Hodgkin's Disease in 50 Intravenous Drug Users with HIV-Infection.

Fifty cases of Hodgkin's disease in intravenous drug users (IVDU) have been collected by the Italian Cooperative Group on AIDS-Related Tumors (G.I.C.A.T.). Ninety-two per cent of the patients were males; the median age was 26 years. Persistent generalized lymphadenopathy (PGL) at onset was present in 54% of patients, AIDS in 9%, ARC in 9% while 28% were simply HIV-positive. The initial median absolute number of CD4 lymphocytes was 264/mmc. Opportunistic infections were diagnosed in 20% of patients. In most patients the histological pattern was that of mixed cellularity and lymphocytic depletion (76%). In almost half the initial symptom was a persistent lymph node enlargement due to PGL. In the majority of patients (58%) only a clinical staging and bone marrow biopsy could be performed due to the presence of opportunistic infections, rapid disease progression or refusal of pathologic staging procedures. One patient presented with a Waldeyer's ring involvement, but no other unusual presentations were observed. After MOPP alternated or followed by ABVD or MOPP alone, 15/29 CR (52%) and 14/29 PR (48%) were observed. The median duration of CR was 14 months, while the median survival of CR has not been reached; the median survival of patients treated with chemotherapy with CD4 values at presentation {geq}400/mmc was significantly superior to that in those with CD4 < 400/mmc. The overall median survival was 16 months. Twenty-eight per cent of patients receiving chemotherapy + radiotherapy developed opportunistic as well as non-opportunistic infections (21%). Lethal hepatic toxicity was observed in 2 patients. In conclusion, Hodgkin's disease in IVDU was not found to be associated with unusual presentations, as previously reported for homosexuals. Complete remissions could be achieved in over 50% of patients, but in IVDU non-opportunistic infections in addition to opportunistic infections may also limit treatment administration. The presence of parenchymal functional impairment due to drug abuse, or drug abuse-related infections, such as pneumonia, endocarditis and hepatitis, should lead to the choice of antitumour agents with no or only minor potential liver, lung and cardiac toxicity.

Study of the erythrocyte deformability in juvenile onset diabetes.

Erythrocyte filtration rate was studied in 33 subjects suffering from type I diabetes. Any significant differences were observed neither between diabetic group and a control group, nor between diabetics with and without retinopathy. Small individual differences of erythrocyte filtration rate do not seem to correlate with age, with diabetes duration or with metabolic control.

Australia antigen in diabetic subjects.

The sera of 766 diabetics and 730 blood donors have been tested for Australia surface antigen (HBsAg). Subjects with a history of an episode of jaundice were excluded from both groups. The two groups did not differ as to the frequency with which HBsAg was found 1.64% in blood donors, 1.56% in diabetics.

Osmotic resistance of leukocytes in patients with onset of diabetes before twenty-five years.

Osmotic resistance of leukocytes has been studied with the Storti-Pederzini method in 30 young healthy subjects and in 30 diabetics of the juvenile insulin-dependent type with variable duration of the disease and variable degrees of metabolic control. Reduced osmotic resistance, above all in the polymorphonuclear cells, has been found in diabetics. This finding did not appear to correlate with the duration of diabetes or with blood glucose level. This reduced osmotic resistance of polymorphonuclear leukocytes of diabetic patients might contribute to the deficiency in leukocyte migration and phagocytosis observed by some authors in diabetics.