No abstract

Oral sensation (including two-point discrimination, oral stereognosis, vibrotactile detection, somesthetic sensitivity, proprioception, and thermal sensitivity) was studied in 60 healthy adults in five age categories: 20 to 34, 35 to 49, 50 to 64, 65 to 79, and 80 years and above. Thermal and somesthetic sensitivity as well as proprioception did not change with age. Ability to differentiate tactile and vibratory sensation on the lip decreased after age 80 (P less than .01), but vibration detection on the soft palate did not change. Stereognostic ability remained good up to age 80, and then declined for four of the nine shapes tested (P less than .01). Two-point discrimination deteriorated on the upper lip (P less than .01), on the cheeks (P less than .02), and on the lower lip (P less than .06). Two-point discrimination on the tongue and palate did not change. It was noted that oral sensation remained good with aging, showing only a slight decline in function after age 80.

Four hundred patients with resectable colon and rectal cancers were operated on by 37 surgeons at 31 institutions. Patients were monitored with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level determinations and clinical examinations. One hundred thirty patients had recurrences, and 75 were reoperated on, with 43 reoperations CEA‐directed and 32 clinically directed. Two of 75 died within 1 month after the second operation. Twenty‐two second‐look patients remain free of disease 5 years after their second operaton. The highest resectability of recurrent cancer occurred in patients with a CEA level below 11 ng/ml in whom the CEA level was determined at intervals of 1 to 2 months. Cancer 55:1284‐1290, 1985.