Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Accelerated Fractionation In Inoperable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. A Phase I/Ii Study, Edward Yu, Luis Souhami, Julio Guerra, Brenda Clark, Carole Gingras, Palma Fava

Edward Yu

Background: A prospective, single-treatment-arm, Phase I/II trial was performed to determine the tumor response to an accelerated regimen and assess the feasibility and toxic effects of this approach in patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Thirty-seven previously untreated patients with inoperable NSCLC who had no evidence of metastatic disease entered the study. All patients were able to walk and had disease that was measurable or assessable. Patients with palpable supraclavicular disease and weight loss were also eligible. Radiation therapy consisted of an altered fractionation regimen with a concomitant boost technique. The original lung volume received a dose …

Low-Cost Hiv-1 Diagnosis And Quantification In Dried Blood Spots By Real Time Pcr, Nishaki Mehta, Sonia Trzmielina, Bareng Nonyane, Melissa Eliot, Rongheng Lin, Andrea Foulkes, Kristina Mcneal, Arthur Ammann, Vindu Eulalievyolo, John Sullivan, Katherine Luzuriaga, Mohan Somasundaran

Rongheng Lin

BACKGROUND: Rapid and cost-effective methods for HIV-1 diagnosis and viral load monitoring would greatly enhance the clinical management of HIV-1 infected adults and children in limited-resource settings. Recent recommendations to treat perinatally infected infants within the first year of life are feasible only if early diagnosis is routinely available. Dried blood spots (DBS) on filter paper are an easy and convenient way to collect and transport blood samples. A rapid and cost effective method to diagnose and quantify HIV-1 from DBS is urgently needed to facilitate early diagnosis of HIV-1 infection and monitoring of antiretroviral therapy.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: We …

Associated Symptoms In The Ten Days Before Diagnosis Of Kawasaki Disease., Annette L. Baker, Minmin Lu, L Luann Minich, Andrew M. Atz, Gloria L. Klein, Rosalind Korsin, Linda Lambert, Jennifer S. Li, Wilbert Mason, Elizabeth Radojewski, Victoria L. Vetter, Jane W. Newburger, Pediatric Heart Network Investigators, Girish S. Shirali

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

OBJECTIVE: To describe common associated symptoms within the 10 days before diagnosis in subjects enrolled in the Pediatric Heart Network's trial of steroid therapy in Kawasaki disease (KD).

STUDY DESIGN: Patients with acute KD were enrolled between days 4 and 10 of illness at 8 centers between 2002 and 2004. We defined common associated symptoms as those occurring in >or=10% of patients. Principal clinical criteria for KD were not included in this analysis.

RESULTS: Among 198 patients, irritability was reported in 98 (50%), vomiting in 88 (44%), decreased food/fluid intake in 73 (37%), cough in 55 (28%), diarrhea in 52 …

Association Of Gucy2c Expression In Lymph Nodes With Time To Recurrence And Disease-Free Survival In Pn0 Colorectal Cancer., Scott A Waldman, Terry Hyslop, Stephanie Schulz, Alan Barkun, Karl Nielsen, Janis Haaf, Christine Bonaccorso, Yanyan Li, David S Weinberg

Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Faculty Papers

CONTEXT: The established relationship between lymph node metastasis and prognosis in colorectal cancer suggests that recurrence in 25% of patients with lymph nodes free of tumor cells by histopathology (pN0) reflects the presence of occult metastases. Guanylyl cyclase 2C (GUCY2C) is a marker expressed by colorectal tumors that could reveal occult metastases in lymph nodes and better estimate recurrence risk.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of occult lymph node metastases detected by quantifying GUCY2C messenger RNA, using the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, with recurrence and survival in patients with colorectal cancer.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Prospective study of 257 patients …

The Efficacy Of Surgical Decompression Before 24 Hours Versus 24 To 72 Hours In Patients With Spinal Cord Injury From T1 To L1--With Specific Consideration On Ethics: A Randomized Controlled Trial., Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar, Soheil Saadat, Alexander R Vaccaro, Seyed Mohammad Ghodsi, Mohammad Samadian, Arya Sheykhmozaffari, Seyed Mohammad Safdari, Bahram Keshmirian

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: There is no clear evidence that early decompression following spinal cord injury (SCI) improves neurologic outcome. Such information must be obtained from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). To date no large scale RCT has been performed evaluating the timing of surgical decompression in the setting of thoracolumbar spinal cord injury. A concern for many is the ethical dilemma that a delay in surgery may adversely effect neurologic recovery although this has never been conclusively proven. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of early (before 24 hours) verse late (24-72 hours) surgical decompression in terms of neurological …

Thoracoscopic Decortication Vs Tube Thoracostomy With Fibrinolysis For Empyema In Children: A Prospective, Randomized Trial., Shawn D. St Peter, Kuojen Tsao, Troy L. Spilde, Scott J. Keckler, Christopher J. Harrison, Mary Anne Jackson, Susan W. Sharp, Walter S. Andrews, Douglas C. Rivard, Frank P. Morello, G W. Holcomb Iii, Daniel J. Ostlie

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

PURPOSE: Management of empyema has been debated in the literature for decades. Although both primary video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and tube thoracostomy with pleural instillation of fibrinolytics have been shown to result in early resolution when compared to tube thoracostomy alone, there is a lack of comparative data between these modes of management. Therefore, we conducted a prospective, randomized trial comparing VATS to fibrinolytic therapy in children with empyema.

METHODS: After Institutional Review Board approval, children defined as having empyema by either loculation on imaging or more than 10,000 white blood cells/microL were treated with VATS or fibrinolysis. Based on …