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June 8, 2006  Vol. 354 No. 23

Audio Summary of this Issue

Perspective
2409-2411

The FDA is trying to make the official descriptions of prescription drugs — which are notoriously user-hostile — more helpful. Drs. Jerry Avorn and William Shrank write that the most troubling aspect of the FDA's new plan has nothing to do with providing ...

2411-2414
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Dr. Kent Sepkowitz writes that for the past 25 years, the lessons learned about HIV prevention and control in one country have failed to inform decisions in others. As a result, the world has witnessed a slow-motion domino effect, as the disease ...

2414-2417
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The AIDS crisis demanded a unique and truly global response. Instead, AIDS often engendered stigma, discrimination, and denial. Dr. Michael Merson writes that the result was two decades of slow, insufficient, inconsistent, and often inappropriate ...

Original Articles
2419-2430

Analysis of gene-expression patterns led to the development of a molecular definition of Burkitt's lymphoma that distinguishes it from other types of mature aggressive B-cell lymphoma. Almost all cases defined by the gene-expression signature as Burkitt's lymphoma had the typical Burkitt's IG-myc translocation. Patients whose tumors did not have the Burkitt's signature had a poor outcome if the tumor cells had complex chromosomal changes.

2431-2442
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A method involving patterns of gene expression was used to distinguish all cases of classic Burkitt's lymphoma from various forms of diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma, which had been verified by an expert panel of hematopathologists. Difficulties in the distinction between Burkitt's lymphoma and diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma may be resolved by the use of gene-expression patterns.

2443-2451

This study, in which a large Medicaid database was used, demonstrated a significantly increased risk of major congenital malformations (including cardiovascular and central nervous system malformations) among children of nondiabetic women exposed to angiotensin-converting–enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in the first trimester (but not among infants with first-trimester exposure to other antihypertensive medications). These data indicate that first-trimester exposure to ACE inhibitors cannot be considered safe.

2452-2462

In this study, investigators from Bangladesh compared single-dose azithromycin and ciprofloxacin for the treatment of severe cholera in 195 men. Azithromycin was found to be an effective therapy. This study raises questions about whether the current threshold for antimicrobial susceptibility of Vibrio cholerae O1 to ciprofloxacin is appropriate.

Review Articles
2463-2472

Microarray analysis is a tool that can be used to compare the RNA profile of one cancer with that of another and to determine the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer. This article provides a description of the gene-expression microarray — how it works, how the data are analyzed, and the strengths and limitations of this tool.

2473-2483

In the coming years, estimates of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) may replace the measurement of serum creatinine as the primary tool for the assessment of kidney function. Indeed, many clinical laboratories already report estimated GFR values whenever serum creatinine is measured. This review considers current methods of measuring GFR and GFR-estimating equations and their strengths and weaknesses as applied to chronic kidney disease.

Images in Clinical Medicine
2484
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An apparently healthy 62-year-old man was admitted because of a one-month history of progressive dyspnea on exertion. He reported leg edema, but no orthopnea or paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. On physical examination, his oxygen saturation was 94 percent ...

e24
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This 68-year-old man could no longer eat or drink without coughing.

Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital
2485-2493

    A 34-year-old man was admitted because of a three-month history of cough, dyspnea, fever, progressive bilateral cavitary lung lesions, and a lymphohistiocytic infiltrate. He received corticosteroids, but his symptoms persisted. The lung lesions increased in size, and some cavitated, necessitating readmission to the hospital and a diagnostic procedure.

    Editorials
    2495-2498

    Two articles in this issue of the Journal, by Dave et al.1 and Hummel et al.,2 report on the use of gene-expression microarray technology to improve the accuracy of the diagnosis of Burkitt's lymphoma. The two studies differ in many important ways, but ...

    2498-2500

    Angiotensin-converting–enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are among the most widely prescribed antihypertensive agents in the United States, but when used in the second half of pregnancy, they can cause oligohydramnios, fetal growth retardation, pulmonary hypoplasia,...

    2500-2502

    At first glance, the report by Saha et al.1 in this issue of the Journal demonstrates the important finding that a single dose of azithromycin is effective in the treatment of cholera in adults. The study reported that within 48 hours after being treated ...

    Clinical Implications of Basic Research
    2503-2504

      Cytotoxic drugs may invoke antitumor immunity by inducing the expression of a molecular signature in the dying cancer cell.

      Correspondence
      2505-2506

      To the Editor: Reynolds et al. (March 16 issue)1 demonstrate that pharmacotherapy is effective at preventing the recurrence of major depression in elderly patients. However, the more specific conclusion that “maintenance treatment with paroxetine is ...

      2506-2508

      To the Editor: Gallant et al. (Jan. 19 issue)1 report the superiority of a regimen of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (DF), emtricitabine, and efavirenz to a control regimen of zidovudine, lamivudine, and efavirenz in terms of suppression of replication of ...

      2508-2509

      To the Editor: The comprehensive discussion of the medical management of osteoarthritis by Felson (Feb. 23 issue)1 made no mention of the role of surgery, particularly when the disease is severe. Conclusions from the 2003 National Institutes of Health (...

      2509-2511

      To the Editor: In her review article about delirium in older persons (March 16 issue),1 Inouye mentions anticholinergic drugs, which are associated with an increased risk of delirium. Many commonly prescribed drugs have anticholinergic effects.2 ...

      2511-2512

      To the Editor: The review of crush injuries by Sever et al. (March 9 issue)1 does not mention the hyperkalemic response to succinylcholine that is associated with these injuries.2 Crush injuries and other pathologic conditions (e.g., burns, prolonged ...

      2512-2514

      To the Editor: In September 2003, the first safer injecting facility in North America opened in Vancouver, Canada. Here, injection-drug users can inject preobtained illicit drugs under medical supervision.1 A concern regarding such facilities is that ...

      2514-2515

      To the Editor: A 56-year-old woman had a two-year history of refractory celiac disease for which she had taken prednisone (20 mg per day) for the previous six months, during which time her condition had worsened despite a gluten-free diet. Duodenal ...

      2515-2516

      To the Editor: Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires certain medical products to be labeled with expiration dates and important information about use, there are variations among the standards it endorses for the visual presentation of ...

      Book Reviews
      2517-2518

      This collection of essays explores the borderland between neurology and art. In their preface, the editors point out that neurology and art may appear to be two widely different topics. They maintain, however, that “it is obvious that art originates in ...

      2518-2519

      Not very long ago, the skeletal system was viewed as a calcium reservoir to which muscles were attached. This view has changed radically with the insights into matrix structural components, enzymes, and factors provided by rare clinical disorders and ...

      2519-2520

      The father of the subspecialty of pediatric endocrinology is Lawson Wilkins. In 1935, at the request of Edwards Park, who directed the Harriet Lane Home of Johns Hopkins University, Wilkins, a private pediatric practitioner in Baltimore, established the ...

      Corrections
      2520

      Osteoarthritis of the Knee Clinical Practice, N Engl J Med 2006:354;841-848.. On page 844, the arrowhead in Figure 2 was misplaced. A corrected version of the figure is available with the full text of the article at www.nejm.org.

      2520

      Familial Sinus Bradycardia Associated with a Mutation in the Cardiac Pacemaker Channel Original Article, N Engl J Med 2006:354;151-157.. On page 154, in Figure 2, Panel B, the label on the x axis should have read “0.4 Sec,” rather than “1 Sec,” as ...