Adriamycin alopecia prevented by cold air scalp cooling.

Preliminary studies are reported on the effectiveness of cold air scalp cooling to prevent alopecia in patients receiving Adriamycin. Cold air produced in a novel way using a vortex refrigeration tube was applied to the scalp for 15 min before and 30 min after the administration of Adriamycin and other cytotoxic agents. Sixteen of 26 patients had no hair loss, four had slight hair loss, and six required a wig. Two subgroups fared particularly well. Four of four patients treated with ABVD for Hodgkin's disease and nine of 13 treated with Adriamycin (40 mg/m2) and vincristine (2 mg) for breast cancer had no hair loss.

Comparative studies of pulsatile and nonpulsatile flow during cardiopulmonary bypass. I. Pulsatile system employed and its hematologic effects.

A new, commercially available roller pump system able to deliver pulsatile and nonpulsatile flow has been studied in patients undergoing elective open-heart surgical procedures. The pulsatile pump (Stöckert Instrumente) may be used with standard extracorporeal circuit equipment and consistently produces a peripheral arterial pulse pressure of 25 to 30 mm. Hg at mean flow rates of 3.5 to 4.0 L. per minute. Twenty patients, arbitrarily allocated to pulsatile or nonpulsatile groups, have been studied. There were no significant differences between the groups in respect of age, weight, bypass time, pump flow, or mean arterial pressure during bypass. Comparative studies of the hematologic effects of pulsatile and nonpulsatile perfusion were carried out. There was no evidence of increased hemolysis with pulsatile flow, nor was there increased depletion of red blood cells (RBC's) or platelets in the pulsatile group. This pulsatile pump system may therefore be used to produce pulsatile perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass without the fear of producing excessive blood cell trauma.