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September 21, 2006  Vol. 355 No. 12

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Perspective
1189-1191

On July 19, President George W. Bush vetoed a bill that would have allowed a modest extension of embryonic stem-cell research. Dr. Robert Schwartz writes that this veto will result in a terrible waste: tens of thousands of fertilized eggs will be ...

1191-1194
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Fiona Murray and Debora Spar discuss whether, in research on embryonic stem cells, for which the U.S. government currently severely restricts federal funding, China could surpass the United States in either research or commercial development.

1195-1197

Dr. Steven Artandi explains that fundamental discoveries in chromosome and cell biology have ramifications for human health and disease. Recent investigations show that telomeres and telomerase are central to the biology of cancer, stem cells, aging, and ...

Original Articles
1199-1209

To promote the regeneration of myocardial cells after myocardial infarction, intracoronary infusion of bone marrow cells, which contain stem cells and progenitor cells, has been investigated. In this study of patients with acute anterior myocardial infarction, infusion of bone marrow cells had no effect on left ventricular function or infarct size 6 months after the infarction.

1210-1221

The infusion of bone marrow–derived progenitor cells into the infarct-related coronary artery after an acute myocardial infarction was associated with an absolute increase in the ejection fraction of 5.5%. Determining whether this modest improvement in ventricular function will translate into a long-term clinical benefit will require larger trials with longer follow-up.

1222-1232

Intracoronary infusion of progenitor cells derived from bone marrow in patients with healed myocardial infarction resulted in moderate but significant improvement in global and regional ventricular function. Circulating progenitor cells were less effective. The mechanisms underlying the benefit are uncertain. This line of research is in its early stages but may hold promise for the future.

1233-1243

In this randomized trial, eculizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against C5 that inhibits terminal complement activation, was compared with placebo as a treatment for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. The antibody stabilized hemoglobin levels, decreased the need for transfusions, and improved the quality of life by reducing intravascular hemolysis.

Clinical Practice
1244-1252
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A 24-year-old sexually active woman presents with a three-day history of vaginal pruritus and increased vaginal discharge. One year before presentation, she had the same symptoms, which resolved with use of an over-the-counter antifungal agent. She uses oral contraceptives for birth control. The physical examination reveals vulvar erythema and normal-appearing vaginal discharge. How should she be evaluated and treated?

Review Article
1253-1261

    This review describes cancer stem cells, a topic of considerable biologic and clinical interest in oncology.

    Images in Clinical Medicine
    1262
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    A previously healthy 53-year-old man presented with headache, blurred vision, and pulsatile tinnitus. A lumbar puncture demonstrated meningitis with increased intracranial pressure (opening pressure, 37 cm H2O), with a white-cell count of 154 per cubic ...

    e11
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    A 47-year-old woman presented with left-sided chest pain and minimal dyspnea on exertion. Echocardiography showed a quadricuspid aortic valve. Tricuspid, bicuspid, and unicuspid aortic valves are also shown.

    Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital
    1263-1272
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    A 43-year-old woman was hospitalized because of painful nodules on the fingertips, shortness of breath, and fatigue. She had had systemic lupus erythematosus for 12 years, associated with Raynaud's phenomenon. Two weeks before admission, painful nodules developed on the fingers; 1 week later, shortness of breath and fatigue developed. On admission, computed tomography of the chest showed mediastinal and hilar lymphadenopathy and two nodules in the lung. A diagnostic procedure was performed.

    Editorial
    1274-1277

    Despite substantial advances in treatment, ischemic cardiac injury and the ventricular dysfunction it can provoke remain major causes of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. The endogenous regenerative capacity of the heart appears inadequate to ...

    Correspondence
    1278-1280

    To the Editor: In the study reported by Baroni et al. (June 22 issue),1 stimulatory antibodies to the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor (PDGFR) were found in patients with scleroderma, and these autoantibodies appeared to play a role in the ...

    1280-1281

    To the Editor: Cooper et al. (June 8 issue)1 describe an association between first-trimester exposure to angiotensin-converting–enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and congenital malformations. We question whether the authors excluded maternal diabetes mellitus and ...

    1281-1282
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    To the Editor: Strunk and Bloomberg (June 22 issue)1 discuss omalizumab for the treatment of asthma associated with high serum IgE levels. We provided care for a man who received omalizumab and in whom the Churg–Strauss syndrome subsequently developed.

    ...

    1283

    To the Editor: Mello et al. (June 15 issue)1 discuss obesity as the new frontier of public health law. Public strategies including legislative regulation against obesity must take into account the fact that obesity is closely associated with low income.2 ...

    1283-1284

    To the Editor: The medical mystery in the July 27 issue1 involved a chest film (Figure 1A) showing cardiomegaly and a left-sided pacemaker, the leads from which took an unusual course through the mediastinum, to the left of the midline. A persistent left-...

    1284-1285

    To the Editor: A 61-year-old woman presented with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and nonbloody diarrhea. A stool assay for Clostridium difficile was positive (C. difficile Tox A/B II, Tech Laboratory), and she was treated with metronidazole. However, ...

    Book Reviews
    1286-1287

    Akiskal and Tohen's Bipolar Psychopharmacotherapy aims to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive review of the principal treatments for bipolar affective disorder. Also known as manic depression, bipolar affective disorder has been ranked by the World ...

    1287

    Because we still do not know very much about the causes or the mechanisms of expression of the major psychiatric disorders, analogy may have substantial utility. Depression and Brain Dysfunction is a book of analogies devoted largely to examining mood ...

    1288

    Mind, Brain, and Schizophrenia fills a gap in the psychiatric literature by offering an impressive — yet intelligible, manageable, and relatively short — review of our knowledge of the neurobiologic and neuropsychological processes involved in the ...

    1288-1289

    Not infrequently, headlines erupt with news of a celebrity who has postpartum illness or the death of a newborn and mother as a result of maternal manic depressive illness. Exemplars of the misunderstanding of psychiatric disorders in pregnant and ...

    Corrections
    1289

    Iodine Nutrition — More Is Better Editorial, N Engl J Med 2006:354;2819-2821.. On page 2820, in Figure 1, Argentina should have been shown as a country in which iodine intake is marginal (100 to 199 μg per liter), rather than as a country for which data ...

    1289

    A Randomized Trial of Deep-Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease Original Article, N Engl J Med 2006:355;896-908.. On page 904, in Figure 2A, the value for “Social support” should have read “P=0.60” rather than “P=0.06,” as printed. The figure has ...