[Multicenter open study with docetaxel. Treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast carcinoma]. / Estudo aberto multicêntrico com docetaxel. Tratamento de doentes com carcinoma da mama localmente avançado ou metastático.

The efficacy and safety of docetaxel were evaluated in an open, multicentric, non comparative study involving 24 patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, eligible for second line or subsequent anticancer chemotherapy; the results confirm a global response around 50%, suggesting some advantages when compared to the usual treatments in this set of patients; the median duration of response, the median time to progression and the median time of survival were respectively, 309, 219 and 345 days; the main iatrogenic event was haematological, mainly in the white and red blood cells.

Cardiovascular responses to leisure alpine skiing in habitually sedentary middle-aged men.

In order to evaluate the cardiovascular responses to leisure alpine skiing of habitually sedentary and not particularly active adult men, a series of continuous recordings of heart rate (HR) was performed on 10 subjects aged 51.0 +/- 1.3 years (mean +/- S.E.) during a 6-day ski trip at an altitude of 1000-2485 m. From the very first day, the subjects spontaneously adopted a regimen of intense physical activity, since 17.9% of the HR values recorded on the ski runs were higher than 85% of the maximal theoretical HR [THRmax (beats min-1) = 220--age (years)], which represented 19.5% of the actual skiing time. On day 2, 10.7% of the HR values were higher than 85% THRmax, or 17.9% of actual skiing time. For the entire ski trip, the mean HR during skiing was approximately 126 beats min-1, which corresponds to 75% THRmax. At rest, HR in the morning did not change significantly from days 2 to 6 (from 80 +/- 4 to 75 +/- 4 beats min-1, P > 0.05), whereas HR in the evening correlated significantly with the duration of physical activity during the day (r = 0.487, P < 0.001). In all cases, HR at rest was significantly higher than before the trip, except in the evening of day 4, the day on which the subjects skied less because they were fatigued after skiing in the morning. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) at rest was always lower than the control established before the trip, whether taken in the morning or in the evening.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cardiac alterations in ankylosing spondylitis.

Forty patients, 30 men and 10 women with an average age of 38.47 +/- 11.07 years, suffering from ankylosing spondylitis and attending a Rheumatology Outpatient Clinic, were evaluated for cardiovascular involvement. The evaluation was based on patients' clinical observation, electrocardiography, echocardiography, and chest x-ray. More than a simple review, this study was undertaken with the aim of arriving at a better clinical definition of the cardiovascular manifestations found in ankylosing spondylitis. In fact, of the 40 patients, 8 (20%) had systemic hypertension for which an explanation could not be found, 4 of whom were less than forty-five years old; the echocardiogram showed mitral valve prolapse in 4 patients (10%), 2 of them with a systolic murmur and other 2 with a protosystolic click on auscultation. More significant than the changes in conduction was the finding of a sinus bradycardia in 9 patients (22.5%), and a PR interval below 120 msec in 3 patients (7.5%). The authors conclude that the extension of cardiovascular changes in ankylosing spondylitis is more vast than usually acknowledged.