Massive intra-abdominal hemorrhage from a hepatic laceration caused by vomiting.

We present a case report of a previously undocumented incident of massive hemoperitoneum from a liver laceration secondary to vomiting. The patient presented with the complaint of vomiting and abdominal pain. Computed tomography revealed perihepatic and perisplenic fluid collections. With this evidence and a rapidly falling hematocrit, she underwent emergency laparotomy. Intraoperative findings included 3 L of blood in the abdomen and a liver laceration at the juncture of the liver and the falciform ligament.

An interface to input analog signals to a remotely located computer.

Two simple components are described that allow a single microprocessor to monitor several analog instruments. A remote control box with a speaker and a switch allows communication between the operator and the microprocessor. Amplifiers on a printed circuit board ensure that there is no loss in resolution of the input signal. The circuitry allows offset of the input signals relative to the electrical zero, adjustment of the gain of each amplifier and, most importantly, protects the analog to digital converter against destruction by over-range voltages.

Immunosuppressive activity of ascitic fluid from patients with cancer metastatic to the peritoneum.

We have examined the immunosuppressive effects of ascitic fluids from patients with advanced cancer metastatic to the peritoneum and compared them with noncancerous abdominal or pleural effusions, serum from cancer patients, or the proteins human serum albumin and bovine gamma-globulin. The ascitic fluids from cancer patients produce a nontoxic, dose-dependent suppression of DNA and protein synthesis of phytohemagglutinin-stimulated human peripheral blood lymphocytes. This suppression reached 100% with an ascitic protein concentration of 4 to 6 mg/ml, whereas control effusions, serum from cancer patients, or added extraneous proteins were not suppressive. Ascitic proteins also suppress the mixed lymphocyte reaction and the response of human peripheral blood lymphocytes to the antigen keyhold limpet hemocyanin, in vivo, the primary plaque-forming response to sheep red blood cells in mice could be suppressed, and this suppression was not due to antigenic competition.

Isolation of an immunosuppressive peptide fraction from the serum of cancer patients.

An immunosuppressive peptide fraction was isolated by means of gel filtration, membrane partition, and ion-exchange chromatography from the sera of patients hospitalized for cancer. The resulting peptide fraction, which was heterogeneous as judged by high-voltage electrophoresis, was found to suppress both phytohemagglutinin-induced proliferation of lymphocytes in vitro and the in vivo induction of splenic plaque-forming cells in mice. The specific activity of the peptide fraction, which was isolated from the sera of cancer patients, was significantly increased over that of the unfractionated starting material. Moreover, in control experiments, when the sera of normals or non-cancer-bearing hospitalized individuals were subjected to the same chromatographic techniques, no active peptide fraction could be obtained.