Two regimens of steroid treatment for the initial attack of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome in children were compared in a controlled multicentre study. Short-course prednisone therapy consisted of 60 mg/m2 per 24 h until proteinuria had disappeared for 3 days, followed by 40 mg/m2 per 48 h until complete remission had occurred. The standard prednisone therapy was 60 mg/m2 per 24 h for 4 weeks, followed by 40 mg/m2 per 48 h for 4 weeks. 61 children with a first attack of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome were allocated at random to these groups. Urinary remission in the short-course group was achieved after 14 days of daily prednisone, and complete remission after an additional 16 days of alternate day prednisone. The cumulative rate of patients with sustained remissions after two years was significantly lower after the short course than after standard treatment (19% versus 41%, p = 0.001). The mean duration of remission in patients with a relapse was half as long after the short course (79 versus 169 days, p = 0.004). Complete initial remission of steroid responsive nephrotic syndrome can be obtained with half the standard prednisone dose, but the short course is followed by a higher rate of relapses, that require repeated prednisone administrations. In the long term, the standard regimen is preferable.

28 patients with stable chronic psoriasis completed a trial in which they were randomly allocated to receive either 10 fish-oil capsules ('MaxEPA') or 10 placebo capsules (olive oil) daily. Patients were specifically instructed not to change their normal diet. After 8 weeks' treatment there was a significant lessening of itching, erythema, and scaling in the active treatment group, with a trend towards an overall decrease in body surface area affected. No change occurred in the placebo group.

18 men with longstanding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antigenaemia but no symptoms received zidovudine in low-dose regimens (250 mg 6-hourly, 500 mg 6-hourly, or 500 mg 12-hourly) with or without acyclovir. Serum HIV antigen rose in only 1 patient and declined significantly in 13 (to below cut-off values in 9). In the 1 subject from whom HIV antigen positive cerebrospinal fluid was obtained, the fluid was antigen negative after 12 weeks of treatment. Acyclovir treatment alone or in addition did not seem to influence serum antigen levels. In 7 untreated men serum antigen levels rose or remained stable during follow-up. CD4+ cell counts increased in 14/18 treated subjects and 1/7 untreated subjects. No disease progression was observed in either group. Regression of enlarged lymph nodes was seen in the zidovudine-treated subjects. Adverse reactions to the study drugs were infrequent and mild. Anaemia caused symptoms in 2, but serious leucopenia or neutropenia was not observed.

In a multicentre clinical trial 1267 patients with hemispheric stroke of duration 12 h or less and haematocrit of 35% or more were prospectively randomised to either haemodilution (by venesection and replacement of the same volume of dextran 40 in saline solution) or control treatment groups. In the haemodiluted group mean haematocrit declined from 43% to 37% at 48 h and this fall was maintained for seven days. A plain computed tomographic scan was obtained in all but 37 patients. 87% of the strokes were infarcts and 13% were haemorrhages. After six months the numbers of dead or severely disabled patients were equally distributed in the two treatment groups, and this was true also within the ischaemic and haemorrhagic subgroups. Furthermore, haemodilution did not improve outcome either in the group with very recent ischaemic stroke (less than 6 h) or in the subgroup with highest haematocrit (greater than 45%). Thus, moderate haemodilution does not improve the outcome in acute stroke patients.

1010 postmenopausal women were recruited for an ovarian cancer screening programme incorporating serum CA-125 measurement and vaginal examination as initial tests and real-time ultrasonography as a secondary procedure in selected cases. The normal range for serum CA-125 in postmenopausal women was established. The specificity for ovarian cancer of serum CA-125 measurement and vaginal examination were 97.0% and 97.3%, respectively. The combinations of serum CA-125 measurement with ultrasound and vaginal examination with ultrasound achieved specificities of 99.8% and 99.0%, respectively. 100% specificity was achieved by serum CA-125 measurement with vaginal examination and by the combination of all three tests. The findings indicate that no individual screening test has acceptable specificity for ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women. However, the combination of CA-125 measurement with ultrasound did achieve acceptable specificity and offers the most hope of a specific and sensitive method for early detection.

In a randomised, double-blind trial 60 patients with left ventricular dysfunction (ejection fraction less than 45%) but without clinical evidence of heart failure 1 week after Q wave myocardial infarction were given captopril 25 mg thrice a day, frusemide 40 mg daily, or placebo. Left ventricular volumes were measured at baseline and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months with cross-sectional echocardiography and Simpson's rule analysis of standardised apical views. The captopril group showed no significant change in left ventricular end-diastolic volume index but left ventricular end-systolic volume index was significantly reduced and stroke volume index and ejection fraction were significantly increased from 1 month on. In contrast, the frusemide and placebo groups showed significant increases in ventricular volumes, with stroke volume index unchanged and ejection fraction slightly reduced. The changes in the captopril group were significantly different from those in the other groups.

144 patients presenting within 4 h of onset of myocardial infarction were randomised to receive either 100 mg of single-strand recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rTPA) in 3 h (n = 73) or placebo infused at the same rate (n = 71). All patients were given heparin 5000 units before the infusion and heparin was continued, initially at 1000 units per hour, after the infusion. Minor bleeding was more frequent in the rTPA recipients, and during subsequent anticoagulant therapy there were three clinically significant bleeding episodes in this group. Patency of the infarct-related coronary artery was determined by coronary angiography about one week post-infarction, 125 angiograms being assessable. The infarct-related artery was patent in 70% of patients who received rTPA and in 41% of those who did not (p = 0.0015). In the 103 patients who had assessable contrast ventriculograms, the global ejection fractions were 57.7% and 51.7%, respectively (p = 0.04). The difference in ventricular function was largest in patients with anterior infarction (52.7% versus 40.0%, p = 0.02). The magnitude of these changes suggests an improvement in ejection fraction of 12% overall and about 30% in patients with anterior infarction.

A randomised trial of 367 patients with acute myocardial infarction was performed to determine whether an invasive strategy combining thrombolysis with recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rTPA), heparin, and acetylsalicylic acid, and immediate percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) would be superior to a noninvasive strategy with the same medical treatment but without immediate angiography and PTCA. Intravenous infusion of 100 mg rTPA was started within 5 h after onset of symptoms (median 156 min). Angiography was performed 6-165 min later in 180 out of 183 patients allocated to the invasive strategy; 184 patients were allocated to the non-invasive strategy. Immediate PTCA reduced the percentage stenosis of the infarct-related segment, but this was offset by a high rate of transient (16%) and sustained (7%) reocclusion during the procedure and recurrent ischaemia during the first 24 h (17%). The clinical course was more favourable after non-invasive therapy, with a lower incidence of recurrent ischaemia within 24 h (3%), bleeding complications, hypotension, and ventricular fibrillation. Mortality at 14 days was lower in patients allocated to non-invasive treatment (3%) than in the group allocated to invasive treatment (7%). No difference between the treatment groups was observed in infarct size estimated from myocardial release of alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase or in left ventricular ejection fraction after 10-22 days. Since immediate PTCA does not provide additional benefit there seems to be no need for immediate angiography and PTCA in patients with acute myocardial infarction treated with rTPA.