Successful high-dose intravenous cytarabine treatment of parenchymal brain involvement from malignant lymphoma.

A patient with systemic recurrence of large-cell malignant lymphoma developed radiologic evidence of parenchymal brain metastasis. Treatment with systemic high-dose cytarabine resulted in complete regression of peripheral adenopathy and complete radiologic response in the central nervous system, with normalization of the brain computed tomographic scan. This case further demonstrates the ability of high-dose cytarabine to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and achieve therapeutic drug concentrations in the central nervous system, an area that might otherwise remain a pharmacologic sanctuary for tumor cells.

Physician assistants as house officers: our experience.

Implementation of a program utilizing physician assistants in a university hospital non-teaching inpatient service has allowed for a restructuring of the medical residency program to provide a more generalist-internist learning experience in the teaching service. Three university-based hospitals are restructuring their programs based on this concept.