Obstructive sleep apnea presenting as pseudopheochromocytoma: a case report.

Sudden arousal from sleep causes a transient surge in sympathetic nervous activity. Repeated arousals, as occur in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), are well documented to cause a more prolonged sympathetic overactivity and consequent elevations in 24-h urinary catecholamine levels. We describe here a series of five patients, each presenting with a clinical and biochemical picture indistinguishable from that of pheochromocytoma. Thorough investigations have failed to find catecholamine-secreting tumor in any of these subjects, but all have been diagnosed with OSA. Primary treatment of OSA with nasal continuous positive airways pressure has led to normalization of systemic blood pressure and urinary catecholamines. Pseudopheochromocytoma is therefore a rare, but treatable, presentation of obstructive sleep apnea.

Neuropsychological and neurological function of human immunodeficiency virus seropositive asymptomatic individuals.

Although individuals with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are often impaired on a variety of neuropsychological tasks, questions remain as to when neuropsychological decline can be reliably detected during the course of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Detailed neuropsychological testing was accomplished on a cohort of 83 immunologically and neurologically intact asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals drawn from a larger pool of 649 US Air Force personnel with HIV antibodies. These asymptomatic subjects were compared with a group of HIV-negative subjects, and no significant differences in neuropsychological functioning were found. No significant neuropsychological differences were found as a function of cerebrospinal fluid abnormalities in these asymptomatic subjects. When data from 13 subjects with immune compromise were included in the analyses, those with abnormal cerebrospinal fluid values performed significantly poorer on a task of verbal memory, suggesting that cognitive dysfunction is antedated by immunological decline. Methodological problems that inhibit specification of the incidence, prevalence, and natural history of HIV-related cognitive impairment are discussed, as are data suggesting that previously published high estimates of the frequency of HIV-related dementia may not be representative of all HIV-infected populations.

Survey on curriculum committees at U.S. and Canadian medical schools.

A 27-item questionnaire was sent to 144 U.S. and Canadian medical schools to identify prevailing patterns in the organization, philosophy, and function of curriculum committees. Overall, 76 percent responded, with 67 percent of the respondents being school administrators and 33 percent being faculty members. Fifty-one percent rated their school's committee as exerting a significant impact on the educational program over the previous five years. Fifty-six percent of the committees had a routine procedure for course review and used data from multiple sources when conducting curriculum evaluations. The committees that annually received a specific assignment from the dean were the most likely (91 percent) to be rated as having a significant impact, followed by committees that conducted frequent course reviews (66 percent). Thirty-eight percent of the committees were primarily faculty oriented, 29 percent were decidedly administrative in composition, and the remaining committees exhibited a mixture of membership.