Search

Preoperative levels of perchloric acid extractable plasma CEA were measured in 911 patients with complaints of the digestive system. A final diagnosis of benign disease was made for 579 patients; 332 patients were found to have cancer. Data for the preoperative CEA values were examined for clinical significance as an aide to diagnosis, preoperative disease staging, and prognosis. The results of our analysis support the conclusions of many investigators that the CEA assay is not a clinically useful diagnostic test, but it shows limited value in preoperative staging and a somewhat stronger correlation with prognosis.

The establishment of a columnar pattern of organization in rat backskin and earskin was examined by using frozen sections expanded in alkaline buffer and by labeling with 3H-TdR and autoradiography. An adult columnar pattern of organization was established earlier in backskin than earskin. In both tissues the appearance of cell columns was related to a decreasing rate of cell proliferation and, for ear, to a decreasing rate of lateral growth of the epidermis.

Cell alignment in the stratum corneum of frozen sections of specimens of human skin was examined by light microscopy following expansion of the stratum corneum in alkaline buffer. Some degree of ordered structure was found in all specimens examined but considerable variation existed in precision of cell alignment. The typical degree of cell alignment was less precise than that typically observed in experimental animals.

Both strontium and calcium, in high local concentrations, stimulate bone formation. The newly formed bone is no more subject to osteoclastic attack than normal bone. The bone response to response to calcium in that the response is faster but of shorter duration. The response to both strontium and calcium is repetitive.

A clinical study to evaluate the Makari Intradermal Test (MIT) involved 180 patients seen with sympotoms suggestive of malignant disease, 85 of whom were subsequently shown to have carcinoma of the large bowel, and 66 asymptomatic volunteers. The prognostic value of initial and serial studies relative to patient-survival rate and the efficacy of serial studies in detecting disease in long-term follow-up of patients with resected malignant lesions were evaluated. On the basis of this study, the MIT appears to merit further investigation, not as a definitive diagnostic procedure, but as a survey for identifying patients with early malignancy or individuals at high risk to malignant epigenesis.

The fifth edition of Mr. Gabriel's book, like the previous four, presents diseases of the colon, rectum, and anus as they are treated at St. Mark's Hospital in London. St. Mark's is the oldest hospital in the world limiting its work to proctology. It was founded in 1835, and Mr. Gabriel has been on its staff for more than 40 years. The tremendous experience in volume and variety of proctologic cases done in St. Mark's is recorded in this book. In the latest edition each chapter has been brought up to date in regard to text and illustrations, and two new chapters have been added. Chapter 5 concerns the malformed rectum and anus, while the new Chapter 10 thoroughly discusses pain in the anorectal area not explained by clear-cut lesions found on local examination. Anal incontinence is unusually well covered as to cause and treatment. The sections on tumors of