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Although measurements of trunk flexibility are an important part of a clinical examination, subjective methods are usually used to assess spinal mobility. We studied three easily performed objective techniques for determining trunk flexibility (the common "fingertip-to-floor" test, the modified Schober and Moll tests, and the Loebl inclinometer method) and their interexaminer and intraexaminer reproducibility. On 3 different days, each of 25 normal subjects was tested by the same investigator. In 25 other subjects, the studies were performed by a different examiner (one of three) on each of 3 days. We recorded the following mean coefficients of variation for interexaminer and intraexaminer reproducibility of results, respectively: fingertip-to-floor, 83% and 76.4%; flexion (Schober), 6.3% and 6.6%; right lateral flexion (Moll), 11.9% and 8.9%; left lateral flexion (Moll), 10.2% and 9.5%; extension (Moll), 9.5% and 7.3%; lumbar flexion (Loebl), 9.6% and 13.4%; and lumbar extension (Loebl), 65.4% and 50.7%. Although the reproducibility of the "fingertip-to-floor" test and the Loebl extension test was poor, all other tests studied had good reproducibility. The consistency of results with repeated testing should be considered in the application of various trunk flexibility tests to clinical and research data.

Geometric analysis of the chest roentgenogram allows calculation of estimated gas volume. If roentgenograms are made on individual patients or in epidemiologic studies in which relatively expensive nitrogen meters or body plethysmographs are not available, the thoracic roentgenogram provides an economical alternative. This study compares two roentgenographic methods of estimating total lung capacity in 154 subjects who also had total lung capacity estimated by the 7-minute nitrogen-washout technique or by total-body plethysmography. Results with the roentgenographic techniques were closely comparable with each other and with those of the gas-dilution and total-body plethysmograph methods in normal subjects. The planimetric method consistently estimated higher total lung capacity than the elliptic method in men and women with total lung capacity of 7.75 liters or less. In patients with severe obstructive lung disease, the roentgenographic methods were more closely comparable with body plethysmography, which is believed to be the most accurate, whereas the nitrogen-rinsing and similar gas-dilutional methods tended to underestimate the true volumes. The roentgenographic techniques also proved to be reliable in a small group of patients with varying degrees of pulmonary fibrosis.

Between January 1, 1935 and December 31, 1980, adult polycystic kidney disease (APKD) was diagnosed in 40 residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, resulting in an age- and sex-adjusted annual incidence rate of 1.38/100,000 person-years. In addition, 16 cases were detected at autopsy, increasing the rate to 2.06. It is estimated that 16 additional cases would have been discovered had all deaths come to autopsy, resulting in a rate of 2.75, or approximately twice the incidence rate of cases diagnosed during life. Because of improvements in medical care and diagnostic techniques, APKD has been diagnosed earlier and more frequently in the recent decades. This, along with therapeutic advances, explains the improvement in kidney and patient survival for the patients diagnosed during 1956-1980, as compared to those diagnosed during 1935-1955. Normotension at diagnosis tended to be associated with better kidney and/or patient survival. Cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death.

The effect of meclofenamate on urinary protein excretion, level of serum albumin, and renal function was studied prospectively in 30 patients with corticosteroid-resistant severe nephrotic syndrome: 16 with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, 12 with membranous glomerulopathy, and 2 with minimal-lesion nephropathy. Seventeen patients had a 40% or more reduction in urinary protein excretion ("responders"), and the decrease continued during long-term treatment. Meclofenamate therapy was discontinued after 2 months in eight "nonresponders" and in five other patients because of side effects (progressive increase in the level of serum creatinine in two, diarrhea in two, and pruritus in one). In responders, we recorded the following findings (mean +/- SD): urinary protein excretion decreased from 13.0 +/- 5.2 g/24 h to 7.2 +/- 3.5 g/24 h in 2 to 4 weeks and continued to decrease to 4.1 +/- 1.4 g/24 h at the time of the last follow-up study (median duration, 12 months; range, 6 to 36 months; P less than 0.01, 2 to 4 weeks versus later follow-up); the level of serum albumin increased from 1.9 +/- 0.5 g/dl to 2.9 +/- 0.7 g/dl (P less than 0.001) in 2 to 4 weeks; the level of serum cholesterol decreased from 413 +/- 125 mg/dl to 346 +/- 114 mg/dl (P less than 0.005) at the time of the last follow-up examination; and renal function remained unchanged from the baseline study to the follow-up study (serum creatinine 1.5 +/- 0.5 mg/dl versus 1.6 +/- 0.4 mg/dl and glomerular filtration rate 60.5 +/- 29.2 ml/min per 1.7 m2 versus 64.1 +/- 25.5 ml/min per 1.7 m2).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Although the MacAndrew scale (MAC) is the most widely used of the MMPI alcoholism screening scales, evidence to support its continued use is equivocal, and recent data raise serious questions about its efficacy in the screening of medical patients. In comparison, the Institutionalized Chronic Alcoholic Scale (ICAS), an 8-item scale, has an equivalent correct classification rate among male alcoholics and is significantly better than the MAC scale at identifying female alcoholics. Furthermore, misclassification rates among medical patients and normal persons are substantially lower for the ICAS than for the MAC scale, although the ICAS overidentifies potential alcoholism among normal women and female medical patients. However, reliability coefficients across the criterion and contrast samples are disappointingly low, and the use of the ICAS cannot be defended on that basis.

Hypertension is an early manifestation of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Whether polycystic kidneys have an intrinsic abnormality that leads to sodium retention, volume expansion, and hypertension is uncertain. We studied the natriuretic response to a 4-hour infusion of physiologic saline at a rate of 6.5 ml/kg per hour in 10 patients with ADPKD who had normal renal function and 10 gender- and age-matched control subjects. Baseline 24-hour urinary excretions of sodium and potassium were similar in both groups. The baseline filtration fraction was significantly higher in the patients with ADPKD than in the control subjects. During the infusion of saline, no significant changes in blood pressure, clearance of inulin, or clearance of p-aminohippuric acid were detected. The increase in fractional excretion of sodium over baseline was significantly higher in the patients with ADPKD than in the control subjects. The pressure-natriuresis regression line was significantly shifted to the right in patients with ADPKD who had hypertension. The fractional excretion of potassium was significantly lower in patients with ADPKD than in control subjects. No significant differences in plasma renin activity, aldosterone, or atrial natriuretic factor were detected between the two groups. These observations suggest the presence of subtle abnormalities in the management of renal sodium that might contribute to the development and maintenance of hypertension in patients with ADPKD.

A 45-year (1935-79) retrospective study of essential tremor based on original medical records on residents of Rochester, Minnesota, is presented. The age and sex adjusted incidence for the most recent 15 year period was 23.7 per 100 000 for US white population. The prevalence rate, age and sex adjusted to 1970 US white population on January 1, 1979 was estimated at 305.6 per 100 000. Survival after diagnosis of essential tremor is comparable to age and sex matched population of West North Central United States. Mean age at diagnosis was 58 (range 2-96) years. Age adjusted annual incidence rate was not different in males (18.3/100 000) and females (17.1/100 000). Functional handicap was reported by four (1.5%) of the 266 incidence cases in school, 13 (5%) cases at work and five cases (2%) retired prematurely. Excessive use of alcohol was noted in 16% and 6% were diagnosed as alcoholic. Torticollis was diagnosed in 3% cases and an additional diagnosis of Parkinson's disease after the index date was made in 2% of incidence cases. Subsequent emergence of Parkinsonism was regarded as incidental. Diagnosis of hypertension was made at some time in 30% of incidence cases during the period (mean 37 years) for which the medical records were available. Risk of hypertension after onset of essential tremor in the cases was not different from that in a control group.

The association between preoperative smoking cessation and postoperative pulmonary morbidity was studied prospectively in 200 consecutive patients undergoing an elective coronary artery bypass surgical procedure. Detailed respiratory, cardiovascular, and smoking histories were elicited. Preoperative arterial blood gas analyses and bedside spirometry were performed. Urinary cotinine levels were measured to verify smoking histories. During spirometry, severe angina developed in seven patients, who were hence excluded from the study; one patient died of hemorrhage intraoperatively. An observer unaware of patients' preoperative histories assessed the remaining 192 patients throughout the intraoperative and postoperative periods for pulmonary complications. Postoperative pulmonary complications occurred in a third of the current smokers. Patients who had stopped smoking for 2 months or less had a pulmonary complication rate almost 4 times that of patients who had stopped for more than 2 months (57.1% versus 14.5%). Patients who had stopped smoking for more than 6 months had rates similar to those who had never smoked (11.1% and 11.9%, respectively). Preoperative pulmonary dysfunction, increased pack-years of smoking, prolonged surgical time, and the use of enflurane were independently associated with postoperative pulmonary morbidity (P less than 0.05). We concluded that smoking cessation should occur at least 2 months preoperatively to maximize the reduction of postoperative respiratory complications.

We analyzed the medical records of 103 patients with familial adult motor neuron disease (MND). In the 72 families, 329 members were known to be affected. Observations were compared with the sporadic and Mariana forms of MND. Clinical and laboratory examinations of all three forms were similar in clinical course and findings, but there were minor variations in age at onset, sex ratio, survival, and the frequency with which onset occurred in the lower extremities. Recognition of the familial form still depends on diagnosis of the disease in more than one member of a family.

Twenty-nine of the 129 patients with RP seen at the Mayo Clinic between 1943 and 1984 had renal involvement. These patients were older, had arthritis and extrarenal vasculitis more frequently, and had a significantly worse survival rate than those without renal involvement. Renal biopsies were obtained in 11 of these 29 patients. The predominant lesions were mild mesangial expansion and cell proliferation, and segmental necrotizing glomerulonephritis with crescents. Small amounts of electron-dense deposits, predominantly mesangial, were noted on electron microscopy. Immunofluorescence revealed faint deposition of C3 and/or IgG or IgM, predominantly in the mesangium. Autopsies were obtained in 13 of the 47 patients who had died. Information regarding the renal pathology was available in 10 of these 13 autopsies. At the time of the initial evaluation at the Mayo Clinic, 6 of these 10 patients had evidence of renal involvement. At autopsy, none of these 10 patients had evidence of active renal vasculitis or segmental necrotizing glomerulonephritis, but 8 of the 10 patients exhibited variable degrees of vascular and glomerular sclerosis, segmental mesangial proliferation, tubular loss, and interstitial lymphocytic infiltrates. These observations expand the limited information available in the literature, which is based on 11 previously published case reports of renal involvement in RP. In only a few of our patients and previously reported patients were the manifestations of the disease limited to the systems characteristically involved in pure RP. The frequent coexistence of other autoimmune and connective tissue diseases supports the role of immune mechanisms in the pathogenesis of this syndrome. Deposition of immune complexes is likely to play a role in the pathogenesis of the glomerular lesions associated with RP. Administration of corticosteroids alone is sufficient to induce a complete remission in some cases, while in others the addition of a cytotoxic agent is necessary to control the activity of the disease or to spare corticosteroid side effects and maintain a remission. Immunosuppression-related infectious complications and undetected relapses after discontinuation of immunosuppressive therapy are largely responsible for the morbidity and mortality observed in these patients.

Kidney survival analysis was performed for 64 patients with focal segmental sclerosis to ascertain whether the degree of proteinuria and other factors determined at the time of renal biopsy might be associated with progression to end-stage renal failure. On the basis of urinary excretion of protein, which was measured in 63 of the 64 patients, three groups of patients were identified: 15 patients (group A) had asymptomatic proteinuria (less than 3.5 g/24 h), 38 patients (group B) had nephrotic proteinuria (3.5 to 14 g/24 h), and 10 patients (group C) had massive proteinuria (more than 14 g/24 h). Kidney survival curves showed that the median time from biopsy to end-stage renal failure was more than 11, 7, and 3 years for groups A, B, and C, respectively. Thus, patients with massive proteinuria had an accelerated course to renal failure as compared with other nephrotic patients who had a lesser degree of proteinuria (P = 0.014) and patients who had asymptomatic proteinuria (P less than 0.001). Higher initial serum creatinine levels and severe tubulointerstitial damage were associated with a shorter time to end-stage renal failure. Age at onset and at biopsy, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum albumin and cholesterol, percentage of sclerotic glomeruli, mesangial proliferation, hyalinosis, vascular sclerosis, and initial response to prednisone were not associated with the time to end-stage renal failure when each of these variables was considered separately.

Asymptomatic microhematuria is a common finding, occurring in 13% of adult men and postmenopausal women in Rochester, Minn. Previous recommendations to perform cystoscopic and excretory urographic examinations on all patients with this finding were based on findings in referred patients. In the present population-based study, the frequency of serious urologic disease in patients with asymptomatic microhematuria was 2.3%; only 0.5% had bladder or renal cell carcinoma. Urologic malignant lesions occurred more frequently in the elderly. There was a trend toward more serious diseases in those with higher grades of hematuria. Complete urologic investigation of all patients with any degree of asymptomatic microhematuria cannot be recommended. The presence of other risk factors should be considered in opting for further evaluation.

Between 1950 and 1974, 318 cases of initial pneumothorax were diagnosed among the residents of Olmsted County, Minn. Seventy-five cases were due to trauma, and 102 were iatrogenic. One hundred forty-one cases were spontaneous in onset, of which 77 were primary and 64 secondary to a specific underlying pulmonary disease. The age-adjusted incidence of primary spontaneous pneumothorax was 7.4/100,000/yr for males and 1.2/100,000/yr for females. For secondary spontaneous pneumothorax, the incidence was 6.3 and 2.0/100,000/yr for males and females, respectively. The ratio of male-to-female incidence was 6.2:1 for primary and 3.2:1 for secondary spontaneous pneumothorax. The differences between the incidence rates for primary and secondary pneumothorax by sex or in total were not significantly different.

A marked drop occurs in mixed venous oxygen saturation during temporary interruption of mechanical ventilation. To avoid this potentially dangerous problem and eliminate possible errors induced by associated hemodynamic changes, a simple electronic circuit was constructed for measurement of mean pulmonary artery wedge pressure without separation of the patient from the ventilator. Its 12-second time constant was sufficient to cover two to four respiratory cycles. In 50 ventilator-supported patients with the adult respiratory distress syndrome, it was shown that the value obtained from the circuit was not different from the instantaneous value obtained at the end of expiration during temporary cessation of mechanical ventilation, but was different from the pulmonary artery diastolic pressure. The circuit value was not affected by positive end-expiratory pressures up to 10 cm H2O. The method is sufficiently accurate for its intended purpose, improves the care of these severely-ill patients, and can be safely used without a physician being present.

Despite efforts to develop methods for measuring the quality of medical care, no satisfactory mechanism has been established. Our study, using hypertension as a clinical model, evaluated process and outcomes separately and then compared the two. Physician adherence to an extensive process list varied substantially from established criteria. No statistically significant association was detected between process and outcome. Regression analysis examined the relation between outcome diastolic pressure and 12 predictive variables that included patient satisfaction and social class. The only statistically significant variables (P less than 0.05) related to outcome blood pressure were age, initial blood pressure and weight. The inability to identify a relation between various process items and outcome suggests that, in determining a successful outcome for hypertensive patients, the selective use of process by the physician may be more effective than adherence to a rigid criteria list.

The physiologic effects of epinephrine on mineral metabolism are not known. In six healthy men, insulin-induced hypoglycemia, a potent stimulus to endogenous epinephrine secretion, resulted in a decrement of 0.9+/-0.1 mg/dl (mean+/-SE, P < 0.001) in serum inorganic phosphorus and smaller increments in magnesium and total and ionized calcium. Plasma immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (iPTH) decreased and plasma immunoreactive calcitonin (iCT) increased appropriately with the increments in calcium and magnesium. We wished to determine to what extent these changes in mineral metabolism might be attributable to epinephrine. Therefore, in the same protocol, we infused the hormone over 60 min in these six men, in doses that resulted in steady-state plasma epinephrine concentrations ranging from 52 to 945 pg/ml (levels that span the physiologic range), for a total of 25 studies. Serum ionized calcium, iPTH, and iCT concentrations were unaltered by these physiologic elevations of plasma epinephrine. However, epinephrine resulted in dose-dependent decrements in serum inorganic phosphorus of 0.6+/-0.1 mg/dl (P < 0.005) for the highest epinephrine infusion rate. The plasma epinephrine concentration threshold for this hypophosphatemic effect was approximately 50-100 pg/ml. Thus, the sensitivity of the hypophosphatemic response to epinephrine is comparable to that of the cardiac chronotropic, systolic pressor, and lipolytic responses to epinephrine, and considerably greater than that of the diastolic depressor, glycogenolytic, glycolytic, and ketogenic responses to the hormone in human beings. In view of its rapidity, the hypophosphatemic effect of epinephrine is probably the result of a net shift of phosphate from the extracellular compartment to intracellular compartments. We suggest that it is a direct effect of epinephrine, in that it is not mediated by changes in availability of the primary regulatory hormones PTH and CT, although indirect effects mediated by changes in other hormones, such as insulin, cannot be excluded. The hypophosphatemic response is also not attributable to increments in plasma calcium. These data indicate that epinephrine in physiologic concentrations is a hypophosphatemic hormone in man.

Treatment of idiopathic membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis remains an unsettled issue. The results of five randomized clinical trials have not provided convincing evidence for the effectiveness of any treatment. Follow-up periods in these trials were relatively short-term, ranging from 1 to 4 years. In three recently published long-term clinical studies of patients with membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, 10-year cumulative survival free of renal failure improved by 20% to 35% over that described in studies published 5 to 10 years earlier. In each study, survival was estimated using life-table analysis. The survival curve in the treated group was then compared with that of a historical control group using the date of clinical onset as time zero. The survival curve in the treatment group was spuriously shifted to the right. By definition, those in the treatment groups had to survive from clinical onset to initiation of treatment, but the historical control group did not have such a constraint. The problem in this comparison is that treatments were not started in a large number of patients for years after clinical onset, resulting in a biased comparison in favor of the treatment groups. (Also, the conclusions drawn from the survival data were that the improvement related directly to various treatments that were used.) Survival was similarly improved in patients treated with dipyridamole and aspirin when survival was plotted against time after clinical onset. However, when the data were replotted and the platelet-inhibitor-treated group was compared with a contemporary randomized control group, no difference in either patient survival or survival free of renal disease was demonstrated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In this retrospective study, we analyzed clinical laboratory, and pathologic variables to determine their value in predicting survival and survival free of renal failure for 170 consecutive patients with idiopathic renal vasculitis and glomerulonephritis evaluated during a 15 year period. Of the 170 patients, 108 had focal segmental necrotizing glomerulonephritis alone (FSNGN), 33 had FSNGN and small-artery vasculitis, and 29 had FSNGN and medium-sized artery vasculitis. Considerable overlap of clinical, laboratory, and pathologic findings existed among the three groups. Overall patient survival was 81% at one year, 61% at five years, and 44% at ten years, significantly less than expected survival. Overall survival free of renal failure, by definition, was lower than patient survival. There were no differences among these three groups in patient survival or survival free of renal failure. Multivariate analysis identified leukocytosis and serum creatinine level as independent predictors of patient survival and survival free of renal failure. In addition, univariate analysis identified age and hypertension as significant risk factors but did not add independent predictive value for these two end points. In patients with serum creatinine levels less than 4 mg/dl, the effect of increasing levels of leukocyte count was significantly associated with poorer outcomes for both patient survival (P = 0.006) and survival free of renal failure (P = 0.024). Outcomes for these two end points were worse for patients with lower serum creatinine levels (less than 4.0 mg/dl) and high leukocyte counts (greater than 16,000/mm3) than for those with serum creatinine levels greater than or equal to 4.0 mg/dl.

We received requested follow-up information from 105 (73%) of our 144 kidney donors who had undergone unilateral nephrectomy 10 to 20 years previously. Five donors had died of unrelated causes 6 or more years postoperatively. Studies in the remaining 100 donors showed that the current mean serum creatinine concentration was 1.2 mg/dl and the mean 24-hour urinary protein value was 89 mg. Hypertension (defined as 160 mm Hg or more systolic, 95 mm Hg or more diastolic, or both) was present in 19% of the donors. In a subgroup of 66 donors who had had serial serum creatinine determinations, the renal function, as estimated on the basis of these serum creatinine values, had not deteriorated with time. Thus, we consider unilateral nephrectomy in this group of patients relatively safe. Subsequent evaluation will be necessary to ascertain whether these findings prevail.