Lack of effect of topical iodostearic acid on cervical intraepithelial neoplasia II-III.

Stearic and iodostearic acid inhibit growth of a cervical carcinoma cell line in vitro. This study was performed to determine if iodostearic acid would induce regression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Women with histologically-proven CIN II or III were randomised into two groups. Those in the first group were given pessaries composed of iodostearic acid in polyethylene glycol (PEG) base. Women in the second group were given pessaries containing only the PEG base. One pessary was inserted into the vagina nightly for 30 nights, and each woman then had the CIN lesion removed by CO2 laser cone excision. There was no difference in the histology of the cone biopsies between the groups, demonstrating that this regime of iodostearic acid has no useful role in the treatment of CIN II-III.

Intrapartum asphyxia in term and post term infants.

Many attempts have been made to identify infants at risk of suffering asphyxial brain damage. In a retrospective review of records at the Rotunda Hospital over a five year period all infants who died or suffered seizures, presumed secondary to asphyxia, were compared with the general hospital population. Out of 28,655 deliveries reviewed, there were 13 deaths in infants at or after term associated with perinatal asphyxia, and 32 surviving infants had asphyxial seizures. Seizures were regarded as asphyxial in origin if they occurred in the first forty eight hours of life and were associated with other clinical evidence of asphyxia. The incidence of abnormal presentations, assisted breech deliveries, instrumental deliveries and emergency caesarean sections was all increased in the asphyxial categories compared to the control population. Referral to the fetal assessment unit was associated with a seizure rate of 0.16/1000 live births compared with a rate of 1.4/1000 in the remaining non referred hospital population. Nineteen percent of the infants who seized subsequently developed cerebral palsy. It would appear from our data that referral to the fetal assessment unit and the consequent assignment to "high risk" status is associated with low risk in terms of asphyxial outcome.

The human squamous cervical carcinoma cell line, HOG-1, is responsive to steroid hormones.

Growth of the human squamous cervical carcinoma cell line, HOG-I, was stimulated in response to oestradiol in serum-containing and chemically defined medium. The oestradiol-stimulated growth could be inhibited by 4-OH tamoxifen, progesterone and medroxyprogesterone acetate; the last 2 compounds also inhibited basal cell growth in serum-containing and chemically defined media. The data are consistent with the sensitivity of human squamous cervical cancer to sex-steroid hormones and suggest that endocrine therapies may be of benefit in this disease.

Post-cesarean analgesia using a subcutaneous pethidine infusion.

A pethidine infusion administered subcutaneously using a syringe pump was evaluated in 118 women following cesarean section. One hundred three women (87%) were satisfied with their postoperative analgesia. The mean length of infusion was 18.8 h, and the mean total dose of pethidine was 402 mg. Twenty-seven patients (23%) reported no severe pain postoperatively, the remainder had on average 2.6 h of pain which they described as severe. Of 38 women who had had a previous cesarean section, 19 (50%) considered the pump to be an improvement on the analgesia given the previous time. There were no cases of respiratory depression. This mode of analgesia has advantages over conventional intramuscular bolus injections. It was judged acceptable to both patients and ward staff.

Fatty acid control of growth of human cervical and endometrial cancer cells.

Stearic acid and iodo-stearic and inhibited cell growth in a cervical cancer cell line (HOG-1) in a dose-related manner, with a half maximal effect at 50 microM stearic acid. Addition of oleic acid abrogated the effect of stearic acid. EGF-stimulated DNA synthesis and growth of HOG-1 cells was inhibited in the presence of stearic acid without any apparent effect on EGF receptor number or affinity.

Equivalent inhibition of in vivo platelet function by low dose and high dose aspirin treatment.

In vitro platelet function was inhibited in healthy volunteers by two different doses of aspirin, as confirmed by measurement of maximum serum production of thromboxane B2 (TXB2) by platelets. 75 mg aspirin did not fully inhibit serum TXB2 production after 24 hours, whereas 300 mg aspirin did. Inhibition of platelet function in vitro was maintained by both 75 mg/day aspirin or 300 mg/alternate day aspirin. In contrast, in vivo production of TXB2, measured as urinary levels of the 11-keto-TXB2 metabolite, was inhibited similarly by both doses of aspirin throughout the study. These findings suggest that 75 mg/day aspirin may be sufficient adequately to inhibit platelet aggregation in vivo.

Ectopic beta-human chorionic gonadotropin production by a dermoid cyst.

Benign cystic teratomas of the ovary (dermoid cysts) are common in women in the 20- to 40-year-old age group; 10% of these teratomas are bilateral. There have been reports of hormone production by dermoid cysts, particularly thyroid-stimulating hormone. We report the first case to our knowledge, of ectopic human chorionic gonadotropin production by a dermoid cyst.

Vaginal pH in pregnancy in women delivered at and before term.

A microelectrode was used to measure vaginal pH in a longitudinal study during pregnancy in 30 women, 28 of whom were delivered at term. Excluding pH readings made in the presence of pathogenic organisms, 120 readings were taken. The mean vaginal pH of all subjects was 4.16 (SD 0.41). Analysis of variance showed no significant within-subject variation of pH during pregnancy. Two women had spontaneous preterm deliveries (less than 37 weeks) and their mean vaginal pH during pregnancy was 5.05 and 5.06. Eight women admitted in preterm labour, who then gave birth, had a mean pH of 5.43 (SD 0.94) which was significantly higher than the mean pH of 10 women in labour at term (4.58, SD 0.59). The relation between bacterial growth in vitro and the surrounding pH was also examined. Escherichia coli, a potential pathogen, behaved differently from both Lactobacillus (a commensal organism) and Candida albicans. The clinical observations show a trend towards higher vaginal pH values in association with preterm labour.