In children with corticosteroid-responsive nephrotic syndrome who are dependent on high-dose prednisolone, alkylating therapy often fails to maintain a remission, and long-term immunosuppression may be hazardous. An alternative approach to treatment is to use an immunostimulant such as levamisole. 61 children with frequently relapsing corticosteroid sensitive and dependent nephrotic syndrome were randomly allocated to receive levamisole, 2.5 mg/kg on alternate days (31 patients) or placebo (30 patients) for a maximum of 112 days. After entry to the trial, prednisolone was progressively reduced and was stopped by 56 days. The two groups were well matched for age and sex distribution, indices of corticosteroid toxicity, and previous alkylating therapy. 14 patients in the levamisole group and 4 in the placebo group remained in remission at 112 days (log rank analysis p less than 0.01). No significant adverse events were recorded. Levamisole is effective in maintaining a steroid-free remission in this condition and has few side-effects.

We describe the incidence and natural history of four clinically identifiable subgroups of cerebral infarction in a community-based study of 675 patients with first-ever stroke. Of 543 patients with a cerebral infarct, 92 (17%) had large anterior circulation infarcts with both cortical and subcortical involvement (total anterior circulation infarcts, TACI); 185 (34%) had more restricted and predominantly cortical infarcts (partial anterior circulation infarcts, PACI); 129 (24%) had infarcts clearly associated with the vertebrobasilar arterial territory (posterior circulation infarcts, POCI); and 137 (25%) had infarcts confined to the territory of the deep perforating arteries (lacunar infarcts, LACI). There were striking differences in natural history between the groups. The TACI group had a negligible chance of good functional outcome and mortality was high. More than twice as many deaths were due to the complications of immobility than to direct neurological sequelae of the infarct. Patients in the PACI group were much more likely to have an early recurrent stroke than were patients in other groups. Those in the POCI group were at greater risk of a recurrent stroke later in the first year after the index event but had the best chance of a good functional outcome. Despite the small anatomical size of the infarcts in the LACI group, many patients remained substantially handicapped. The findings have important implications for the planning of stroke treatment trials and suggest that various therapies could be directed specifically at the subgroups.

Transdermal drug delivery seems a promising way of achieving complete, predictable absorption, but the epidermis is a barrier for most drugs. A new technique for transdermal drug delivery, in which a small patch of epidermis was removed, was tested in seven healthy volunteers by means of the antidiuretic peptide 1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP). The epithelium of a small area of forearm skin (diameter 5 mm) was removed painlessly, and in a standard way, by a simple device operating at a present vacuum. DDAVP was given by way of improvised occlusive reservoirs. Plasma DDAVP concentration/time curves conformed closely with zero-order kinetics, which suggests that the bioavailability approached 100%, corresponding to that for direct intravenous infusion. Four volunteers were given DDAVP daily for 4 days by way of the de-epithelialised site; there were no signs that re-epithelialisation hindered permeation. All plasma DDAVP values substantially exceeded the lowest effective therapeutic concentration for patients with diabetes insipidus. The vacuum removal of the epithelium caused pronounced hyperaemia in the de-epithelialised dermis (assessed by laser doppler flow measurement); the hyperaemia persisted, unaffected by DDAVP, and may have contributed to the efficient permeation. The skin spot appeared normal at 6 weeks.

Insecticide treatment of bed nets ("mosquito nets") may be a cheap and acceptable method of reducing the morbidity and mortality caused by malaria. In a rural area of The Gambia, bed nets in villages participating in a primary health-care (PHC) scheme were treated with permethrin at the beginning of the malaria transmission season. Additionally, children aged 6 months to 5 years were randomised to receive weekly either chemoprophylaxis with maloprim or a placebo throughout the malaria transmission season. We measured mortality in children in PHC villages before and after the interventions described, and compared this with mortality in villages where no interventions occurred (non-PHC villages). About 92% of children in PHC villages slept under insecticide-treated bed nets. In the year before intervention, mortality in children aged 1-4 years was lower in non-PHC villages. After intervention, the overall mortality and mortality attributable to malaria of children aged 1-4 in the intervention villages was 37% and 30%, respectively, of that in the non-PHC villages. Among children who slept under treated nets, we found no evidence of an additional benefit of chemoprophylaxis in preventing deaths. Insecticide-treated bed nets are simple to introduce and can reduce mortality from malaria.

First-trimester chorion villus sampling has the advantage over second-trimester amniocentesis of allowing earlier prenatal diagnosis of various genetic and cytogenetic disorders in the fetus (and therefore earlier termination in affected pregnancies) but the relative safety and diagnostic accuracy remain unclear. Between 1985 and 1989, 3248 women seeking prenatal diagnosis, principally because of their age, were recruited to an international, multicentre, randomised comparison of the safety and diagnostic accuracy of the two techniques--5% of women allocated chorion villus sampling and 8% of those allocated amniocentesis were not tested, usually because of spontaneous miscarriage. 6% and 2% were retested, in most because of sampling failure. The endpoint of a liveborn infant who survived was achieved by 86% of women allocated chorion villus sampling and 91% of those allocated amniocentesis; statistical analysis, after appropriate weighting for a centre's contribution, showed that the typical difference between the groups was 4.6% (95% confidence interval 1.6-7.5%; p less than 0.01). This difference reflected more spontaneous fetal deaths before 28 weeks' gestation (2.9% [0.6-5.3%]); more terminations of pregnancy for chromosomal anomalies (1.0% [0.0-2.1%]); and more neonatal deaths (0.3% [-0.1 to 0.7%]). The difference in neonatal deaths was due to a preponderance of very immature liveborn infants in the chorion villus sampling group, and this factor also explained that group's longer mean stay in hospital. More abnormal diagnoses followed chorion villus than amniotic fluid analyses (5.6% vs 3.9%). This difference was largely due to diagnoses of trisomy 18 and of (usually mosaic) abnormalities known to be confined to the placenta. 3 terminated pregnancies were false positives, 1 tested by chorion villus sampling and 2 by amniocentesis, and 2 other mosaic cases diagnosed by chorion villus sampling may have been false positives. There was 1 false-negative result in the chorion villus sampling group. The possibility of earlier exclusion or diagnosis of some fetal disorders afforded by first-trimester chorion villus sampling must be set against its clinical risks.

To assess the long-term efficacy and safety of alfuzosin, a selective alpha 1-adrenergic antagonist, 518 symptomatic patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) were randomised to received either alfuzosin (daily dose 7.5-10 mg) or placebo for 6 months. Obstructive and irritative symptoms, assessed according to the Boyarsky scale, significantly improved in the alfuzosin group compared with the placebo group (p = 0.0004). Fewer patients in the alfuzosin group than in the placebo group dropped out due to lack of efficacy (6.8% vs 14.6%, p = 0.004) and the prevalence of spontaneous acute urine retention was lower in the alfuzosin group (0.4% vs 2.6%, p = 0.04). By 6 months, mean urinary flow rates had increased (p less than 0.05) and residual volume had decreased (p = 0.017) in the alfuzosin group, although the two groups were broadly similar with respect to increase in peak flow rate. The overall incidence of adverse events was similar in the two groups, which led to the withdrawal of 10.8% and 9.0% of patients, respectively. The findings emphasise the magnitude of the placebo response in symptomatic patients with BPH and show that treatment with alpha 1 adrenergic antagonist drugs provides long-lasting improvement in such patients.

Because there is little information about the efficacy of home occupational therapy, we decided to assess the effects of a home service on patients with rheumatoid arthritis. 105 patients aged 18-70 years, on stable medical therapy, were randomised to receive a 6-week comprehensive programme of occupational therapy (experimental group, 53 patients) or to receive no such treatment (control group, 52). At 6 weeks, control patients received the experimental regimen, and experimental patients were continued on treatment as needed up to 12 weeks. Outcomes were measured at baseline, 6, and 12 weeks with a global functional capacity score (functional score). At 6 weeks the functional score for the experimental group was significantly higher than that for the control group (mean difference = 8.1, 95% Cl 1.7 to 15.8, p = 0.012). Control patients at 12 weeks showed a similar improvement to experimental patients at 6 weeks, and between 6 and 12 weeks the experimental patients were stable. Occupational therapy leads to a statistically significant and clinically important improvement in function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

46 migraineurs with secondary chronic daily headache were treated for medication abuse as outpatients by abrupt withdrawal of the offending drugs. The patients were supported with adequate explanation of the disorder, regular follow-up, amitriptyline (10 mg at night), and naproxen (500 mg) for relief of headache symptoms. By 6 months of follow-up 37 patients had relief from chronic headaches, and analgesic intake had become intermittent and appropriate to the original occasional migraine episodes. 6 had substantially reduced analgesic intake, but headache severity was unchanged; 2 had not managed to reduce intake and headache was unchanged; and 1 patient withdrew after the first visit.

The two main causes of gastrointestinal bleeding in cirrhosis are oesophageal varices and portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG). Rebleeding from varices can be prevented by beta-blockers, but it is not clear whether these drugs effectively reduce rebleeding from PHG. 54 cirrhotic patients with acute or chronic bleeding from severe PHG took part in a randomised, controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of propranolol in prevention of rebleeding from PHG. 26 patients were randomised to receive propranolol daily at a dose that reduced the resting heart rate by 25% or to 55 bpm (20-160 mg twice daily), throughout mean follow-up of 21 (SD 11) months. 28 untreated controls were followed-up, with the same examinations, for 18 (13) months. The actuarial percentages of patients free of rebleeding from PHG were significantly higher in the propranolol-treated patients than in the untreated controls at 12 months (65% vs 38%; p less than 0.05) and at 30 months of follow-up (52% vs 7%; p less than 0.05). Propranolol-treated patients had fewer episodes of acute bleeding than controls (0.010 [0.004] vs 0.120 [0.040] per patient per month). Multivariate analysis showed that absence of propranolol treatment was the only predictive variable for rebleeding. Actuarial survival was slightly higher in the propranolol group than in the controls, but the difference was not significant. Thus, long-term propranolol treatment significantly reduces the frequency of rebleeding from severe PHG, and may improve the prognosis of cirrhotic patients with this disorder.

The efficacy of low-dose aspirin in preventing fetal growth retardation was tested in a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. A secondary aim was to find out whether dipyridamole improves the efficacy of aspirin. 323 women at 15-18 weeks' amenorrhoea were selected at twenty-five participating centres on the basis of fetal growth retardation and/or fetal death or abruptio placentae in at least one previous pregnancy. They were randomly allocated to groups receiving placebo, 150 mg/day aspirin, or 150 mg/day aspirin plus 225 mg/day dipyridamole, for the remainder of the pregnancy. In the first phase of the trial all actively treated patients (n = 156) were compared with the placebo group (n = 73). Mean birthweight was significantly higher in the treated than in the placebo group (2751 [SD 670] vs 2526 [848] g; difference 225 g [95% CI 129-321 g], p = 0.029) and the frequency of fetal growth retardation in the placebo group was twice that in the treated group (19 [26%] vs 20 [13%]; p less than 0.02). The frequencies of stillbirth (4 [5%] vs 2 [1%]) and abruptio placentae (6 [8%] vs 7 [5%]) were also higher in the placebo than in the treated group. The benefits of aspirin treatment were greater in patients with two or more previous poor outcomes than in those with only one. In the second analysis, of aspirin only (n = 127) vs aspirin plus dipyridamole (n = 119), no significant differences were found. There was no excess of maternal or neonatal side-effects in the aspirin-treated patients.