Study of early appearance of skin lesions in coal gasification workers.

A retrospective cohort morbidity study was conducted among workers employed at the Kosovo coal gasification plant and a reference population of open-pit lignite miners. The aim was to determine the rate of early skin cancer and pre-cancerous skin lesions. In 15 years of commercial operation of the coal gasification plant, seven workers were diagnosed with benign skin tumors, six with pre-cancerous skin diseases, but none with skin cancer. The lesions were significantly fewer than were reported earlier over a shorter time period and in a smaller population at a coal hydrogenation plant. Compared to the reference population who received medical care in the same clinic, gasification workers had a lower skin cancer rate, but a higher rate of benign skin tumors and potentially pre-cancerous skin diseases.

Interaction of "supplementary" scintigraphic indicators of ischemia and stress electrocardiography in the diagnosis of multivessel coronary disease.

Lung uptake, ventricular cavitary dilation and basal myocardial uptake represent abnormalities that have been associated with myocardial ischemia on stress thallium-201 images, but that are supplementary to the conventional assessment of perfusion distribution. These "supplementary" indicators of ischemia were related to the coronary distribution of perfusion abnormalities, the results of electrocardiographic stress testing and to the findings on coronary angiography in 73 patients. Forty patients had multivessel coronary disease; 19 of these had three vessel disease. Perfusion abnormalities were seen in 39 of these 40 patients but were indicative of multivessel coronary disease in only 28 and of three vessel disease in only 6. However, supplementary indicators were present in 33 of 40 patients with multivessel disease and in 15 of 19 with three vessel disease. Furthermore, they were seen in 16 of 22 patients with multivessel disease in whom conventional perfusion abnormalities underestimated the extent of disease, but in only 4 of 12 patients in whom the extent of disease was overestimated. The presence of either perfusion abnormalities in a multivessel distribution or supplementary indicators identified 38 (95%) of 40 patients with multivessel disease. A markedly positive electrocardiographic treadmill test was a less sensitive indicator of multivessel disease, appearing in only 15 of 40 patients. However, it was present in only 4 of 33 patients without multivessel coronary disease and was more specific for that diagnosis than were supplementary scintigraphic indicators (88 versus 67%, p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The etiology and implications of dense cavitary "photopenia" on myocardial perfusion scintigraphy.

Dense cavitary "photopenia" was observed on 21 of 200 consecutive stress perfusion scintigrams. A prominent finding in many cases, it sometimes occupied only a portion of the region overlying the ventricular cavity, was often seen in some projections and not others, and was frequently adjacent to myocardial perfusion defects. To distinguish an etiology among reduced cavitary radioactivity, relatively increased background radioactivity, or reduced radioactivity in overlying myocardium, quantitative analysis of cavitary, lung and myocardial radioactivity was performed in patients with dense cavitary "photopenia," with and without lung uptake, and compared with results from studies showing increased lung uptake without cavitary photopenia and with normal studies. The results showed that dense cavitary photopenia was related to reduced radioactivity in overlying myocardium. Correlative imaging studies performed with echocardiography and contrast ventriculography confirmed this relationship to myocardial scar in 15 of 21 patients in whom associated akinesis or dyskinesis was seen. Hence, dense cavitary photopenia on stress perfusion scintigraphy is due to a dense myocardial perfusion abnormality, and is often indicative of related scar and an associated severe contraction abnormality.

Value of noninvasive assessment of patients with atypical chest pain and suspected coronary spasm using ergonovine infusion and thallium-201 scintigraphy.

Twenty-six patients with known benign coronary anatomic characteristics and atypical chest pain syndromes were evaluated for the possibility of coronary spasm. Incremental intravenous ergonovine maleate infusions were administered, and thallium-201 scintigraphy was performed at the peak dosage and during recovery in the coronary care unit. With ergonovine therapy, 4 patients (16%) had chest pain associated with electrocardiographic (ECG) or scintigraphic changes. Nine patients (35%) had chest pain without associated ECG or scintigraphic changes, and 13 patients did not have chest pain in response to ergonovine administration, although 2 (8%) had ergonovine-induced scintigraphic defects. All 4 patients with ergonovine-induced chest pain and associated ECG or scintigraphic abnormalities had resolution or reduction of chest pain after medical treatment. However, 7 of the 9 patients with ergonovine-induced chest pain in the absence of ECG or scintigraphic abnormalities continued to have symptoms despite medical treatment a mean of 18 months later. In this limited study of a select group, bedside ergonovine provocation appeared safe. Many patients had chest pain, but few showed ECG or scintigraphic evidence of ischemia. Perfusion scintigraphy appears to have potential complementary value for the identification of an ischemic cardiac cause of atypical chest pain and provides a rationale for appropriate therapy.