Body composition in adolescents: estimation by total body electrical conductivity

This comparative study, conducted on 28 boys and girls of widely varying fatness, was designed to validate a new whole-body composition method [total body electrical conductivity (TOBEC)], based on bioelectrical properties of the human body. A significant correlation [r = 0.911; standard error of the estimate (SEE) = 5.3 kg] was demonstrated between the transformed TOBEC scores (TOBEC0.5 X Ht) and lean body mass (LBM) determined by hydrodensitometry and corrected for individual variations in hydration (LBMd + W). TOBEC determinations also correlated well with 1) total body water determined by deuterium oxide dilution (r = 0.877; SEE = 4.5 liters), 2) total body potassium determined by means of a 4 pi whole-body counter (r = 0.860; SEE = 430.7 meq), 3) LBM derived from skinfold thicknesses (r = 0.850; SEE = 5.8 kg). The residuals of the regression between LBMd + W and TOBEC scores did not show any significant correlation with either the potassium or the water content of the LBM. The results indicate that TOBEC is a simple, rapid, reliable, and noninvasive technique for delineating changes in body composition that occur in children during growth.

Effectiveness of pinaverium bromide in the treatment of primitive biliary dyskinesia: 99mTc-P-IDA scintigraphic evaluation

The 99mTc-P-IDA (technetium-p-iminodiacetic acid) hepatocholangiocholecystoscintigraphy is a diagnostic technique which allows information on the liver biligenetic and excretory capabilities to be obtained. It is, moreover, a test that mirrors closely the anatomic and functional conditions of the cholecyst and choledochus. In this study the authors wanted to verify whether pinaverium bromide, a drug with a documented musculotropic-spasmolytic activity, was able to induce changes in some abnormal instrumental parameters observed in 24 subjects with primitive biliary dyskinesia. The results revealed that the ti values, characteristically longer in those subjects, were significantly reduced in the group of patients treated with pinaverium bromide. On the contrary, in the group of patients treated with placebo, there was no change with respect to this parameter.

[Effect of polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine and vitamin B complex on the metabolism of selenium homotaurocholic acid in patients with chronic liver disease]

SeHCAT, a synthetic homologue of thaurocolic acid, may be used to examine the dynamics of enterohepatic circulation. A greater retention of SeHCAT may be attributed to a defective hepatic clearance and to a partial redistribution of the biliary acid pool outside the enterohepatic circle. This method has been applied to 20 patients affected with chronic hepatic disorders. The percentage of retention of SeHCAT in normal subjects was 19-20 on average. The hepatopathic patient has an average SeHCAT retention of 54%. After treatment with polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine (EPL) plus vitamin B complex i.v., the percentage of SeHCAT retention was significantly less than 31% (P less than 0.001). It can be hypothesized that the drug determines an improvement of the enterohepatic circle (acting on the hepatic clearance) in patients with chronic hepatic disorders as shown by the reduction of the percentage of SeHCAT retention noticed.

[Quebec's population decline: if it is foreseeable, is it avoidable?]

"Quebec's fertility is the lowest in Canada, and it is most likely that its population is heading for a decline. In this paper, the authors try to make explicit some of the scenarios which could prevent this decline. They first briefly present the current trends and specify the assumptions used in the simulation. Then, they analyse the results by investigating the onset of the decline and the maximum size of the population. And finally, they present some of the replacement scenarios which may prevent the decline." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

Evaluation of an ultrafiltration-fluorescence polarization immunoassay for monitoring unbound phenytoin

To evaluate a new ultrafiltration-fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) for monitoring blood levels of unbound phenytoin, the drug, with or without a 14C label, was added to three serum pools obtained from normal, uremic, and hypoalbuminemic patients and to 10 individual patient sera that varied greatly in phenytoin binding (11-50%). Protein-unbound phenytoin fractions were obtained from the sera by ultrafiltration using the Amicon Micropartition System and by a classic equilibrium dialysis method. The percent unbound phenytoin in each serum was determined by a radioassay and an automated FPIA (TDx System). An analysis of variance revealed no significant difference in the percent unbound phenytoin obtained at 37 degrees C by the FPIA and radioassay methods (alpha = 0.05). The data indicate that the ultrafiltration system can be combined with FPIA to produce a convenient laboratory method for routine therapeutic drug monitoring that gives results comparable to the equilibrium dialysis, radioassay reference method.

The De Vega annuloplasty as surgical treatment for tricuspid incompetence

Seventy-six patients with tricuspid insufficiency associated with other valvular lesions underwent De Vega annuloplasty. There were mitral lesions in 74 patients, aortic valve lesions in eight and atrial septal defects (ASD) in four. The radiographic and electrocardiographic findings and hemodynamic data are reported for 66 patients. Replacement of one or two valves was performed in 56 patients, one or two valves commissurotomy in 21 and closure of the ASD in four. The immediate postoperative mortality was 19.7%. Forty-four patients were followed from six to 59 months. There were three late deaths and clinical conditions were improved in all the survivors except one who presented mitral restenosis. Discrete residual tricuspid incompetence occurred in 11 patients (25%). We conclude that the De Vega annuloplasty is the treatment of choice for functional tricuspid incompetence.

Esterase-6 allozymes: biochemical studies of two common and one rare variant in Drosophila melanogaster

The biochemical properties of three allozymes coded by the Est-6 locus, two common forms (EST-6S and EST-6F) and one rare form (EST-6VF), were studied. The results show the existence of differences in isoelectric point, activity, activation energy, Km, and temperature coefficient among the three variants, especially between the two common forms and the one rare form. The specific activity of the rare enzymatic variant seems to be less affected by temperature variation. The possible significance of these findings in relation to the mechanism of reproduction is briefly discussed.

An unusual case of paroxysmal facial pain

Paroxysmal facial pain is a rare sequel to brainstem infarction. This is a report of a patient who developed paroxysmal facial pain with the exceptional features of a trigger zone and relative refractory pain-free periods in an area previously anesthetic after infarction of the brainstem. The characteristic of this patient's pain is compared with the pain is compared with the pain of trigeminal neuralgia and possible similar pathogenetic mechanisms.

Action of somatostatin, levodopa and pyridoxine on growth hormone (GH) secretion in newborn infants

We studied the effect of i.v. levodopa, pyridoxine and synthetic somatostatin in 28 normal babies during the first hours of life. Somatostatin caused a decrease in GH levels in all infants; in addition, both levodopa and pyridoxine infection paradoxically suppressed GH secretion in all subjects. It is concluded that in the first hours of life GH secretion can be suppressed by synthetic somatostatin as well as by levodopa and pyridoxine administration.