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July 29, 2004  Vol. 351 No. 5

Perspective
415-416
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Dr. Robert Jay Lifton writes that there is evidence that U.S. doctors, nurses, and medics have been complicit in torture and other illegal procedures in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay.

417-420

The history of Nazi racial-hygiene policies and eugenics reminds us of the importance of guarding against the use of genetics for the purpose of discrimination. Dr. Susan Bachrach relates this history.

420-422

The consultation question was the patient's competence. Did he mean to kill himself? Dr. Elissa Ely tells the story.

422-423

The current standard treatment for chronic hepatitis C is the combination of pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin, a synthetic guanosine analogue. In the pegylated form of interferon, the interferon alfa molecule is linked to a polyethylene glycol ...

424-426

In humans, myosins comprise a superfamily of more than 30 individual proteins. Structurally, myosin contains a highly conserved globular head, which, in turn, contains the ATPase and actin-binding sites, and a rod-like tail that modulates assembly and ...

Original Articles
427-437

In a comparison of mammography with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for screening women at high risk for breast cancer, MRI was more sensitive but less specific than mammography.

438-450

In this randomized trial involving patients with chronic hepatitis C who were also infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin was more effective than interferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin or peginterferon alfa-2a plus placebo (rates of sustained virologic response, 40 percent, 12 percent, and 20 percent, respectively).

451-459

Chronic hepatitis C infection is common among patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. In this randomized trial, 133 patients were assigned to receive either peginterferon alfa-2a with ribavirin or interferon alfa-2a with ribavirin. The rate of sustained virologic response was higher in the peginterferon group than in the interferon group (27 percent vs. 12 percent).

460-469

Familial cardiac myxomas may occur in conjunction with a variety of other abnormalities, together called the Carney complex. A particular variant is characterized by musculoskeletal manifestations. In this study, a mutation in the perinatal myosin heavy chain was identified as the underlying cause of this Carney complex variant. Although the disorder is rare, the findings are important because they suggest a role of mutated contractile proteins in cardiac tumorigenesis.

Clinical Practice
470-475

A 32-year-old woman with moderate myopia and mild dry eye has worn soft contact lenses for 12 years but now is not tolerating them well. On examination, her refraction is –4.25 + 1.0 × 90 (–3.75 diopters of spherical equivalent and 1 diopter of astigmatism at 90 degrees) in the right eye and –3.5 + 0.5 × 88 in the left eye, yielding a best corrected visual acuity of 20/20 in each eye. She asks about refractive surgery. What would you advise?

Review Article
476-486

Bipolar disorder, one of the most distinct syndromes in psychiatry, has been described in numerous cultures throughout history. The unique hallmark of the illness is mania, which is characterized by elevated mood or euphoria, overactivity with a lack of need for sleep, and overoptimism that impairs judgment. Periods of depression are also a feature of the disorder.

Images in Clinical Medicine
487
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A 45-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of a fever (temperature, 40°C), myalgia, and headache. He did not have diarrhea. On examination, he had bilateral proptosis with chemosis (Panel A) and eyelid edema. He had no trismus or subungual ...

e4

An HIV-positive man was brought to the emergency department with altered mental status, aspiration pneumonia, and a core temperature of 27.6°C.

Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital
488-495
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A 48-year-old man had had a 33-month history of intermittent abdominal pain and black stools containing occult blood. Endoscopic and imaging studies of the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract revealed no abnormalities. Video-capsule endoscopy revealed a mucosal lesion in the distal ileum. A diagnostic procedure was performed.

Editorial
497-500

More than 275,000 women in the United States will receive a diagnosis of breast cancer this year, and 40,110 women will die of the disease.1 Randomized trials have shown that the use of screening mammography in the general population reduces mortality ...

Sounding Board
501-505

    In recent years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast-track approval for cancer treatments that are effective in only 10 to 15 percent of patients, without requiring sponsors to identify the patients who are most likely to benefit. In this article, the authors propose that the FDA make rapid approval of new molecularly targeted cancer therapies contingent on sponsors' agreement to invest in research designed to identify subgroups of patients who are likely to have a response to treatment.

    Correspondence
    506-507

    To the Editor: Staba et al. (May 6 issue)1 show the feasibility of cord-blood transplantation for Hurler's syndrome. The high rate of engraftment in their study is greater than one might expect. Allogeneic transplantation for Hurler's syndrome is ...

    507-509

    To the Editor: The Perspective article by Papadakis in support of the new clinical-skills component of the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) (April 22 issue)1 fails to justify this expensive and burdensome test. Coupling a Canadian study with ...

    509-510

    To the Editor: Slovut and Olin (April 29 issue)1 provide a valuable review of the current concepts of fibromuscular dysplasia. To their discussion regarding the craniocervical arteries should be added the topic of intracranial aneurysms and subarachnoid ...

    510

    To the Editor: With regard to Case 15-2004 (May 13 issue),1 I would like to add an important point to the discussion of the impact of cancer therapy on fertility. Although the authors correctly note the association between testicular irradiation and the ...

    511-512

    To the Editor: There is currently no effective pharmacologic treatment for spinocerebellar ataxia. We describe a family of five patients, four of whom had clinical improvement within one hour after the ingestion of zolpidem (10 mg). The diagnosis of ...

    Book Reviews
    513-514

    Efforts to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and other infectious agents in the United States have resulted in major changes in the ways in which blood donors are screened and their ...

    514-516

    This is a highly readable and well-edited historical anthology, a wide-ranging collection that deals with mental retardation over two centuries. The focus is on the views and actions of society. The book deserves perusal by anyone interested in mental ...

    516

    As in many areas of surgical pathology, the field of endocrine pathology is rapidly evolving from a purely descriptive discipline into one that is increasingly based on principles of cellular and molecular biology. Advances in our understanding of ...

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