Neurodevelopmental dysfunction among nonreferred children with idiopathic megalencephaly.

PURPOSE: To determine whether nonreferred children with idiopathic megalencephaly show evidence of specific neurodevelopmental dysfunction compared with sibling control subjects and age-matched control subjects. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, case-control study in a large, suburban pediatric practice. Subjects included 20 children between the ages of 6 and 15 years with a head circumference at greater than the 98th percentile, 19 siblings of these children with normalsize heads, and 16 age-matched control subjects. Standardized tests of language, academic achievement, visuomotor integration, motor function, and neurodevelopmental function were administered. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis, with control for age, showed a main effect for the presence of megalencephaly (F = 3.2; p < 0.05). Follow-up univariate analyses, with control for age, showed that children with megalencephaly had poorer performance on tasks of upper limb speed, visuomotor control, running speed, bilateral coordination, visuomotor integration, naming fluency, and minor neurologic indicators. CONCLUSION: The relationship between idiopathic megalencephaly and external hydrocephalus in infants is discussed. Results show that so-called "benign" idiopathic megalencephaly in nonreferred school-age children appears to be a clinical entity associated with subtle motor problems and neurodevelopmental dysfunction.

Human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma syndrome.

This syndrome should be suspected in patients with clinical features of lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, hypercalcemia, bone lesions and circulating lymphocytes with pleomorphic nuclei. Most biopsy material has morphologic characteristics of intermediate or high-grade non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Antibody titers to human T-lymphotropic virus type I confirm the diagnosis. Treatment with combination chemotherapy results in remission for most patients, but duration of response is usually short.

CCNU in combination chemotherapy for advanced histologically unfavorable non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

During a 3-year period 39 evaluable patients with stage III and IV non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and unfavorable histologies were treated with a unique chemotherapeutic regimen based on a modified CHOP combination to which was added the nitrosourea, CCNU. Complete response was observed in six of 15 (40%) patients with diffuse poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma (DPDL), four of 11 (36%) with diffuse mixed histiocytic lymphocytic (DML), and seven of 13 (54%) with diffuse histiocytic lymphoma (DHL). Of the 17 patients who achieved complete response, nine (53%) have remained continuously disease-free for greater than 2.5 years (2.7-4.1 years) from the onset of therapy: four of six with DPDL, two of four with DML, and three of seven with DHL. Median survival was 18.9 months for all patients, 18.9 months for those with DPDL, 17.4 months for those with DML, and 9.7 months for those with DHL. The median survival has not been reached for patients who attained a complete response, and will exceed 3.3 years. Central nervous system relapse was observed in three patients. In general, toxicity was moderate and consisted primarily of leukopenia, nausea, vomiting, and neurotoxicity. There were no drug-related deaths. The addition of CCNU to a modified CHOP combination resulted in an effective, generally well-tolerated out-patient regimen. However, it did not appear to decrease the rate of CNS relapse or improve current treatment results observed with other adriamycin-containing regimens for similar patients.

Vincristine, doxorubicin and mitomycin (VAM) in patients with advanced breast cancer previously treated with cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil (CMF). A clinical trial of the Piedmont Oncology Association (POA).

Thirty-six evaluable patients with advanced breast cancer who had failed prior CMF therapy [15 (42%) as adjuvant treatment and 21 (58%) for advanced disease] were treated with a combination of vincristine, doxorubicin, and mitomycin (VAM). There was one CR and 10 PR, giving a response rate of 31% (P, 95% confidence interval, 15%-47%). Response was not significantly related to age, performance status, disease-free interval, dominant site of disease, number of sites of disease, or estrogen receptor status. The median duration of response was 5 months for patients attaining CR or PR and 4.6 months for patients with stable disease. The median survival for patients with CR or PR of 7.9 months was not better than for those with stable disease (8.0 months), but both groups had significantly longer survival than those with initial progression. Patients who received VAM after failing adjuvant CMF had a 53% response rate (8 of 15), as against a 14% response rate (3 of 21) in those failing CMF for advanced disease (P less than 0.05). In spite of this difference, the survival distributions for these two groups were not significantly different. Myelosuppression was moderate and no cardiac toxicity was seen. The addition of mitomycin to vincristine and doxorubicin in previously treated patients does not appear to improve the results obtained with vincristine and doxorubicin alone.

Vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide versus low-dose intravenous cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil in advanced breast cancer: a randomized trial of the Piedmont Oncology Association.

Eighty-one evaluable patients with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer were randomized to receive either vincristine 1 mg/m2, doxorubicin 40 mg/m2 on day one and cyclophosphamide 200 mg/m2 orally days 3-6 (VAC); or cyclophosphamide 350 mg/m2, methotrexate 20 mg/m2, and 5-fluorouracil 350 mg/m2 (CMF) intravenously, all on day 1. Courses of each of the above regimens were repeated every three weeks. Twenty-one of 45 patients (47%) on VAC and seven of 44 patients (16%) on CMF had complete or partial response (P less than 0.05). The duration of response was six months for CMF and nine months for VAC. Hematologic toxicity was minimal for both groups but three patients receiving VAC developed cardiac toxicity. Overall survival projections at this time indicate no differences between the VAC or CMF treated patients.

The etiologic and epidemiologic spectrum of bronchiolitis in pediatric practice.

To develop a broad understanding of the causes and patterns of occurrence of wheezing associated respiratory infections, we analyzed data from an 11-year study of acute lower respiratory illness in a pediatric practice. Although half of the WARI occurred in children less than 2 years of age, wheezing continued to be observed in 19% of children greater than 9 years of age who had lower respiratory illness. Males experienced LRI 1.25 times more often than did females; the relative risk of males for WARI was 1.35. A nonbacterial pathogen was recovered from 21% of patients with WARI; respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza virus types 1 and 3, adenoviruses, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae accounted for 81% of the isolates. Patient age influenced the pattern of recovery of these agents. The most common cause of WARI in children under 5 years of age was RSV whereas Mycoplasma pneumoniae was the most frequent isolate from school age children with wheezing illness. The data expand our understanding of the causes of WARI and are useful to diagnosticians and to researchers interested in the control of lower respiratory disease.