Search

One hundred patients between 15-46 years, undergoing elective surgery, were given spinal anaesthesia using 29-gauge spinal needles introduced through a Tuohy needle with a fixation device. Successful spinal anaesthesia was achieved in 98%. A success rate of 100% was achieved when a combined spinal epidural technique was used. Ninety-eight percent of the patients would prefer the same anaesthesia procedure for similar kind of surgery in the future.

Levels of IgE were examined in pairs of serum and synovial fluid of the knee joint in a series of 78 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), reactive synovitis during osteoarthrosis, and after injury. The IgE levels in synovial fluid were significantly lower (p less than 0.05) in all groups; in RA, they were in significant correlation (r=0.6208, p less than 0.0001) and in direct linear regression to the levels in serum. In 5 patients of the whole series, however, the IgE levels in serum were lower by one order of magnitude as compared with synovial fluid. Serum levels of IgE in RA were in significant correlation and in direct linear regression to the titres of rheumatoid factors according to the latex-fixation test (r=0.3688, p=0.0249) and the haemagglutination test with sheep red cells (r=0.3721, p=0.0235).

Sulphur containing radioprotective drugs amifostine (gammaphos, WR-2721) or cystamine (disulfide of meracaptoethylamine) of Czechoslovak production were examined in whole body fission neutrons irradiated rats in the thermal column of reactor VVR-S. Using the split-dose technic the first sublethal neutron dose in the range 1–2 Gy was followed by second lethal exposures in the two time intervals (3 or 6 days) using whole body fission neutrons irradiations (3 days interval) or whole body γ-irradiations (6 days interval) for LD50/30 evaluation within next 30 days survival observation. In other experiments the mean survival time (MST) in days was estimated in different rats group, when animals were whole body fission neutrons irradiated twice with 3-days interval using the total lethal doses of 4 or 5 Gy. Protected rats received amifostine (160 mg.kg-1 i.p. and 200 mg.kg-1 i.m.) or cystamine (40 mg.kg-1 i.p. and 50 mg.kg-1 i.m.), control rats obtained saline 20 min before beginning of irradiation in the amount of 0.5 ml.100 g-1 of the rat,s body weight. Nonsignificant DRF value 1.13 for WR-2721 i.p. was calculated in survival studies in rats twice neutron irradiated with 3 days interval (DRF 1.04 for cystamine). Chemical protectors were administered before each neutron exposure. MST of twice neutron lethal iradiated rats was prolonged not regularly by radioprotectors tested. WR-2721 and cystamine i.m. were not able to increase 6 days reparation processes after sublethal 2 Gy fission neutrons whole body irradiated rats.