Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Postma.
This article discusses 2 patients with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the spermatic cord and presents a survey of the literature and therapeutic methods. In recent years the prognosis of this malignant tumor has improved significantly by virtue of a combination of radical inguinal orchiectomy and retroperitoneal lymph node dissection with supplementary chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.
Seven patients with hypereosinophilia in association with a lymphoblastic malignancy are described. The eosinophilia preceded or was present at diagnosis in all patients. Eosinophil counts fell during complete remission but rose significantly before or during relapses in five patients. Hypogranular and sometimes Pelger-eosinophils were seen in five cases. Surface and enzyme markers defined the malignancy in six cases as common-ALL (three), T-ALL (two) and T-lymphoblastic lymphoma (one). Although a diagnosis of eosinophilic leukaemia or acute myeloid leukaemia with eosinophil differentiation was considered in three patients, cytochemical and ultrastructural studies failed to show any evidence of myeloid differentiation in the blast cells. The bone marrow karyotype was normal in the four patients studied. All seven patients had one or more relapses and six died 6-62 months from diagnosis. Severe complications of the hypereosinophilic syndrome developed in one patient. As T-lymphocytes have been shown to be involved in the induction of eosinophilia in rodents, it is suggested that the hypereosinophilia in these patients was induced by eosinopoietic stimuli produced by lymphoblasts.
Two patients with CNS-leukaemia who developed a leukoencephalopathy after cranial irradiation and methotrexate administration are described. Conventional brain scanning with 99m TC-pertechnetate showed a peculiar pattern which suggested the presence of radio-activity within enlarged ventricles, but were later interpreted as accumulation in the periventricular white matter. The brainscan pattern correlated well with the neuropathological findings in the case where autopsy was performed. This brain scan pattern is for unknown reasons only rarely mentioned in literature. It seems a useful tool in diagnostic procedures in similar patients.
The development and validation of a radioimmunoassay for progesterone in cow's milk is described. Control of the temperature during storage of the milk and also during the sample incubation procedure appeared to be a critical requirement with respect to reduction of nonspecific binding of tritiated progesterone. Ranges of milk progesterone levels were established during pregnancy as well as during the luteal and the follicular phase of the oestrus and of pregnancy in three trials on two experimental farms. The mean accuracy with respect to the diagnosis "pregnant", "non-pregnant" or "not in oestrus" were 84.0, 97.6, and 100%, respectively. By leaving out of account all animals with high progesterone values (greater than 10 ng. ml(-1)) on day 1 (= day of insemination) the accuracy of the diagnosis "pregnant" was improved to 87.1%.
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In this study the relationship between speech errors (deviations from a speech plan), disfluencies (interruptions in the execution of a speech plan), and self-repairs (corrections of speech errors) was examined. Two hypotheses were formulated: Either disfluencies are special types of speech errors, or they resemble self-repairs (i.e., they are corrective actions applied to anticipated, internal errors). To test these two hypotheses, patterns of speech errors, disfluencies, and self-repairs were compared in a task in which speakers recited stimulus sentences four times in succession under time pressure. Subjects in one condition were explicitly instructed to pay close attention to accuracy of speaking. In another condition subjects were told that speech accuracy was not important. A much lower speech error rate was found in the higher-accuracy condition, but rates of disfluencies and self-repairs did not differ significantly between the two accuracy conditions. This is regarded as support for the self-repair account of disfluencies. When accuracy of speaking is stressed, speakers tend to avoid and repair speech errors at the cost of reduced speech fluency.