Incidence of fungal infections in a solid organ recipients dedicated intensive care unit

Invasive fungal infections are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality for patients undergoing solid organ transplantation. Our aim was to evaluate the incidence of invasive fungal infections in solid organ recipients within a dedicated intensive care unit (ICU).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

From May 2002 to May 2005, 278 patients undergoing solid organ transplantation (105 liver, 142 kidney, 20 lung, 2 combined liver-kidney, 9 combined pancreas-kidney) were admitted to our posttransplant intensive care unit. We retrospectively analyzed data obtained from the ICU stay. Fungal infection was defined by positivity of normally sterile biological samples and by elevated positivity of normally non sterile biological samples. We did not consider superficial fungal infections and asymptomatic colonizations.

RESULTS

Forty-six patients (16.5%) developed a fungal infection; at least one mycotic agent was isolated from each patient. Candida albicans was the most common pathogen, isolated from 71 % of infected patients (33 of 46). Infected patients showed a mortality rate of 35%, while that for non infected recipients was 3.5%. Total length of ICU stay was the most significant risk factor among infected patients (30.26 days vs 5.04 days P < .0001). Mean time between transplantation and first positive samples was 6.17 days (SD 8.88).

CONCLUSION

Fungal infections in solid organ transplant patients are a major issue because of their associated morbidity and mortality. Candida albicans was the most common pathogen and total length of ICU stay was the most important risk factor.

Ultrasonic tissue characterization of the myocardium in anorexia nervosa

AIM

To determine the systodiastolic variations in the integrated backscatter (IBS) signal of the myocardium in patients with anorexia nervosa.

METHODS

25 young women (aged 22.4 +/- 4.3 y) with overt anorexia nervosa, compared with 25 age-matched thin and 25 age-matched control women with body mass index >20 kg m(-2), underwent either conventional two-dimensional echocardiography or analysis of IBS cyclic variations.

RESULTS

Compared with thin and control subjects, anorectic patients showed reduced left ventricular mass (LVM: 82.9 +/- 17.1 vs 119.9 +/- 13.8 and vs 126.12 +/- 16.4 g, p < 0.0001; LVM indexed 21.4 +/- 3.3 vs 29.4 +/- 2.5 and vs 31.2 +/- 3.1 g m(-2.7), p < 0.0001), and IBS cyclic variations (septum: -0.49 +/- 2.18 vs 6.86 +/- 1.3 and vs 6.61 +/- 1.74 dB p < 0.0001; posterior wall: 2.77 +/- 2.12 vs 7.15 +/- 2.12 and vs 7.48 +/- 2.23 dB, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Anorexia nervosa is associated with a significant reduction in the cyclic variation in IBS, which is also related to left ventricular hypotrophy. Ultrasonic tissue characterization could give an objective approach for the detection of myocardial structural properties and represent a preclinical index of myocardial dysfunction in anorexia nervosa.

Effects of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor I administration on spontaneous and growth hormone (GH)-releasing hormone-stimulated GH secretion in anorexia nervosa

Exaggerated GH and reduced insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) levels are common features in anorexia nervosa (AN). A reduction of the negative IGF-I feedback could account, in part, for GH hypersecretion. To ascertain this, we studied the effects of recombinant human (rh)IGF-I on spontaneous and GH-releasing hormone (GHRH)-stimulated GH secretion in nine women with AN [body mass index, 14.1 +/- 0.6 kg/m2] and in weight matched controls (normal weight). Mean basal GH concentrations (mGHc) and GHRH (2.0 microg/kg, iv) stimulation were significantly higher in AN. rhIGF-I administration (20 microg/kg, sc) significantly reduced mGHc in AN (P < 0.01), but not normal weight, and inhibited peak GH response to GHRH in both groups; mGHc and peak GH, however, persisted at a significantly higher level in AN. Insulin, glucose, and IGFBP-1 basal levels were similar in both groups. rhIGF-I inhibited insulin in AN, whereas glucose remained unaffected in both groups. IGFBP-1 increased in both groups (P < 0.05), with significantly higher levels in AN. IGFBP-3 was under basal conditions at a lower level in AN (P < 0.05) and remained unaffected by rhIGF-I. This study demonstrates that a low rhIGF-I dose inhibits, but does not normalize, spontaneous and GHRH-stimulated GH secretion in AN, pointing also to the existence of a defective hypothalamic control of GH release. Moreover, the increased IGFBP-1 levels might curtail the negative IGF-I feedback in AN.

Effect of somatostatin infusion on the somatotrope responsiveness to growth hormone-releasing hormone in patients with anorexia nervosa

BACKGROUND

According to the existence in anorexia nervosa (AN) of peripheral growth hormone (GH) resistance, low circulating insulinlike growth factor I (IGF-I) levels may be coupled with GH hypersecretion; however, there is also evidence for alterations in the neural control of GH secretion. In fact, reportedly GH secretion is partially refractory to the inhibitory effect of muscarinic cholinergic antagonists as well as to the stimulatory effect of muscarinic cholinergic agonists, which act via opposite modulation of hypothalamic somatostatin (SS) release. Thus, somatostatinergic activity could be impaired in AN. This could be due to an impaired hypothalamic SS release or, alternatively, an altered somatotroph sensitivity to SS.

METHODS

We studied in 10 women with AN in acute phase (AN, age, mean +/- SEM: 18.7 +/- 0.8 years) the effect of exogenous SS1-14 (25 and 75 micrograms/hour i.v., infused from +15 to +75 min), at doses that had previously been shown capable of increasing circulating SS levels within the physiological range, on the GH response to GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) (1 microgram/kg i.v. at 0 min). The same study protocol was performed in 8 normal age-matched women (NW, 22.9 +/- 1.0 years).

RESULTS

In AN patients, IGF-I levels were lower (p < .01) than those in NW, while basal GH levels were similar in both groups. The GHRH-induced GH rise in AN was higher (p < .01) than that in NW. In AN, the exaggerated GH response to GHRH was inhibited to the same extent by both SS doses (p < .05) and became similar to that after GHRH alone in NW. In NW both 25 and 75 micrograms/hour SS decreased the GHRH-induced GH response; however, the inhibitory effect of the lower dose did not attain statistical significance, whereas the higher dose did (p < .02). During SS infusion, the GHRH-induced GH response in NW was persistently lower (p < .02) than that in AN. The percent inhibitory effect of SS on the somatotroph responsiveness to GHRH was similar in both groups at each dose.

CONCLUSIONS

Our present findings demonstrate that the sensitivity of somatotroph cells to exogenous SS given at physiological doses is preserved in patients with AN. It is noteworthy that, during the infusion of physiological SS doses, the GH response to GHRH in AN overlaps on that to GHRH alone under physiological conditions. Thus, in AN, the sensitivity of somatotroph cells to SS apparently being preserved, an impairment of somatostatinergic neurons cannot be ruled out.

Effects of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor I administration on growth hormone (GH) secretion, both spontaneous and stimulated by GH-releasing hormone or hexarelin, a peptidyl GH secretagogue, in humans

The negative feedback exerted by insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) on GH secretion occurs at the pituitary, as well as the hypothalamic level, via stimulation of SS and/or inhibition of GHRH release. In fact, recombinant human IGF-I (rhIGF-I) administration inhibits basal GH secretion, at least in fasted humans, though its effect on the GH response to GHRH is still controversial. GH secretagogues (GHS) are peptidyl and nonpeptidyl molecules that act on specific receptors at the pituitary and/or the hypothalamic level. Contrary to GHRH, the GH-releasing activity of GHS is strong, reproducible, and even partially refractory to inhibitory influences such as exogenous somatostatin. We studied the effects of rhIGF-I administration (20 microg/kg s.c. at 0 min) on GH secretion, either spontaneous or stimulated by GHRH (2 microg/kg i.v. at +180 min) or Hexarelin (HEX, 2.0 microg/kg i.v at +180 min), a GHS, in eight normal young women (age, mean +/- SEM, 28.3 +/- 1.2 yr; body mass index, 20.1 +/- 0.5 kg/m2). rhIGF-I administration increased IGF-I levels (peak vs. baseline: 420.3 +/- 30.5 vs. 274.4 +/- 25.3 microg/L, P < 0.05) within the physiological range from +120 to +300 min. No variation in glucose or insulin levels was recorded. rhIGF-I did not reduce spontaneous GH secretion [areas under curves (AUC)(0-300 min) 140.6 +/- 66.3 vs. 114.6 +/- 32.1 microg/L x h], whereas it inhibited the GH response to both GHRH (AUC(180-300 min) 447.7 +/- 159.4 vs. 715.9 +/- 104.3 microg/L x h, P < 0.05) and HEX (620.3 +/- 110.4 vs. 1705.9 +/- 328.9 microg/L x h, P < 0.03). The percent inhibitory effect of rhIGF-I on the GH response to GHRH (41.7 +/- 12.8%) was lower than that on the response to HEX (57.7 +/- 11.0%). In fact, the GH response to GHRH alone was clearly lower than that to HEX alone (P < 0.05), whereas the GH responses to GHRH and HEXwere similar after rhIGF-I. Our findings show that the sc administration of low rhIGF-I doses inhibits the GH response to GHRH and, even more, that to HEX; whereas, at least in this experimental design in fed conditions, it does not modify the spontaneous GH secretion. Because GHS generally show partial refractoriness to inhibitory inputs, including exogenous somatostatin, the present results point toward a peculiar sensitivity of GHS to the negative feedback action of IGF-I.

Experimental use of a pedicle gallbladder graft for the repair of large duodenal defects

The use of a gallbladder patch to cover duodenal wall defects was attempted on 36 dogs. This defect was surgically induced on the second part of the duodenum. All the dogs survived and had an uneventful postoperative course. The healing of the defect was satisfactory and the structure and thickness of the graft remained unchanged This method could be a suitable alternative in the treatment of large duodenal defects, especially in the presence of other intra-abdominal injuries, and when the use of other graft material is not feasible.

Aspects of the neuroendocrine control of somatotropic function in calorically restricted dogs and patients with eating disorders: studies with cholinergic drugs

A series of studies was devised in both an experimental model of food deprivation, i.e., beagle dogs undergoing a progressive reduction of calorie intake and adolescent females with anorexia nervosa (AN) in the acute and recovery phase, and in patients with atypical eating disorders. The studies were aimed at ascertaining whether the alleged function of the hypothalamic system inhibitory to growth hormone (GH) secretion, i.e., the somatostatinergic, may account for at least some of the abnormalities of GH secretion present in AN patients (e.g., elevated basal GH levels, paradoxical GH rise after glucose or thyrotropin releasing hormone, etc). Caloric restricted dogs or patients with eating disorders were given an intravenous injection of the physiologic GH-releasing peptide GHRH alone or preceded by pirenzepine, a muscarinic cholinergic antagonist reportedly capable of eliciting hypothalamic release of somatostatin (SS), or pyridostigmine, a muscarinic cholinergic agonist which, conversely, would restrain hypothalamic release of SS. In addition, dogs were challenged with acute administration of glucose or thyrotropin-releasing hormone, compounds also thought to act via somatostatinergic influences. Data obtained in dogs under caloric restriction or in AN patients in the acute phase of the disease with drugs affecting cholinergic transmission suggest that the latter is increased in both conditions (only partial suppression of the GHRH-induced GH rise with pirenzepine, failure of pyridostigmine to further enhance the GH response to GHRH). Instead, in the same AN patients in the acute phase tested during recovery, in AN patients during the recovery phase, and in patients with atypical eating disorders, pirenzepine completely suppressed the GH response to GHRH, as it did in controls. Finally, data obtained on basal and GHRH-stimulated GH release in dogs given glucose or thyrotropin-releasing hormone and in AN patients given arginine, another compound thought to act via inhibition of somatostatinergic influences, do not support the view that somatostatinergic function is impaired in states of food deprivation.

[Short stature due to a partial idiopathic deficiency of the growth hormone. The role of the TW2 method in assessing treatment with r-hGH]

The Tanner-Whitehouse 2 (TW2) method to assess skeletal maturation (reviewed by Nicoletti for the Italian population) was used to study, from January, 1991, to December, 1994, a series of 26 Italian patients. The patients, 18 men (69.3%) and 8 women (30.7%), came from inhomogeneous family stocks and were all affected with short stature due to partial idiopathic GH deficiency; they were treated with replacement therapy with the biosynthetic recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH). Each patient underwent 3 wrist and left hand radiographs, the first one made on the basis of medical and endocrinologic assessment. The patients were reexamined after one and two years of treatment with the analysis of stature growth and of the skeletal maturation of hand bones. At one year, the average chronological age of our patients was 12.42 year (range: 9.4-15.2 years), their average bone age was 11.13 years (range: 6.5-14 years) and their average height was 137.81 cm (range: 117-155.5 cm). The patients were then retrospectively examined on the basis of bone maturation and final height, at the end of two years' therapy. At the end of treatment, height was above the third percentile in all patients and therefore within the expected personal target on the basis of genetic stature. The TW2 indexes of bone maturation, after one year of treatment, had increased by 44.84% (range: 27-77%) of the total maturation increase at two years. Moreover, after one year of treatment, average stature increase was 55.81% (range: 42-72%) of the total stature increase at two years. After two years of treatment, TW2 indexes showed an average 55.16% increase in bone maturation (range: 23-73%) of total maturation and average stature increase was 44.19% (range: 28-56%) of the total stature increase. Our results confirmed that skeletal growth and bone maturation are two distinct processes. Particularly, we noted that, while after one year of r-hGH therapy skeletal growth (especially in the long bones) prevails over bone maturation, after two years maturation prevails. In conclusion, our experience confirms the TW2 method as a simple and highly informative method which can be used in any radiologic center.

Involvement of brain catecholamines and acetylcholine in growth hormone hypersecretory states. Pathophysiological, diagnostic and therapeutic implications

Secretion of growth hormone (GH) is excessive in acromegaly, but also in a number of other pathological states such as anorexia nervosa, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), liver cirrhosis, depression, renal failure and GH-insensitivity syndrome. Abnormalities in the neuroendocrine control of GH secretion and/or a state of insensitivity to GH contribute to hypersecretion of GH in these states, with the possible exception of acromegaly, which appears to be a primary pituitary disease. GH hypersecretion may also occur in neonates or adolescents with tall stature, thus reflecting particular physiological or paraphysiological conditions. In the cohort of brain neurotransmitters, catecholamines and acetylcholine reportedly play a major role in the control of neurosecretory GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin (SS)-producing neurons, and hence GH secretion. Activation of alpha 2-adrenoceptors or of muscarinic cholinergic receptors in the hypothalamus stimulates GH release, probably through stimulation of GHRH and inhibition of SS release, respectively. Activation of dopamine receptors likewise stimulates GH release, while activation of beta-receptors inhibits GH release through stimulation of hypothalamic SS function. This review discusses the involvement of brain catecholamines and acetylcholine in GH hypersecretory states, including anorexia nervosa, acromegaly, IDDM, liver cirrhosis, depression, renal failure and GH insensitivity syndrome, with a view to providing a fuller understanding of their pathophysiology and, whenever possible, diagnostic and therapeutic implications.

[Zinc deficiency syndrome during TPN]

The zinc deficiency syndrome, also called enteropathic acrodermatitis, has been mostly observed in those pathologies of the gastroenteric system characterized by grave food shortages during long term TPN in association with inflammatory intestinal pathologies. The authors believe this to be caused of such syndrome, that in the case in question is demonstrated before the normal period described in the literature to be caused by both increased request related to TPN and a greater loss or less absorption due to intestinal phlogosis. The case described has been noted in a general surgery division in a young patient suffering from Crohn's disease for many years in treatment with medical therapy and now complicated by perianal abscess following burrowing on the outside subjected and therefore in treatment with artificial parenteral nutrition pre and post operative. Such pathology to be due when to begin a symptomatology characterized by consciousness alteration, diarrhoea, vesicular squamous cutaneous lesions around orifices, often infected by bacteria and mycosis in patients in treatment nutritional artificial continued for digestive apparatus diseases. The knowledge of this syndrome and its diagnosis lead, through integrative therapy, to its resolution in a short time. The authors describe the course of a clinical case occurred to then and ended with the patient's recovery. They underline the risks of ignoring this pathology.

Arginine but not pyridostigmine, a cholinesterase inhibitor, enhances the GHRH-induced GH rise in patients with anorexia nervosa

Pirenzepine, a muscarinic antagonist probably acting via stimulation of hypothalamic somatostatin release, abolishes the growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH)-stimulated growth hormone (GH) rise in normal subjects but only blunts it in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). This finding suggested the existence in AN of an alteration of cholinergic system and/or somatostatinergic tone. To further investigate these mechanisms, in 11 AN women patients (age 18.8 +/- 0.9 years; BMI 13.4 +/- 0.4) we studied the GH response alone (1 microgram/Kg IV as a bolus at 0 min) and combined with pyridostigmine (PD, 120 mg orally, 60 min before GHRH administration), a cholinesterase inhibitor, or arginine (ARG 30 g infused over 30 min starting at 0 min), two compounds probably acting via inhibition of hypothalamic somatostatin (SS) release. The GH response to GHRH preceded by a previous (120 min before) neurohormone administration also was studied. All these tests also were performed in 20 normal age-matched women (age 22.0 +/- 1.8 yrs; BMI20.1 +/- 2.4). Basal serum GH levels were higher in AN patients than in normal volunteers (NV) (10.3 +/- 3.4 versus 2.8 +/- 0.3 microgram/L; p < 0.001), whereas plasma IGF-I levels were lower in AN patients than in NV (43.3 +/- 10.6 versus 172.4 +/- 13.9 micrograms/L; p < 0.00001). In AN patients, GHRH administration induced a GH rise higher, though not significantly, than that in NV [delta area under the curve (AUC) 1173.6 +/- 167.6 versus 834.6 +/- 188.1 micrograms/L/h]. The GH response to the second of two consecutive GHRH boluses was lower (p < 0.01) than that of the first one either in AN patients or in NV (67.6 +/- 27.4 and 53.1 +/- 25.7 micrograms/L/h, respectively).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Corticotrophin-releasing hormone does not inhibit growth hormone-releasing hormone-induced release of growth hormone in control subjects but is effective in patients with eating disorders

Previous studies have shown that corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) inhibits GH secretion in response to GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) in normal women and men, and animal studies suggest that this effect is mediated by an increased release of somatostatin from the hypothalamus. It has been reported that there are abnormalities in the neuroendocrine regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-somatotrophic axis and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in patients with eating disorders. The present study therefore investigated the ability of CRH to inhibit the GH response to GHRH in eight young women with anorexia nervosa (AN) and in seven young women with eating disorders which were not otherwise specified (NOS). We also compared the effect of CRH in the patients with the response it caused in ten control women. In contrast to a previous report, combined i.v. administration of 50 micrograms human CRH (hCRH) and 50 micrograms GHRH(1-29) caused a GH response in control women which was higher, although not significantly so, than that induced by GHRH alone (area under the curve (AUC) 988.5 +/- 506.0 compared with 1568.4 +/- 795.6 (S.E.M.) ng/ml per 120 min for GHRH alone and GHRH plus hCRH respectively). Conversely, the administration of hCRH given together with GHRH markedly inhibited the GH response induced by the latter in both AN patients (AUC 2253.0 +/- 385.7 compared with 1224.4 +/- 265.7 ng/ml per 120 min for GHRH and GHRH plus hCRH respectively; P < 0.005 and NOS patients (AUC 2827.4 +/- 281.1 compared with 308.5 +/- 183.4 ng/ml per 120 min for GHRH and GHRH plus hCRH respectively; P < 0.0001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Blockade of cholinergic muscarinic receptors by pirenzepine and GHRH-induced GH secretion in the acute and recovery phase of anorexia nervosa and atypical eating disorders

In view of the important role played by the cholinergic system in the neural regulation of growth hormone (GH) secretion, the ability of pirenzepine, a selective antagonist of muscarinic cholinergic receptors, to blunt the GH response to GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) was studied in adolescent females with anorexia nervosa in the acute (AN-AP) five AN-AP patients, administration of GHRH 1-40 (1 microgram/kg IV) evoked a significantly higher GH response than in controls at established intervals, whereas in eight AN-RP and seven AED patients it was higher than in controls at only one (150-min) and two (150-min, 180-min) time intervals, respectively. In the AN-AP patients, pretreatment with pirenzepine (0.6 mg/kg IV) only partially blocked the GH response to GHRH, whereas in the same AN-AP patients tested during recovery, and in AN-RP and AED patients, the drug completely suppressed the GH response to GHRH, as it did in controls. In view of pirenzepine's mechanism of action, these findings are best explained by the existence in the hypothalamus of AN-AP patients of a cholinergic hypertone and/or a diminished somatostatinergic function. Evaluation of the clinical and hormonal characteristics of the anorectic patients studied would indicate that factors other than undernutrition and its biological consequences, which subside in the recovery stage of the disease and are not present in AED patients, contribute to the anomalous GH response pattern of AN-AP patients.

Effects of cholinergic muscarinic antagonist pirenzepine on GH response to GHRH 1-40 in patients with anorexia nervosa

The effects of cholinergic muscarinic receptor antagonist pirenzepine on the GHRH-induced GH release were studied in 10 adolescent females with anorexia nervosa at different stages of the disease, in 5 adolescent females with eating disorders and in 5 normal adolescents. The patients were characterized according to psychological (DSM III-R), endocrinological (GnRH test), nutritional (Somatomedin-C, T3), and clinical (% IBW, duration of the amenorrhoea) criteria. On two separate occasions, each subject received an i.v. bolus injection of GHRH 1-40 (1 microgram/kg) alone or preceded by pirenzepine (0.6 mg/kg i.v. 5 min before GHRH 1-40). GHRH 1-40 injection induced a significantly (P less than 0.05) higher GH increase in the patients with anorexia nervosa at the acute stage as compared with the controls. Pirenzepine did not abolish opportunely the exaggerated GH response to GHRH 1-40 in anorectic patients at the acute stage unlike the control, who showed the blockade of GHRH-induced GH release by the cholinergic muscarinic antagonist (P less than 0.05). The anorectic adolescents at the non acute stage and the adolescents with eating disorders showed varying reductions of GH response; however, pirenzepine produced a blunted suppression of GHRH-induced GH increase as compared to the controls, which was not statistically significant. Somatomedin-C values were significantly (P less than 0.05) lower in anorectic patients at the acute stage as compared with controls. The abnormal activity of cholinergic system in anorectic patients, as our data show, could induce the GH hypersecretion through an inhibitory influence on the somatostatinergic function. The reduced somatomedin-C levels, a specific malnutrition index in anorectic patients, produce a modified feed-back on the hypothalamic site (somatostatin) and/or directly on the pituitary, following the GH hypersecretion.

Failure of glucose infusion to suppress the exaggerated GH response to GHRH in patients with anorexia nervosa

The growth hormone (GH) response to GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) is characteristically exaggerated in anorexia nervosa (AN). Hyperglycemia suppresses the GH response to GHRH in normal subjects. To test whether this inhibitory action of hyperglycemia is preserved in AN, we performed a GHRH (GHRH 1-40, 1 micrograms/kg) test under basal conditions (saline infusion) and during steady-state hyperglycemia (200 mg/dl, induced by the intravenous administration of 8 mg/min.kg of glucose) in 6 adolescent girls with acute-stage AN (as diagnosed by psychopathological, hormonal, and nutritional criteria) and in 5 age-matched female controls. In control subjects, GHRH stimulated GH release during saline, but not glucose, infusion. In the anorectic patients, the GH response to GHRH was exaggerated during both saline infusion (2.97 +/- 0.79 versus 0.52 +/- 0.22 micrograms.120 min.ml-1, p less than 0.02) and under hyperglycemic conditions (4.61 +/- 0.56 versus 0.33 +/- 0.10, p less than 0.001). We conclude that the inhibitory action of hyperglycemia on GHRH-induced GH release is lost in the acute phase of AN.

[Antibiotic prophylaxis with cefoxitin in abdominal surgery (remarks on 50 cases)]

The authors, after stating the results of their clinical experience on 50 patients subjected to antibiotic prophylaxis with cefoxitin on the occasion of surgical operations on abdomen, compare the results of the antibiotic prophylaxis after a short time with those of the prophylaxis-therapy after an average time.

Apparent free cortisol concentrations in patients with anorexia nervosa at different stages of the disease

We have measured the total cortisol concentration (TC) and the apparent free cortisol concentration (AFCC) in plasma samples of 17 patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) at different stages of the disease, in basal conditions and after suppression test. We measured free cortisol values directly by a RIA method in dialyzed plasma samples after an equilibrium dialysis system. We have found significantly elevated TC and AFCC values in basal conditions and after suppression test only in the group of patients in the severe stage of the disease. In addition, a significant (p less than 0.05) correlation existed between percent loss of ideal body weight TC and AFCC values after suppression test. Our results suggest that the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis may be grossly impaired only in the severe stage of AN.

[Short and median term results of 234 cases of gastrectomy with the Billroth II method. Critical evaluation]

234 partial gastrectomies, according to Billroth II technique, were performed for peptic ulcer disease in selective patients from 1969 to 1977. A postoperative study has been carried out to check the efficiency of such operation in the treatment of peptic ulcer disease. Postoperative treatment of peptic ulcer disease. Postoperative mortality was 3.8%, while immediate surgical complications were 6.4%. 145 of this patients could be followed with a special regard for sex, age, way of living, general conditions, ulcer's location and the persisting symptoms at the time of the study. 124 patients (84%) showed good general conditions while 6 (4.1%) needed a second operation for recurrent peptic ulceration or alkaline reflux gastritis. Although this procedure has showed fairly good clinical results the Authors point out the high rate of postoperative mortality for a basically benign disease and the presence of some unpleasant digestive sequelae. Attention is payed to some factors that may play an important role on the pathophysiology of these sequelae.