Federal drug discount program proves tricky for hospitals to navigate.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C A Thompson.
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BACKGROUND: Prostate ducts and acini whose lumens are filled with malignant cells represent a well-recognized histological pattern recently termed intraductal carcinoma of the prostate (IDC-P). These tumors are often associated with rapid disease progression, and most recur after radical surgery. Controversy exists as to whether IDC-P should be recognized as a separate entity, an extension of high-grade dysplasia (PIN) or invasive carcinoma as described by the Gleason grading system. This study investigates the use of molecular markers in defining the position of IDC-P in the evolutionary hierarchy of prostate cancer progression. METHODS: IDC-P, high-grade dysplasia, and invasive cancers from a cohort of 20 selected radical prostatectomy specimens were screened for loss of heterozygosity (LOH), using 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers frequently lost in prostate cancer. RESULTS: LOH was absent in Gleason grade 3 cancer, infrequent in high-grade dysplasia (9%) and Gleason grade 4 cancer (29%), but common in IDC-P (60%). In IDC-P, and to a lesser extent Gleason grade 4 cancers, multiple sites of allelic loss in individual cases were usual. CONCLUSIONS: Allelic instability provides further evidence that IDC-P is not a simple extension of dysplasia, nor does it represent invasion of Gleason grade 3 cancers into the ductal/acinar system. IDC-P and Gleason grade 4 cancer represent late but possibly separate events in prostate cancer evolution.
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OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine the relationship between exercise duration and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with profound (> or =2 mm) ST segment depression during exercise treadmill testing (ETT). BACKGROUND: Patients with stable symptoms but profound ST segment depression during ETT are often referred for a coronary intervention on the basis that presumed severe coronary artery disease (CAD) will lead to unfavorable cardiovascular outcomes, irrespective of symptomatic and functional status. We hypothesized that good exercise tolerance in such patients treated medically is associated with favorable long-term outcomes. METHODS: We prospectively followed 203 consecutive patients (181 men; mean age 73 years) with known stable CAD and > or =2 mm ST segment depression who are performing ETT according to the Bruce protocol for an average of 41 months. The primary end point was occurrence of myocardial infarction (MI) or death. RESULTS: Eight (20%) of 40 patients with an initial ETT exercise duration < or =6 min developed MI or died, as compared with five (6%) of 84 patients who exercised between 6 and 9 min and three (3.8%) of 79 patients who exercised > or =9 min (p = 0.01). Compared with patients who exercised < or =6 min, increased ETT duration was significantly associated with a reduced risk of MI/death (6 to 9 min: relative risk [RR] = 0.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.08 to 0.76; >9 min: RR = 0.14, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.53). This protective effect persisted after adjustment for potentially confounding variables. We observed a 23% reduction in MI/death for each additional minute of exercise the patient was able to complete during the index ETT. CONCLUSIONS: Optimal medical management in stable patients with CAD with profound exercise-induced ST segment depression but good ETT duration is an appropriate alternative to coronary revascularization and is associated with low rates of MI and death.
BACKGROUND: Limited population-based data are available that describe temporal and recent trends in the incidence and case-fatality rates in patients with primary ventricular fibrillation (VF) complicating acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The purpose of this study was to describe changes over a 22-year period (1975 through 1997) in the incidence and hospital case-fatality rates of primary VF complicating AMI from a multihospital, community-wide perspective. METHODS AND RESULTS: This was an observational study of metropolitan Worcester residents hospitalized with a validated uncomplicated AMI (n = 5020) in all hospitals in the Worcester, Massachusetts, metropolitan area (1990 census population = 437,000) during 11 1-year periods between 1975 and 1997. The overall incidence rate of primary VF complicating AMI was 4.7%. The crude as well as multivariable adjusted odds of the development of VF did not change significantly over the 22-year period under study. The overall in-hospital case-fatality rate of patients with primary VF was 44%, which was significantly greater in comparison with AMI patients in whom VF did not develop (5%). Hospital mortality rates associated with primary VF declined over time. Improved survival was observed in patients who had primary VF in the 1990s after adjusting for potential prognostic confounders. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this community-wide study failed to indicate changes over time in the incidence rates of primary VF in patients hospitalized with AMI between 1975 and 1997. On the other hand, hospital death rates in patients with primary VF have shown encouraging declines during more recent periods. These mortality trends are likely to be the results of improvements in the treatment and more careful surveillance of patients with AMI.
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Right-sided cardiac thromboemboli, or pulmonary emboli-in-transit, represent an unusual disease process with high morbidity and mortality. We present a detailed case report and a synopsis of our experience at the University of Mississippi Medical Center between 1990 and 1997 and review the current medical literature. These thrombi and emboli may largely be subdivided into type A--a mobile, serpiginous clot that is probably a mobilized deep vein thrombus--and type B--a rather immobile clot morphologically similar to left-sided heart thrombi that may represent intracardiac thrombosis. The mainstays of therapy include surgical embolectomy and thrombolysis, but there is no clear benefit of one over the other. Treatment should be individualized according to the clot's size and morphology, likelihood of preexisting pulmonary embolism, the patient's cardiopulmonary reserve, comorbid conditions, and local expertise with treatment modalities.
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The clinical entities of unstable angina, non-Q wave myocardial infarction, and Q wave myocardial infarction share the same pathogenesis and, because of this, are linked under the heading of acute coronary syndromes. Prompt reperfusion in the early phase of acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction, with thrombolysis or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, now has an established place in the treatment of this condition. However, thrombolysis has been disappointing and may be harmful in the treatment of unstable angina and non-Q wave myocardial infarction. While traditional therapy with morphine, oxygen, nitrates, aspirin, heparin, and beta blockers may be indicated in the treatment of all types of acute coronary syndromes, recent studies have led to advances in the treatment of unstable angina/non-Q wave myocardial infarction patients. In these patients, enoxaparin (a low molecular weight heparin) and the platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor antagonists may be particularly effective.