SMJ // November 1983, Volume 76 - Issue 11
Editorial
THE GRAVITY OF ANTIGRAVITY
Retrospective
Folic Acid and Macrocytic Anemias
Retrospective
Percutaneous Insertion of a Cuffed Catheter With a Long Subcutaneous Tunnel for Intravenous Hyperalimentation
ABSTRACTAn indwelling silicone rubber Dacron-cuffed catheter placed in a long subcutaneous tunnel reduces the incidence of catheter-related sepsis and facilitates dressing changes by the patient, but often necessitates tedious dissection to cannulate a satisfactory tributary of a central vein. Modification of the percutaneous technique for introducing pervenous pacing leads allows…
Retrospective
Small Bowel Obstruction and Previous Gynecologic Surgery
ABSTRACTWe reviewed the cases of women admitted to LSU Medical Center in Shreveport with the diagnosis of “small bowel obstruction” from Jan 1, 1975 to June 30, 1981. Review of the charts of patients who had exploratory laparotomy for relief of the obstruction showed that 83% of them had had…
Retrospective
Surgery for Chronic Pancreatitis The Tailored Approach
ABSTRACTConsiderable controversy exists regarding the optimal method of surgical relief of the pain of chronic pancreatitis. We previously made a retrospective study of 49 patients with chronic pancreatitis who were operated upon only for relief of pain. Those results indicated that patients who had an internal decompression had lower mortality,…
Retrospective
Pulmonary Edema Induced by Betamimetic Drugs
ABSTRACTWe present six cases of pulmonary edema related to betamimetic (beta sympathomimetic amine) agents (three to ritodrine and three to terbutaline). The hemodynamic data from three patients suggest that this may be a form of noncardiogenic pulmonary edema. A seventh case, resulting in a maternal death, is included because of…
Retrospective
Comparative Efficacy of Ibuprofen, Indomethacin, and Placebo in the Treatment of Primary Dysmenorrhea
ABSTRACTForty-two women with primary dysmenorrhea were successfully enrolled in a double-blind, three-way crossover study in which each patient received either ibuprofen (Motrin), indomethacin (Indocin), or a placebo during each of three successive painful menstrual cycles. Thirty-one patients successfully completed the study. The results showed that ibuprofen and indomethacin were superior…
Retrospective
Thiazide-Induced Hyponatremia
ABSTRACTA 54-year-old woman had seizures and a focal neurologic deficit associated with hyponatremia induced by a thiazide diuretic. Prompt correction of hyponatremia by administration of hypertonic saline solution was followed by resolution of all neurologic defects. Metabolic balance studies and rechallenge with hydrochlorothiazide were undertaken to investigate the mechanism of…
Retrospective
Adrenal Hemorrhage Complicating Anticoagulant Therapy
ABSTRACTAnticoagulant-associated adrenal hemorrhage (AAH) is an infrequent complication of therapy. It is not usually diagnosed before death, but can be successfully treated if recognized. The case presented herein and the literature reviewed emphasize the pathogenesis, clinical picture, diagnosis, and treatment. This may be the first case with histologic study after…
Retrospective
Anticoagulation in Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis
ABSTRACTWe reviewed the experience with infective endocarditis at some major US Army Medical Centers. One hundred patients were studied, comparing 82 patients who had native valve endocarditis (NVE) with 18 patients who had prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). Among patients with PVE, four had porcine valves and 14 had synthetic. None…
Retrospective
Use of Tumor Colony Assay in Clinical Oncology
ABSTRACTWe have evaluated the usefulness of the tumor colony assay in predicting chemotherapeutic drug response in our cancer patient population. We found that a wide variety of human tumors will produce clonal growth in this in vitro assay. Low growth rates in many of the common human tumors, however, severely…
Retrospective
Plasma β-Thromboglobulin Levels in Lung Cancer
ABSTRACTβ-Thromboglobulin (β-TG) is a platelet-specific protein that is released into plasma when platelets are activated in vivo. The involvement of platelets in tumor metastasis has been shown in animal studies. To study the role of platelets in tumor metastasis in humans, we measured plasma concentrations of β-TG in 20 patients…
Retrospective
Veres Needle in the Pleural Space
ABSTRACTThe Veres needle is designed to allow entry into body cavities without trauma to underlying organs. Its major use has been in the induction of a pneumoperitoneum for peritoneoscopy. An initial successful evaluation of its use was in the pleural space of dogs. A subsequent analysis of complications in 69…
Retrospective
Correction
Retrospective
Imaging Patterns With 99mTc-PIPIDA in Evaluating Abdominal Pain
ABSTRACTA random retrospective review of hepatobiliary scans on 86 adult patients with abdominal pain revealed four distinct imaging patterns: normal, cystic duct obstruction, obstructive, and sick liver pattern. A normal pattern was found to exclude acute cholecystitis and was the pattern most frequently observed.
Retrospective
Primary Hyperparathyroidism and Pregnancy
ABSTRACTThe incidence of pregnancy with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is probably underestimated, possibly because of the lack of routine prenatal serum calcium screening and possibly because the combination of pregnancy and mild asymptomatic PHPT is less than disastrous. This is the first reported case in which serum calcium and parathyroid hormone…
Retrospective
Compression Arthrodesis of the Knee and Ankle With the Hoffmann External Fixator
ABSTRACTWe performed 12 arthrodeses of the knee and eight of the ankle, using the Hoffmann device as a compressor-fixator. For the knees, the double rectangular frame was used with the added fixation of a cylinder cast in six cases. In four cases a separate half frame was used in the…
Retrospective
Neonatal Transport in Georgia Implications for Maternal Transport in High-Risk Pregnancies
ABSTRACTWe analyzed population-based data from the Georgia Neonatal Surveillance Network from 1974 to 1978 to determine the effect of the hospital of delivery on the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) of infants later admitted to neonatal intensive case units (NICUs). The NMR of 3,524 infants transported from primary centers to NICUs…
Retrospective
Population-Based Intrauterine Growth Curves From Computerized Birth Certificates
ABSTRACTScreening of newborns with growth curves derived from populations dissimilar to their own can lead to sizable errors. I present a technique for constructing percentile curves for birth weight at different gestational ages, using North Carolinas computerized birth certificate file. This method eliminates from the analysis most erroneous data on…
Review Article
Psychotropic Drugs Promoting Weight Gain Health Risks and Treatment Implications
ABSTRACTThe use of psychotropic medication is often associated with weight gain. We provide documentation for this effect and review the mechanisms possibly responsible for it in the case of neuroleptic agents, lithium carbonate, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and amitriptyline. We also enumerate the undesirable medical consequences of obesity. Failure to take…
Current Concepts
Urinary Complications of Cyclophosphamide Therapy Etiology, Prevention, and Management
ABSTRACTCyclophosphamide is a well established cytotoxic drug used in the treatment of lymphoproliferative disorders, certain solid tumors, and nonneoplastic disorders such as the nephrotic syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis. Hemorrhagic cystitis can be a complication of this drug in from 2% to 40% of patients so treated. At…
