[A case of small cell undifferentiated carcinoma (SCUC) of the rectum treated with etoposide, cis-platinum and radiotherapy].

A 29-year-old-woman with recurrent cancer of rectum was treated with Etoposide, cis-platinum and external irradiation. Previous postoperative chemotherapies consisted of MMC, CPA, VCR and HCFU. Histologically, the tumor invaded in sheets and nests, and consisted of round to ovoid malignant cells with high nuclear/cytoplasmic and hyperchromatic nuclei with a coarse, clumped, or stippled chromatin pattern. Most cells demonstrated a positive reaction by Grimelius and NSE staining. Eight months after surgery, we switched to Etoposide cis-platinum and external irradiation, because of local recurrence. Etoposide (total 725 mg) and cis-platinum (total 100 mg) were injected into bilateral iliac artery and 60 Gy radiotherapy was performed. The patient showed a good response, and a complete response (CR) was evident for the following 42 months. Thus, Etoposide, Cis-platinum and radiotherapy are considered an effective combination therapy for a patient with small cell undifferentiated carcinoma.

[Evaluation of pancreatic scintigram in the diagnosis of pancreatic diseases (author's transl)].

The classification of accumulative patterns with the pancreatic scintigram findings of chronic pancreatitis and carcinoma of the pancreas were compared with endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERP) findings and Pancreozymin-Secretin test (P-S test). I) The frequency of pancreatic cancer was 93%, whilst, the chronic pancreatitis was 88% in the abnormal pancreatic scintigram. II) In the scintigram the type II (localized defect shadows) of pancreatic cancer was comparatively high and it is proportional to evidence derived from ERP. Localized diagnostic certainty is helpful, although the two tests are related. The P-S test is only restricted to the carcinoma of head, whilst, scintigram is more useful to detect the carcinoma of the body and tail of the pancreas. II) As for the chronic pancreatitis, there are various accumulative patterns. This is resemblance to that of ERP findings, but in the P-S normal test, it showed discrepancy in part of the result. Particularly, in the type I (slightly generalized low uptake with density silhouette) and type II. Therefore in order to obtain an accurate diagnosis, it is essential to have both the P-S test and scintigram.

[10 cases of congenital cystic dilatation of the common bile duct].

Ten cases of congenital cystic dilatation of the common bile duct (including insufficiency form) were examined for mode of pancreatico-biliary anastomosis and cholangiographic findings. The results were as follows. Male to female ratio was 1:9 in this series. Regarding the mode of pancreatico-biliary anastomosis, type I (pancreatic duct flowing into common bile duct) tended to occur frequently in patients 30 years old or more, while type II (common bile duct flowing into pancreatic duct) in patients under 30 years old. With respect to clinical symptoms, no cases had triad (jaundice, abdominal pain and palpation of mass), but abdominal pain occurred in all the cases. Jaundice and palpation of mass were seen in 30% and 10% of the cases, respectively. Regarding the age at the onset and the duration of the disease, type I occurred in elderly cases with a longer duration of disease, while type II occurred in young cases with a shorter duration of disease. The degree of distention increased in proportion to the severity of the peripheral stenosis of the biliary duct. Complication with biliary tract carcinoma was seen in 2 type I cases. Among the type I cases, those with mild distention were considered to be insufficient form.

Small optical magnetic-field sensor that uses rare-Earth iron garnet films based on the faraday effect.

Highly accurate optical magnetic-field probe sensors that use iron garnet films have been developed. New probe-type sensors were designed with a confocal optical system. A new garnet composition, Bi(0.98)Gd(0.92)La(0.03)Y(1.07)Fe(4.72)Ga(0.28)O(12), was found that shows high temperature stability for a sensitivity of less than 2.0% from -20 to +80 degrees C. The linearity error of the sensor output was within 1.0% for alternating magnetic fields from 0.3 to 42 mT. An optical current transformer that uses the proposed sensor has an ac linearity of 1.0% for input current up to nearly 300 A. The sensor realized high performance in actual use.