Sleep apnea and associated daytime sleepiness and fatigue are common manifestations of mainly obese middle-aged men. The onset of sleep apnea peaks in middle age, and its morbid and mortal sequelae include complications from accidents and cardiovascular events. The pathophysiology of sleep apnea remains obscure. The purpose of this study was to test three separate, albeit closely related, hypotheses. 1) Does sleep apnea contribute to the previously reported changes of plasma cytokine (tumor necrosis factor-␣ and interleukin-6) and leptin levels independently of obesity? 2) Among obese patients, is it generalized or visceral obesity that predisposes to sleep apnea? 3) Is apnea a factor independent from obesity in the development of insulin resistance? Obese middle-aged men with sleep apnea were first compared with nonapneic age-and body mass index (BMI)-matched obese and age-matched lean men. All subjects were monitored in the sleep laboratory for 4 consecutive nights. We obtained simultaneous indexes of sleep, sleep stages, and sleep apnea, including apnea/hypopnea index and percent minimum oxygen saturation. The sleep apneic men had higher plasma concentrations of the adipose tissue-derived hormone, leptin, and of the inflammatory, fatigue-causing, and insulin resistance-producing cytokines tumor necrosis factor-␣ and interleukin-6 than nonapneic obese men, who had intermediate values, or lean men, who had the lowest values. Because these findings suggested that sleep apneics might have a higher degree of insulin resistance than the BMI-matched controls, we studied groups of sleep-apneic obese and age-and BMI-matched nonapneic controls in whom we obtained computed tomographic scan measures of total, sc, and visceral abdominal fat, and additional biochemical indexes of insulin resistance, including fasting plasma glucose and insulin. The sleep apnea patients had a significantly greater amount of visceral fat compared to obese controls (Ͻ0.05) and indexes of sleep disordered breathing were positively correlated with visceral fat, but not with BMI or total or sc fat. Furthermore, the biochemical data confirmed a higher degree of insulin resistance in the group of apneics than in BMI-matched nonapneic controls. We conclude that there is a strong independent association among sleep apnea, visceral obesity, insulin resistance and hypercytokinemia, which may contribute to the pathological manifestations and somatic sequelae of this condition.

One hundred two patients with mammographically suspicious, nonpalpable lesions underwent stereotactic breast biopsy with a biopsy gun and an automated 14-gauge cutting needle. After biopsy, a localization wire was placed and surgical biopsy performed. There was agreement of the histologic results from the gun biopsy and the surgical biopsy specimens in 98 cases (96%), including 22 of 23 carcinomas (96%) (kappa = 0.936). The gun biopsy yielded findings that led to the correct diagnosis in two cases involving lesions that were missed at surgical biopsy; two lesions found at surgery were missed at gun biopsy. The results of this study suggest that the use of 14-gauge needles improves agreement between surgical and needle core biopsy findings and that stereotactic biopsy with an automated needle and gun can be an acceptable alternative to surgical biopsy in women with mammographically suspicious breast lesions.

Absolute ethanol was used to perform nine transcatheter embolizations and 21 direct percutaneous puncture embolizations in eight patients with unresectable vascular malformations. Six patients had arteriovenous malformations and two patients had hemangiomas. Four of these patients had undergone unsuccessful surgery, and the other four were not considered candidates for operation. All large complex symptomatic vascular malformations (SVMs) required multiple embolizations that were staged procedures. Ethanol embolotherapy, performed according to strict techniques, has proved efficacious in the management of SVMs.

One hundred three patients underwent stereotactic breast biopsy with an 18-, 16-, or 14-gauge cutting needle and a biopsy gun. After biopsy, a localization wire was placed and surgical biopsy performed. There was agreement of the histologic results in 89 cases (87%) including 14 of 16 cancers (87%) (kappa = 0.806). The gun biopsy yielded the correct diagnosis in four cases involving a lesion (including one cancer) that was missed at the surgical biopsy. Nine cases in which the lesion was missed at gun biopsy can be related to insufficient needle size, the greater difficulty in using one of the two stereotactic devices, and early inexperience with the technique. A 14-gauge needle was used in the last 29 biopsies, the results of which agreed with the surgical pathologic findings in 28 cases (97%). With greater experience, stereotactic-guided large-gauge automated percutaneous biopsy may prove to be an acceptable alternative to surgical biopsy in women with breast masses suspected at mammography.

The use of in-plane overlying bismuth radioprotective latex manufactured into form-fitting garments did not affect the diagnostic CT image but reduced the amount of radiation to radiosensitive superficial structures.

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We report a mother and son with a deletion at 18q22.3. Both have the typical manifestations of the 18q- syndrome. In addition, both have an action tremor which became apparent in childhood. The mother subsequently developed chorea and dysmetria in late adolescence. Magnetic resonance imaging of their brains showed poor myelination of the central white matter tracts with relatively normal myelination of the corpus callosum. We propose that these neurologic findings are most likely due to a failure of expression of the myelin basic protein gene.