Depression and anxiety in pain clinic patients. Rapid assessment by microcomputer.

Computer administered depression and anxiety rating scales were used in a pilot study to screen patients attending a regional pain relief unit. Patients found the procedure acceptable and helpful. There was a poor correlation between the computer assessments and doctors' ratings, with in general a much greater degree of morbid depression and anxiety revealed by the computer. Computer administered rating scales may be useful as a screening tool in pain clinic patients to identify those at risk of significant psychiatric morbidity.

Corticosteroids in terminal cancer--a prospective analysis of current practice.

Over half of a group of 373 inpatients with advanced malignant disease were treated with corticosteroids for a variety of reasons. They received either prednisolone or dexamethasone, or replacement therapy with cortisone acetate. Forty percent of those receiving corticosteroids benefited from them. A higher response rate was seen when corticosteroids were prescribed for nerve compression pain, for raised intracranial pressure, and when used in conjunction with chemotherapy. No significant difference in efficacy was noted between the 2 drugs. The results, however, suggest that with a larger sample, dexamethasone would have been shown to be significantly better than prednisolone in the management of nerve compression pain. The incidence of side effects was broadly similar with dexamethasone and prednisolone. The most common side effect was oral candidosis and there was a highly significant relationship between the use of corticosteroids and the prescription of nystatin suspension. Dexamethasone was more likely than prednisolone to cause oro-pharyngeal candidosis. Dexamethasone was also associated with significantly more cases of psychological disturbance and hyperactivity. On the other hand, dexamethasone seems less likely to cause oedema, weight gain and dyspepsia. Corticosteroids were withdrawn because of side effects in only 11 patients (5%)--6 were receiving dexamethasone and 5 prednisolone. Dexamethasone has been adopted as the standard corticosteroid for terminal cancer patients at Sir Michael Sobell House.

Controlled-release morphine tablets. A double-blind trial in dental surgery patients.

We report a randomized double-blind comparison of controlled-release morphine tablets (MST-1; 2 x 10 mg) and oral morphine sulphate in solution (20 mg) in 28 patients (20 females) who had undergone removal of impacted lower third molars or a dental clearance under general anaesthetic. The response in both groups was very poor: eight of 15 patients in MST-1 group and six of 13 patients in the standard group required "rescue" analgesics and were withdrawn from the study within the first 2h. No threshold plasma concentration of morphine corresponding to a particular analgesic effect was apparent. MST-1 produced significantly greater plasma concentrations at 8h compared with the standard preparation. Controlled-release morphine, or any oral formulation of morphine, may not be suitable for the treatment of acute pain after operation.

Heart antibodies in cardiomyopathies.

The reported frequency of circulating heart reactive antibodies in cardiomyopathies has varied and their significance is unknown. In this study such antibodies were sought in patients with primary congestive and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies and other heart diseases. Standard "single sandwich" and the more sensitive "double sandwich" indirect immunofluorescence techniques failed to disclose a significant difference between any cardiomyopathic group and controls in repeated experiments. With both techniques results were subject to considerable method-specific artefacts and observer variation. No published work associating heart antibodies detected by immunofluorescence methods with cariomyopathies adequately takes these into account.

Cardiac involvement in secondary haemochromatosis: a catheter biopsy study and analysis of myocardium.

Although high blood transfusion regimens have improved the life expectancy of the patient with Thalassemia Major, cardiac failure and arrhythmias remain a cause of early death. It is not certain whether the massive myocardial iron deposition found in such patients is preventable by intensive chelation therapy. This study evaluates endomyocardial biopsy as a method of assessing myocardial iron deposition. Of four patients with clinical and biochemical evidence of severe haemochromatosis, only one had a myocardial iron content comparable to that found in severe haemochromatotic myocardium. The one patient with cardiac failure had an endomyocardial iron content within the normal range. Studies of the iron distribution in haemochromatotic myocardium demonstrate that the subendocardial myocardium contains only half the iron content of the subepicardial layer, and there is a large sampling variation. It is concluded that catheter endomyocardial biopsy is an insensitive method of determining early myocardial deposition because of the location of iron and the variability of the sampling. Studies of the nature of the myocardial iron protein with CM32 cation exchange resin chromatography show that there is a large increase in the haemosiderin: ferritin ratio (5:1) in iron overload myocardium as compared with the normal heart (2:1). Similar results have been observed in the liver with iron overload, where the increase in hepatic haemosiderin was associated with greater lysosomal fragility. It is possible that myocardial cell damage may also occur by the rupture of iron engorged lysosomes.

Multiple superficial gastric erosions due to Crohn's disease of the stomach. Radiologic and endoscopic diagnosis.

A case of Crohn's disease involving the stomach and duodenum is presented. The patient had a four-and-a-half year history of ankylosing spondylitis. Double contrast radiography of the stomach and duodenum showed multiple superficial gastric erosions and a duodenal ulcer. There were typical changes of Crohn's disease in the terminal ileum. At endoscopy, numerous superficial erosions were seen in the stomach and duodenum and biopsies of the stomach showed granulomatous inflammation, consistent with Crohn's disease. These lesions are similar to those seen in the colon in the early stages of granulomatous colitis and it is likely that this represents the early stage of Crohn's disease in the stomach. With increasing application of double-contrast radiography and endoscopy, these lesions may be found more frequently.