A randomized study comparing the efficacy of reducing the spontaneous abortion rate following lymphocyte immunotherapy and progesterone treatment versus progesterone alone in primary habitual aborters.

Presented herein is a randomized prospective study performed to evaluate the efficacy of the addition of lymphocyte immunotherapy (LI) to progesterone (P) therapy (LI/P) for the prevention of spontaneous abortion (SAB) in primary aborters with a history of three SABs. The incidence of intrauterine pregnancies in four cycles was 23 of 35 (65.7%) patients for LI/P vs. 14 of 31 (45.1%) patients treated with progesterone alone. SABs occurred in 6 of 23 (26.0%) LI/P-treated patients compared to 8 of 14 (57.1%) given progesterone alone. The mean number of previous abortions in both groups was 3.9. The mean age of the LI/P group was 34.1 vs. 33.6 years for the group treated with progesterone alone. These data could be interpreted to show that progesterone therapy and LI independently inhibit SAB or that LI/P acts synergistically to inhibit immune destruction. LI/P therapy was found to be more effective than progesterone therapy alone.

Basic trauma life support.

The impact of traumatic injuries on modern society in terms of morbidity, mortality, and economic cost is enormous. Studies have shown that both advanced life support skills and rapid stabilization and transport of the trauma victim have a beneficial effect on the patient's ultimate outcome. The Basic Trauma Life Support (BTLS) course was designed to provide pre-hospital care providers with the skills necessary to provide a thorough assessment, initial resuscitation, and rapid transportation of the trauma victim. Early studies suggest that the material is easily learned by prehospital care providers and that the on-scene time for trauma cases is reduced following training in BTLS. More widespread training in BTLS may have a significant effect on the mortality and morbidity associated with traumatic injuries.