Harold O. Conn – 1 September 1988 – An epidemiologic investigation of an acupuncturist's practice in Rhode Island identified 35 patients who were infected with hepatitis B virus during 1984. Of 366 patients seen by the acupuncturist during 1984,316 (86%) completed questionnaires and submitted serum for hepatitis B serology. Use of tests for immunoglobulin M antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (IgM anti‐HBc) identified 17 case‐patients who otherwise may have gone undetected. Thirty‐four of the 35 case‐patients were treated in only one of the two clinics run by the acupuncturist.

Charles L. Witte, Marlys H. Witte – 1 September 1988 – In a prospective study of 33 adults with portal vein thrombosis unrelated to a liver tumor, we have assessed the prevalence of primary myeloproliferative disorders using conventional criteria and cultures of bone marrow progenitor cells. A primary myeloproliferative disorder was documented in 14 patients investigated at the time of recognition of portal vein thrombosis.

Joan Rodés – 1 September 1988 – To investigate the usefulness of paracentesis as an alternative treatment for ascites, 41 cirrhotic patients with ‘tense’ ascites were randomly assigned to treatment with either repeated paracenteses plus i.v. albumin infusion (n=20) or diuretics (n=21). Satisfactory mobilization of ascites was obtained with paracentesis in all but one case and with diuretics in all but two cases. Ascites disappeared within 3 or 4 days with paracentesis, but only after 15 days with diuretics.

Ginny L. Bumgardner, Carlos Fasola, David E. R. Sutherland – 1 September 1988

Pete A. Poole, William C. Duane – 1 September 1988 – In man bile acid synthesis has a distinct circadian rhythm but the relationship of this rhythm to feedback inhibition by bile acid is unknown. We measured bile acid synthesis as release of 14CO2 from [26‐14C]Cholesterol every 2 hr in three normal volunteers during five separate 24‐hr periods. Data were fitted by computer to a cosine curve to estimate amplitude and acrophase of the circadian rhythm. In an additional six volunteers, we measured synthesis every 2 hr from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. only.

Hector Orozco, Edmundo Guraieb, Takeshi Takahashi, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Rafael Hurtado, Roger Anaya, Guillermo Ruiz‐Arguelles, Jorge Hernandez‐Ortiz, Marco A. Casillas, Luis Guevara – 1 September 1988 – Portal vein thrombosis has been considered idiopathic in 50% of cases reported in adults. Protein C deficiency is a recently described disorder characterized by a predisposition to develop thromboembolic disease.

Mukunda B. Ray, Charles L. Mendenhall, Samuel W. French, Peter S. Gartside, The Veterans Administration Cooperative Study Group – 1 September 1988 – The clinical and histologic significance of cytokeratin antigen expression in various intrahepatic locations was assessed in 57 patients with alcoholic liver disease as part of a large Veterans Administration Cooperative Study of Alcoholic Hepatitis.

1 September 1988

Sangkot Marzuki, Ian R. Mackay, Herawati Sudoyo, A. Saifuddin Noer – 1 September 1988

Maria Buti, Rafael Esteban, Michael Roggendorf, Juan Fernandez, Rosendo Jardi, Rudolf Rashofer, Helena Allende, Juan Genesca, Juan Ignacio Esteban, Jaime Guardia – 1 September 1988 – To evaluate the profile of hepatitis D virus replication and the corresponding immunoresponse after acute hepatitis D virus infection, sera from 50 patients with acute hepatitis D (36 with acute hepatitis B virus‐hepatitis D virus coinfection and 14 HBsAg carriers with hepatitis D virus superinfection) were investigated for the presence of hepatitis D virus RNA and other serological hepatitis D virus markers.