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December 16, 2004  Vol. 351 No. 25

Perspective
2571-2573

Owing to escalating violence against aid workers, the Médecins sans Frontières pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan. In both regions, write Drs. Ingrid Katz and Alexi Wright, aid workers fear being kidnapped or murdered, but they also face the threat of ...

2574-2576

Jerry Fowler asserts that applying a humanitarian bandage to Darfur without addressing the underlying political causes cannot possibly end the suffering.

2576-2578

It is an accepted part of a doctor's job to awaken at night to an emergency call. But in many parts of Colombia, such a visit is often reason for a doctor to shudder with fear. The people knocking on your door may wield guns as they summon you to tend to ...

2579-2580

This fall, Linda Buck and Richard Axel were awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize "for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system." Dr. Peter Mombaerts writes that the story of Buck and Axel is a prime example of the ...

Original Articles
2581-2589

In this multicenter, four-year observational study of women with a history of cesarean section and a singleton gestation, a trial of labor was associated with a higher risk of symptomatic uterine rupture in the mother and hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy in the infant than was elective cesarean delivery, although the absolute risks of these complications were low. The findings from this study should help inform women about their choices regarding the type of delivery after a prior cesarean section.

2590-2598

Oral mucositis can be a debilitating and dangerous adverse effect of the chemoradiation used to prepare patients for bone marrow transplantation. Palifermin, a recombinant keratinocyte growth factor, was shown in this study to reduce the incidence and duration of severe oral mucositis after high-dose chemoradiation.

2599-2610

This study examined the relation between the level of C-reactive protein (CRP) and other inflammatory markers and the risk of coronary heart disease in large cohorts of men and women who were free of cardiovascular disease at baseline. During a follow-up period of six to eight years, men and women with CRP levels of at least 3 mg per liter had a risk of coronary events that was 1.68 times that of those with CRP levels of less than 1 mg per liter.

2611-2618

In this large study based on data from the United Kingdom General Practice Research Database, rates of myocardial infarction and stroke increased sharply during the first three days after the diagnosis of an acute respiratory syndrome. The rates increased to a lesser degree after acute urinary tract infections. By contrast, there was no increase in risk after influenza, tetanus, or pneumococcal vaccination.

2619-2625

A 30-year-old man with hypogonadism, delayed puberty, and an absence of circulating luteinizing hormone was found to have a homozygous missense mutation in the gene that encodes the beta subunit of luteinizing hormone (Gly36Asp), which abrogated the heterodimerization and secretion of luteinizing hormone. Treatment with human chorionic gonadotropin increased circulating testosterone levels and promoted virilization and the appearance of normal spermatozoa in low concentrations, illustrating the important physiological role that luteinizing hormone plays in male sexual maturation and fertility.

Clinical Practice
2626-2635

    A six-month-old girl presents for a “well-baby” appointment in New Jersey. The mother is concerned about a dead bat she found in the child's bedroom. A Virginia businessman relaxing on his patio after work pulls a toy from his puppy's mouth. He notices a dead raccoon within his fenced yard, where his puppy has been playing, and telephones you for advice. You receive e-mail from a South American colleague, who has been bitten by a stray dog while jogging. She solicits your medical opinion. How would you manage these situations?

    Images in Clinical Medicine
    2636
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    A previously healthy, 37-year-old woman presented to the emergency department obtunded and hypotensive. The previous night, a cough and sore throat had developed, and the patient had awoken with a purpuric rash and abdominal pain. Laboratory tests showed ...

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    This 66-year-old man presented with fatigue, paresthesia of the legs, weight loss, and shoulder enlargement, with limitation of movement. Periorbital ecchymoses (the “raccoon” sign) were present. What's the diagnosis?

    Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital
    2637-2645

    A 40-year-old man noted a lump on the top of his head. Imaging studies showed a dural-based tumor invading bone and soft tissue. The lesion was excised and a diagnosis of plasmacytoma was made. Additional staging studies disclosed multiple lytic bone lesions, with no paraprotein and a negative bone marrow biopsy and aspirate. The discussants review recent advances in the management of multiple myeloma.

    Editorials
    2647-2649

    The U.S. total cesarean delivery rate has risen from 4 percent of deliveries in 1950 to 26 percent in 2002.1 Concerned about the rising rate of cesarean deliveries, and noting that 98 percent of women with a prior cesarean section delivered by repeated ...

    2649-2651

    The oral cavity is a complex environment composed of tissues with different origins, structures, and functions. Moreover, a myriad of commensal bacteria, fungi, and viruses populate the mucosa, connective tissue, salivary glands, taste buds, bones, and ...

    Correspondence
    2652-2653

    To the Editor: The pollutants associated with decreased lung growth are largely the result of burning fuels in internal combustion engines and at electrical generating plants. Citing prohibitive costs, the Bush administration favors less stringent ...

    2654-2655

    To the Editor: Morgan et al. (Sept. 9 issue)1 demonstrate the efficacy of environmental measures in the management of atopic asthma in children. Their discussion and the accompanying editorial by Sheffer2 state that this environmental program has an ...

    2655-2657

    To the Editor: Leonard et al. (Aug. 26 issue)1 report that the use of glucocorticoids does not appear to be associated with deficits in bone mineral content in children with the nephrotic syndrome — results that differ from ours.2 An important ...

    2657

    To the Editor: The phase 3 studies on the effect of recombinant surfactant protein C in the acute respiratory distress syndrome, reported by Spragg et al. (Aug. 26 issue),1 address an important question. I would be interested in an explanation (biologic ...

    2658-2659

    To the Editor: Interplast, a nonprofit organization providing free reconstructive plastic surgery to children around the world, agrees with Dr. Mulliken in his Perspective article (Aug. 19 issue)1 that children in developing countries who undergo surgery ...

    2659-2661

    To the Editor: Messori et al. (Aug. 26 issue)1 summarize the evidence supporting the use of a combination of methotrexate and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor over methotrexate alone in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. However, their contentions ...

    2661-2662

    To the Editor: Langerhans' cells are epidermal dendritic, antigen-presenting cells. Data from experiments in animals and observations in humans after transplantation of sex-mismatched bone marrow allografts have shown that Langerhans' cells originate ...

    Book Reviews
    2663-2664

    Coping with Methuselah is an important book about the future of the human lifespan, the possibility of a revolution in longevity (i.e., a significant extension of life), and the social and economic consequences that would result from living much longer ...

    2664-2665

    This book is a straightforward before-and-after narrative history. Before the 1970s, leukemias and lymphomas were diagnosed by morphologic means, by inspecting stained blood smears microscopically and estimating the developmental stage of the cells. The ...

    2665

    Less than 20 years ago, Alzheimer's disease was described in epidemiologic studies as “the silent epidemic.” Some 10 years later, the first risk factors and genetic mutations were reported, and today the epidemic is no longer silent. Despite its subtitle ...

    2665-2666

    Since the World Health Organization declared tuberculosis a global emergency in 1993, its resurgence has become the source of several recent publications. Gandy and Zumla have assembled a prestigious and knowledgeable group of authors for an updated ...