Archive » 1994 » 4 »

Immune interventions were introduced in the treatment of human cancer about 100 years ago. Thanks to the development of mon­oclonal antibodies and molecular gene tech­nology during the past 15 years, cancer immunotherapy has changed dramatically, mak­ing an exeptionally rapid progress. The paper reviews briefly the major advances in cancer immunotherapy, including various immunisa­tion techniques, treatment with cytokines and their analogues, … Preberite več >>

After describing the main characteristics of the desease, the author presents several cases of discitis in order to illustrate the difficult diagnosis due to the misleading clinical picture. The desease occurs most frequently as a complication of major abdominal operations and surgery of a ruptured intervertebral disc. Operative treatment should be reserved only for patients with neurological signs complicating the … Preberite več >>

Since schizophrenia is perhaps the most debilitating mental illness, it is important to know the prognosis factors. It has long been believed that outcome of schizophrenia is almost inevitably poor. In this article the author discusses the methodologic problems of prognostic stud­ies and presents an up-to-date list of prognos­tic factors. An acute onset and good premorbid functioning predict a favourable … Preberite več >>

The relationship between stressful emotions and sudden cardiac death is sup­ported not only by anecdotal reports, but also by experimental, epidemiologic and clinical data. Links between emotional stress, neural control and cardiac function are investigated by neurocardiology, a new interdisciplinary area in medicine. The three main issues of neurocar­diology: anatomic connections between the brain and the heart, experimental studies on … Preberite več >>

Infective endocarditis is a disease with protean manifestations. The diagnosis is based mainly on the typical clinical signs and on a few laboratory parameters. The clinical and epide­miological aspects of the disease have changed dramatically during the last decade. Echocardio­graphy became the mainstay of rapid and no­ninvasive diagnosis of infective endocarditis. In view of these changes new diagnostic criteria for … Preberite več >>

Corticospinal influences on distal and proximal muscles of the upper limb were stud­ied in 14 normal volunteers. The techniques of electrical and magnetic corticospinal tract acti­vation through intact scalp were used. Recordings were made of the discharges of single motor units from the abductor digiti minimi and biceps brachii muscles. Poststimulus time histograms (PSTHs) of the motor unit discharges were … Preberite več >>