Sensory and affective dimensions of phasic pain are indistinguishable in the self-report and psychophysiology of normal laboratory subjects

This study evaluated the discriminant validity of subjects differentially scaling the sensory and affective dimensions of pain. It sought to determine (1) whether subjects can differentially scale sensory and affective aspects of phasic laboratory pain in the absence of task demand bias that fosters apparent differential scaling; (2) whether psychophysiologic responses to painful stimuli can predict pain report (PR); and (3) whether such responses contribute more to affective than to sensory judgments. Fifty-six men and 44 women repeatedly experienced varied painful electrical fingertip stimuli at low, medium, and high intensities. On half of the trial blocks, subjects made sensory judgments; on the remainder they made affective judgments. Response measures included PR, pupil dilation, heart rate, respiration rate, skin conductance response (SCR), and late near field evoked potentials. Subjects did not rate the stimuli differently when making sensory versus affective judgments. The psychophysiologic variables, principally the SCR, accounted for 44% of the variance in the PR. Psychophysiologic response patterns did not differentiate affective and sensory judgment conditions. Noteworthy sources of individual differences included baseline PR levels and the linear effects of SCR on PR.

Hyperthyroidism with metastatic follicular thyroid carcinoma

A 70-yr-old woman presented with hyperthyroidism and metastatic follicular carcinoma of the thyroid. The blood level of thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin (TSIg) was elevated. A total thyroidectomy was performed. One month later she remained hyperthyroid. Three weeks after therapy with 218 mCi of I-131 sodium iodide, the patient was euthyroid. Six months after the initial radioiodide therapy, she was again hyperthyroid and was given a second oral treatment dose of I-131 (220 mCi). Five months later, the patient had again become euthyroid. It is likely that initially the woman's metastases were producing sufficient hormone to render her hyperthyroid. After thyroidectomy and two large doses of radioiodide, she has remained euthyroid without having to take exogenous hormone. The blood level of TSIg had become undetectable. Based on this finding, we offer a tentative classification of the causes of hyperthyroidism in patients with thyroid carcinoma.

Pulmonary perfusion "without ventilation"

An 88-yr-old man, with prior left upper lobectomy and phrenic nerve injury, had a ventilation/perfusion lung image. Both wash-in and equilibrium ventilation images showed no radioactive gas in the left lung. Nevertheless, the left lung was perfused. A similar result was obtained on a repeat study 8 days later. Delayed images, during washout, showed some radioactive gas in the left lung. Nearly absent ventilation (but continued perfusion) of that lung might have been related to altered gas dynamics brought about by the prior lobectomy, a submucosal bronchial lesion, phrenic nerve damage, and limited motion of the left part of the diaphragm. This case raises the issue of the degree of ventilation (and the phase relationship between the lungs) required for the entry of radioactive gas into a diseased lung, and the production of a "reversed ventilation/perfusion mismatch."

Radionuclide study of functional resolution of unilateral renal vein thrombosis

The diagnosis of unilateral renal vein thrombosis was established in a 50-year-old woman. A functional evaluation, by means of Tc-99m DTPA, was performed almost immediately, and at intervals up to nearly eight months later. Functional return of the involved kidney could be documented by plotting the ratio of affected kidney/total kidney activity. Conservative therapy was accompanied by a return of function of the kidney to 45% of total renal activity.

Thyroid carcinoma after radioiodide therapy for hyperthyroidism. Analysis based on age, latency, and administered dose of I-131

Twenty-five reports in the medical literature of thyroid carcinomas which were detected after radioiodide therapy for hyperthyroidism were reviewed. These cases did not show a usual characteristic of radiation-associated tumors, namely a long latency period. That is, in 8/25 the latency period was under five years, and the mean latency was only 7.3 years. Further, there was no relationship between latency and age at treatment, or between latency and the dose of radioiodide employed. In 15/25 of the cases, there were known thyroid nodules. Three of the patients had thyroiditis (which itself has a correlation with thyroid carcinoma), and one individual had prior head and neck external radiation. There was no substantiating evidence that radioiodide treatment for hyperthyroidism was the cause of these thyroid carcinomas.

An original approach to the diagnosis of scoline-induced apnoea

A new technique is described for measuring the rate of scoline hydrolysis by plasma cholinesterase, which may prove useful in the diagnosis of scoline sensitivity. The importance of extensive family screening is emphasized and three cases possessing a silent gene are described.