation of therapy and 66 percent at 20 years. There was a trend toward improved survival over the four decades of the study.

2663-2672
  • Free Full Text

α-Lactalbumin–oleic acid, a protein–lipid complex derived from human milk, was serendipitously found to kill virus-transformed cells in tissue culture without affecting normal cells. In this in vivo study, the local application of α-lactalbumin–oleic acid induced the regression of skin papillomas, even those that were resistant to conventional treatments.

2673-2681

Some studies have shown that the use of folate supplementation to lower plasma homocysteine levels reduces the rate of restenosis in patients who have undergone angioplasty, but results have been inconsistent. In this study, patients who had received a coronary stent were randomly assigned to receive placebo or a combination of folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12. Those receiving active therapy had a higher rate of in-stent restenosis.

2682-2688

Both acquired and inherited disorders of muscle are common; thus, greater understanding of muscle growth and maintenance is important for future therapies. Myostatin down-regulates muscle growth. These investigators describe a mutation in the gene for myostatin in a child with muscle hypertrophy and unusual strength.

Review Article
2689-2697

The goals of therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease include relieving symptoms, improving abnormal physiology, and limiting complications, including abnormal gas exchange and exacerbations of the disease. This review summarizes current guidelines and provides recommendations for management, including assessment of lung function, preventive measures, stepwise medical therapy, and pulmonary rehabilitation and surgical therapy. By the time this disease becomes symptomatic, the forced vital capacity of most patients has already declined by about 50 percent.

Images in Clinical Medicine
2698
  • Free Full Text

A 45-year-old woman with a 17-year history of vitiligo (panel A) was evaluated because of persistent fatigue. She was found to have pancytopenia (white-cell count, 3200 per cubic millimeter; hemoglobin level, 8.1 g per deciliter; and platelet count, 147,...

e24
  • Free Full Text

A Ghanaian child on routine screening had a hemoglobin of 9.0 g per deciliter, a hematocrit of 24.3 percent, a mean corpuscular volume of 53.8 μm, and a reticulocyte count of 1.6 percent.

Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital
2699-2706

A woman told her physician that she had pelvic pressure and a vaginal bulge shortly after her second vaginal delivery. Examination showed uterine prolapse, cystocele, and rectocele. Despite conservative management with a pessary and exercises, the prolapse worsened and urinary symptoms developed. Is there a link among pregnancy, vaginal delivery, uterine prolapse, and incontinence? How should this condition be managed?

Editorial
2708-2710

Cardiologists agree that the best and safest percutaneous coronary intervention is the one that never becomes necessary. In this regard, new therapies that prevent restenosis and retard or reverse atherosclerosis are welcomed by noninvasive and ...

Clinical Implications of Basic Research
2711-2712

The tumor-suppressor protein p53 is mutant in a large proportion of many cancers; a recent study bolsters hope that p53-targeted therapy can be devised.

Correspondence
2713-2715

To the Editor: Neoptolemos et al. (March 18 issue)1 report the results of a trial conducted by the European Study Group for Pancreatic Cancer (ESPAC-1), which showed a survival advantage for adjuvant chemotherapy, but a deleterious effect of ...

2715-2718

To the Editor: Yeh et al.1 report impairments in neuromotor skills and cognition in school-age children who were treated with dexamethasone as preterm infants, but they do not propose an underlying mechanism. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is crucial ...

2718-2719

To the Editor: The article by Sudbø and colleagues (April 1 issue)1 advances the understanding of dysplastic oral leukoplakia, but the suggestion that surgical removal is ineffective in preventing oral carcinoma is highly debatable. There is agreement ...

2719-2720
  • Free Full Text

To the Editor: Ganem and Prince (March 11 issue)1 state that sustained remission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is infrequently achieved by current treatment regimens. We recently showed that sustained remission is present after a response (loss of ...

2720-2721
  • Free Full Text

To the Editor: Clavel and Hance (March 4 issue)1 review resistance to drugs used for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus infection. Few data are available concerning patterns of antiretroviral-drug resistance among patients in developing ...

2721-2722
  • Free Full Text

To the Editor: Jerome and Corey (Jan. 22 issue)1 comment on the identification of urate crystals as an immunologic danger signal released from apoptotic cells in mice, as shown in part by the ability of purified urate crystals to induce maturation of ...

2722-2723

To the Editor: On the basis of information recorded in the General Practice Research Database in the United Kingdom, we previously reported that the risk of receiving a diagnosis of autism between two and five years of age was four times as high among ...

Book Reviews
2724-2725
  • Free Full Text

About 40 years ago, when I started seeing patients in my specialty of infectious diseases, systemic fungal infections were relatively uncommon. The literature consisted mostly of case reports and uncontrolled descriptive studies, and little time was given ...

2725

Warts, which are among the most common of skin lesions, occur in patients of any age and on virtually any epithelial surface or lining. Although biologically benign, they are unsightly and often painful, and they may cause considerable functional ...

2725-2726
  • Free Full Text

Malignant melanoma is an increasingly important public health problem. Despite the fact that the cause of most melanomas — excessive exposure to ultraviolet light — is known, the incidence of this tumor is rising faster than the incidence of any other ...

Correction
2726

Prevention of Hepatitis A with the Hepatitis A Vaccine Clinical Practice, N Engl J Med 2004:350;476-481.. On page 478, lines 6 and 7 of the first full paragraph of the right-hand column should have read, “The 1-ml dose is given in a three-dose schedule at ...