The histamine-infusion test was conducted in 50 subjects with a modification that allowed the completeness of recovery of the maximal gastric secretion to be assessed. The effects of the exact position of the tube and the position of the subject on the completeness of recovery were investigated. A simple water-recovery test was found to be as reliable as fluoroscopy for showing that the tip of the tube was within the stomach. Provided that the tip was within the stomach, the exact position of the tube did not affect recovery. Furthermore, recovery in 19 subjects was not appreciably affected by changing the person from the left lateral to the supine semirecumbent position.
Abstract A total of 42 patients presenting with recurrent unilateral parotid gland swelling was studied. Plain radiology of 38 patients with proved calculi showed that the lateral view is valueless. The anteroposterior view was positive in 58 per cent, and when coupled with an intrabuccal view 71 per cent of the calculi were radio-opaque. The overwhelming majority of calculi were visible as filling defects on sialography, while in 4 patients an area of narrowing with dilatation of the parotid duct proximal to it represented the site of the calculus. In the remaining 4 patients with the latter sign, repeat sialography showed normal appearances in 2, suggesting that the calculi had passed.
The INSURRECT project uses the SuperJANET network to link six sites in the UK for interactive teaching and learning in surgery, an area of higher education where visual information is critical to the learning process. Collaboration between the six universities allows students access to a larger pool of surgical expertise and case studies than any single institution could provide. The project expects to improve the time that medical students can devote to surgery by up to 50%, by providing both supervised and unsupervised access to important visual information and case studies. Finally, the reduction in student numbers in operating theatres should reduce the infection risk to patients. A key component of the project is the central image resource, located in London, but allowing students and surgeons access from anywhere on the network. This paper describes the development of the interactive surgical teaching system and our experience with it during the first 18 months. One subjective observation, noticed after just one term's teaching, was the improved quality of the teaching.
Abstract Five adult patients with vascular malformations in the parotid region are described. Three of these patients had lumps in the parotid gland clinically indistinguishable from parotid tumours: one had a diffuse swelling of the cheek, and the fifth had a pulsatile tumour in the deep lobe of the gland. Two patients had a characteristic sign–the lump in the cheek became more obvious, both visually and on palpation, when the masseter muscle was tensed. In 3 of the patients calcified opacities, resembling phleboliths, were demonstrated on plain X-ray examination. This is only parotid region in the British literature; no other report of a pulsating tumour within the parotid gland has been found in a search of the world literature.
Abstract Osteoporosis is a recognized complication following partial gastrectomy and is more common than osteomalacia. Recent improvements in the measurement of bone mineral status (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, DEXA) have assisted in measuring osteoporosis. Sixteen men who had undergone gastrectomy more than 30 years previously were examined. This study reports the effect of calcium supplementation in six patients in whom osteomalacia had been excluded and who showed abnormally low bone mineral densities on DEXA scanning. Calcium supplementation for 6 months (microcrystalline hydroxyapatite, Ossopan® 8–32 g per day) produced no significant advantage for the treatment group at any site measured.