Intestinal obstruction from appendiceal abscess in a newborn infant

Perforated appendix in the newborn period is rare, its symptoms are occult and its outcome is disastrous. Associated mechanical small bowel obstruction as part of the clinical picture is rare indeed. We have treated a premature infant who presented with prolonged intermittent vomiting. Factors contributing to difficulty in diagnosis and to eventual succussful management are discussed.

Serum thrombopoietic activity following administration of vinblastine

A possible role of humoral factors in the pathogenesis of vinblastine-induced thrombocytosis was examined. The thrombopoietic activity in serum of experimental animals was tested for its ability to stimulate the incorporation of 75-Se-selonemethionine into platelets of thrombocythaemic mice. The administration of low doses (0.1--0.5 mg/kg body wt.) of vinblastine to rabbits caused a significant increase in serum thrombopoietic activity. Higher doses of vinblastine (1--5 mg/kg body wt.) also increased the serum thrombopoietic activity, but this increase was preceded by a transient drop in the platelet count of peripheral blood. This thrombocytopenia could have been a stimulus for an increase in thrombopoietic activity, through a compensatory feedback mechanism. The vinblastine-induced increase in thrombopoietic activity was abolished by bilateral nephrectomy but not by bilateral ureteral ligation. These data suggest that kidney tissue may be a major source of the serum thrombopoietic factors.

The plasminogen activator of the arterial wall

The plasminogen activator in 645 specimens of various human arteries--thoracic, abdominal aorta, carotic, pulmonary, renal, basilar, coronary - was studied using Todd's histochemical method. 92 cadavers were used, 1--18 hours post mortem from subjects aged from 272 days to 83 years. 45 specimens of pulmonary, renal and splenic arteries were obtained during surgery. The greatest fibrinolytic activity was within the adventitia. Intima occasionally showed very little fibrinolytic activity, or none at all. No statistically significant differences in plasminogen activator activity were found between the various arteries examined. A statistically significant increase in fibrinolysis in adventitia of atherosclerotic arteries was established. No correlation was found between the fibrinolytic activity of the arteries and their alkaline phosphatase content. Some properties of the plasminogen activator of the arterial vessel wall were evaluated. Influence of storage, inactivation with epsilonaminocaproic acid and extracted with potassium thiocyanate was studied.

Imidazole carboxamide (DTIC) in the treatment of advanced lymphomas. Efficacy of DTIC in cases which fail to respond to conventional chemotherupetic combinations

15 patients with malignant lymphomas (stage III B or IV) who had become resistant to previous combination chemotherapy were treated with DTIC. The drug was administered intravenously as a single agent in doses of 300 mg/m2 on 5 consecutive days, once a month. The results demonstrate good responses in Hodgkin's disease, while in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas only incomplete and short remissions or failures were recorded. The only untoward side effects were nausea, vomiting and pain in the vein during the injection.

Chilling of somatic cells unnecessary for Sendai virus-induced heterokaryon formation

Incubation of cell suspensions or monolayers at 4 degrees C for 20 min after addition of beta-propiolactone-inactivated Sendai virus did not enhance heterokaryon formation as compared to parallel cell cultures incubated at 37 degrees C immediately after the addition of Sendai virus. These findings show that the routine chilling of somatic cells in fusion experiments can be omitted.

Phagocytic activity of leukaemic blasts

Phagocytic activity of leukaemic blasts in 20 adults and 16 children suffering from acute leukaemia was studied in vitro by the use of ferrioxidsaccharate. Most frequently phagocytosing blasts were encountered in myelomonocytic leukaemias. The morphological character of positive blasts resembled often that of monocytoid cells. In lymphoblastic and reticular leukaemias phagocytic ability of blasts was an exceptional finding.

Karyological analysis of Rous sarcoma virus-producing rat-kangaroo cell lines

Karyological analysis of the PtK 1 cell line and of cell lines derived from it which had been productively infected with Rous sarcoma virus (Schmidt-Ruppin strain) revealed heterogeneity among the various stemlines. The 11-chromosome stemlines of all cell lines were composed of several karyotypic variants. The frequency of chromosomal damage in the Rous sarcoma virus-producing cell lines was not increased above the control level in the noninfected cell line.

Thrombocytosis in Rats Induced by Vinblastine

Blood platelet count was studied in 188 normal Wistar rats following administration of vinblastine (VBL). VBL in doses of 0.1 or 0.5 mg/kg causes significant thrombocytosis in normal rats. Prior to thrombocytosis, an increase of megakaryocytes in the bone marrow appears, which does not seem to be a reaction on any thrombocytopenic period. These findings may lead to the conclusion that VBL has a stimulating effect on thrombocytopoiesis in rats.