This randomized, double-blind trial of prophylaxis to prevent invasive fungal infections was conducted in 600 patients with severe graft-versus-host disease after hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. Posaconazole, an extended-spectrum triazole, was as effective as fluconazole in preventing invasive fungal infections (incidence, 5.3% and 9.0%, respectively). With posaconazole, there were fewer cases of invasive aspergillosis infections.

In this randomized trial of patients undergoing treatment for acute myelogenous leukemia or the myelodysplastic syndrome, prophylaxis with posaconazole resulted in fewer fungal infections and longer survival than did prophylaxis with fluconazole or itraconazole. The difference was primarily due to a lower rate of invasive aspergillosis in the posaconazole group.

In this multicenter, randomized trial of outcomes of uterine-artery embolization versus surgery for symptomatic fibroids, there were no differences between groups in quality of life at 1 year. Women who underwent embolization had a shorter duration of hospitalization and a shorter interval until the resumption of normal activities but were more likely to require rehospitalization for adverse outcomes or to need reintervention owing to treatment failure.

A previous study reported in the Journal showed an association between serum antimyelin antibodies (detected by Western blot analysis) and an increased risk of multiple sclerosis in patients with the first evidence of neurologic abnormalities that were suggestive, but not diagnostic, of multiple sclerosis. This prospective study of 462 patients did not reproduce these findings but instead showed that serum antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein and myelin basic protein were not associated with an increased risk of progression to clinically definite multiple sclerosis.