ABSTRACT
The outcome of continued EPO therapy was studied in 18 responding MDS patients. The EPO dose was reduced in a stepwise fashion to find the lowest possible maintenance dose. Relapses of anemia were associated with either progressive disease or reduction of the administered EPO dose. In the latter group second responses to renewed EPO therapy were readily achieved. Long-term responses were seen in about a third of the patients. Thus, it seems safe to reduce the EPO dose among responding patients. This approach may have advantages both from a medical and a socio-economic perspective.
Subject(s)
Erythropoietin/therapeutic use , Myelodysplastic Syndromes/drug therapy , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Anemia, Refractory/drug therapy , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Erythropoietin/blood , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Recombinant Proteins , Survival Rate , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Surgical team members constantly are exposed to blood during procedures. Inadvertent injuries (e.g., needle sticks, cuts) and contaminations expose team members and patients to the risk of transmission of bloodborne pathogens. Injuries and contaminations can be decreased significantly for scrub people and first assistants, however, by introducing new working methods (i.e., no-touch instrument passing technique, instrument neutral zone).
Subject(s)
Blood-Borne Pathogens , Infection Control/methods , Occupational Exposure/prevention & control , Orthopedic Nursing , Orthopedics , Perioperative Nursing , Evaluation Studies as Topic , Humans , Occupational Exposure/statistics & numerical data , Orthopedic Nursing/methods , Orthopedics/methods , Perioperative Nursing/methods , Surgical Instruments , SwedenABSTRACT
A questionnaire study was carried out of all orthopedic surgical procedures in the operating rooms of a teaching hospital over an 8-week period to describe the frequency and circumstances of accidental blood contact. Blood exposure occurred in 11% of the procedures. Contamination of intact skin was the most common incident (79%); percutaneous injury occurred in 13%. The majority of the incidents were believed to be preventable.
Subject(s)
Blood-Borne Pathogens , Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/methods , Occupational Exposure/statistics & numerical data , Orthopedics/statistics & numerical data , Attitude of Health Personnel , Containment of Biohazards/standards , Humans , Infection Control/standards , Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control , Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/statistics & numerical data , Needlestick Injuries/epidemiology , Needlestick Injuries/prevention & control , Occupational Exposure/prevention & control , Orthopedics/standards , Prospective Studies , Sweden/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The nuclear DNA content in tumor cells from invasive ductal breast carcinomas was analyzed in 26 patients who survived more than 10 years and in 23 patients who died within 2 years after operation. The DNA content of individual tumor cells was measured in sections from the originally paraffin-embedded specimens. In short-term survivors, a large proportion of cells with very high DNA values was found in all tumors except one. Only two patients of the long-term survivors had tumors that exhibited such high DNA values. Prognostic information obtained by DNA analysis compared with histologic malignancy grading showed that the specificity using DNA analysis was distinctly higher. The data thus suggest that analysis of DNA content of tumor cells in breast adenocarcinomas can be a useful supplement to histologic malignancy grading to obtain prognostic guidance in individual patients.
Subject(s)
Adenocarcinoma/analysis , Breast Neoplasms/analysis , Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating/analysis , DNA, Neoplasm/analysis , Adenocarcinoma/mortality , Adult , Aged , Breast Neoplasms/mortality , Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating/mortality , Cell Nucleus/analysis , Cytophotometry , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , PrognosisABSTRACT
Histological specimens from 80 invasive breast carcinomas comprising typical cases of 16 ductal, nine papillary, 14 comedo, 13 colloid (mucous), 15 lobular, and 13 medullary carcinomas were examined with respect to nuclear DNA and estrogen receptor content. In agreement with previous studies, ductal carcinomas were found to exhibit different types of nuclear DNA distribution patterns, i.e., tumors with DNA values in the normal diploid or tetraploid regions indicative of good prognosis (euploid tumors) or those with values exceeding the normal tetraploid region indicative of poor prognosis (aneuploid tumors). The majority of the papillary and colloid tumors were euploid, while comedocarcinomas in general had aneuploid profiles. These findings are in agreement with expected survival within these patient groups. In lobular breast carcinomas, the correlation between the DNA distribution patterns and expected patient survival was less obvious; and in medullary carcinomas where the vast majority of the tumors showed aneuploid DNA profiles, the correlation to expected patient survival was low. Thus, lobular carcinoma in general seems to have a worse prognosis than is expected from nuclear DNA analysis, whereas medullary carcinomas in general seem to carry a better prognosis than indicated from DNA measurements. In agreement with earlier reports there was a good correlation between nuclear DNA content of the tumor cells and cytosol estrogen receptor values, i.e., euploid tumors in general exhibited relatively high receptor levels, whereas aneuploid tumors had low or unmeasurable estrogen receptor levels.
