The relative safety and efficacy of intravenous administration of adenosine, lignocaine, disopyramide, flecainide, and sotalol for termination of stable, induced ventricular tachycardia was assessed in serial trials. Ventricular tachycardia was terminated by pacing if it persisted 10-15 min after the end of drug administration. 24 patients with recurrent ventricular tachycardia were studied. Ventricular tachycardia was terminated by a drug in 35 of 105 trials. In 6 patients no drug terminated the arrhythmia. Adenosine did not terminate tachycardia or have any serious adverse effect in any patient; both flecainide and disopyramide were significantly more effective than lignocaine, but flecainide had significantly more severe adverse effects than lignocaine. Lignocaine was the safest drug and should continue to be used as first-line drug therapy for stable ventricular tachycardia. Disopyramide should be considered as second-line treatment. DC cardioversion is necessary for unstable ventricular tachycardia, and its availability must be ensured before attempted pharmacological intervention.

77 children, aged 11 to 36 months (mean 24) with moderately severe recurrent wheezing, were treated with budesonide pressurised aerosol 400 micrograms twice daily or placebo for 12 weeks in a double-blind, parallel-group trial. Aerosols were inhaled from a spacer with a facemask. Budesonide significantly improved symptom scores of wheezing, sleep disturbance, and patient happiness. The frequency of severe exacerbations that required a course of oral prednisolone was also significantly reduced. The treatment effect appeared to be fully established after 6-8 weeks and no side-effects could be ascribed to the active treatment. The findings indicate that young children below 3 years of age can inhale a pressurised aerosol from a spacer with a facemask. Use of topically active glucocorticosteroids with this simple device may reduce symptoms and distress in young children with moderately severe recurrent wheeze and dyspnoea, and possibly reduce their requirement for oral steroids.

The relation of treatment adherence to mortality after a myocardial infarction was investigated among 2175 participants in the Beta Blocker Heart Attack Trial, which had data for measures of treatment adherence, clinical severity, and the psychological and social features that may influence post-infarction mortality. Overall, patients who did not adhere well to treatment regimen (ie, who took less than or equal to 75% of prescribed medication) were 2.6 times more likely than good adherers to die within a year of follow-up (95% confidence interval, 1.2, 5.6). Poor adherers had an increased risk of death whether they were on propranolol (OR = 3.1) or placebo (OR = 2.5). Furthermore, this increased risk of death for poor adherers was not accounted for by measures of the severity of myocardial infarction, sociodemographic features (eg, race, marital status, education), smoking, or psychological characteristics (high life-stress or social isolation).

To identify the most effective method of screening for covert alcoholism Ewing's CAGE questionnaire was compared with several computer-assisted laboratory data profiles in a prospectively gathered, random sample of 915 adults admitted to a general hospital. Whether a subject was alcohol dependent (n = 244) or not (n = 671), as defined by DSM-III-R, was determined on the basis of a structured interview. The CAGE questionnaire was highly sensitive (76%) and specific (94%) for recognition of alcohol dependence (positive predictive power 87%). None of the discriminant laboratory functions gave recognition rates greater than chance alone. Until the sensitivities, specificities, and positive predictive powers of computer-assisted methods improve, brief interview alone remains the best screening method for general hospital populations.

Twelve mother/baby pairs took part in a study of the difference in effect of two patterns of breast feeding--either feeding at one breast or at two breasts during a feed. Baseline measures were taken at 4 weeks, and the test patterns of feeding were followed for a week each, in random order. The two patterns of feeding led to differences in milk volume intake and mean feed fat concentration, but not in the baby's net fat intake per 24 h. The results indicate that the breast-fed baby can regulate his fat intake quickly and thus mothers should be encouraged to practice "baby-led" feeding.

41 (33%) of 123 patients with acute psychiatric disorders (DSM III diagnosis of major depression or schizophrenia) had borderline or definite folate deficiency (red-cell folate below 200 micrograms/l) and took part in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of methylfolate, 15 mg daily, for 6 months in addition to standard psychotropic treatment. Among both depressed and schizophrenic patients methylfolate significantly improved clinical and social recovery. The differences in outcome scores between methylfolate and placebo groups became greater with time. These findings add to the evidence implicating disturbances of methylation in the nervous system in the biology of some forms of mental illness.

During a 19-month period, 95% of all pregnant women in the greater Helsinki area, Finland, entered a study to compare one-stage ultrasonography screening with selective screening according to antenatal hospital use, obstetric procedures, and fetal outcomes. Of 9310 women who entered the trial, 4691 were randomly allocated to ultrasound screening between the 16th and 20th gestational weeks and 4619 to follow-up only. Screened and control groups otherwise had the same antenatal care, which included ultrasonography according to usual practice. Screened women made fewer visits to the antenatal outpatient clinic than did women in the control group (2.3 vs 2.6). There were no differences in the number of labour inductions or mean birthweights in the two groups. Perinatal mortality was significantly lower in the screened than in the control group (4.6/1000 vs 9.0/1000); this 49.2% reduction was mainly due to improved early detection of major malformations which led to induced abortion. All twin pregnancies were detected before the 21st gestational week in the screening group compared with 76.3% in the control group; perinatal mortality in the small series of twins was 27.8/1000 vs 65.8/1000, respectively.

In a randomised, double-blind, crossover study, single oral doses of cromakalim, a potassium-channel activator, or placebo were given to 23 patients with nocturnal asthma. There was a significant reduction (p less than 0.005) in the early morning fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) after 0.5 mg cromakalim (fall 9.8% [SEM 3.2%]) compared with placebo (18.5 [2.8]%). In a repeat dosing study, administration of 0.25 mg and 0.5 mg cromakalim on 5 consecutive nights to a further group of 8 asthmatic subjects significantly reduced the early morning fall in FEV1 from 28.7 (6.5)% after placebo to 19 (4.2)% after 0.25 mg and 14.9 (6.5)% after 0.5 mg. Potassium-channel activators may be useful in the treatment of asthma, especially for nocturnal symptoms.

90 Venezuelan infants aged 10-20 weeks were randomly allocated to four groups which received one of the following: the M37 vaccine (1 x 10(4) pfu [plaque-forming units]); quadrivalent rotavirus vaccine (1 x 10(4) pfu each of serotype 3 rhesus rotavirus [RRV] and human rotavirus-RRV reassortants of serotypes 1, 2, and 4); balanced quadrivalent vaccine consisting of 1 x 10(4) pfu of serotype 1 and 3 components but 5 x 10(4) pfu of serotype 2 and 4 components; or placebo. The frequencies of transient febrile responses in these four groups were 20%, 27%, 30%, and 9%. 50% of 22 infants tested who received M37 vaccine showed a serum rotavirus IgA antibody response, compared with 74% of the 23 quadrivalent and 86% of the 22 balanced-quadrivalent recipients. 64% of the M37 recipients showed a neutralising antibody response to M37; 27% showed such responses to human serotype 1 Wa strain and 27% to serotype 4 neonatal strain ST3. 17-39% of the quadrivalent recipients and 27-41% of the balanced-quadrivalent recipients showed neutralising antibody responses to serotypes 1-4. 70-73% of the quadrivalent and balanced quadrivalent groups also showed neutralising antibody responses to RRV.

66 early postmenopausal women were randomised to 28-day cycles of either transdermal hormone replacement therapy--continuous oestradiol 17-beta 0.05 mg daily, with norethisterone acetate 0.25 mg daily for 14 of each 28 days--or oral therapy--continuous conjugated equine oestrogens 0.625 mg daily, with dl-norgestrel 0.15 mg daily for 12 of each 28 days. An untreated reference group of 30 women were studied concurrently. Bone density was measured in the lumbar spine and proximal femur by dual photon absorptiometry at 6-month intervals for 18 months. Skeletal turnover was assessed by serum measurements of calcium, phosphate, and alkaline phosphatase, and by urine estimations of hydroxyproline/creatinine and calcium/creatinine excretion. In both treatment groups by comparison with the untreated groups by comparison with the untreated group, bone density increased in the vertebrae and proximal femur and biochemical measurements indicated a significant reduction in bone turnover.

In a community-based intervention trial to reduce childhood mortality from pneumonia the intervention area included 58 villages (6176 children aged 0-4 years) and the control area 44 villages (3947 children) in Gadchiroli, India. The interventions included mass education about childhood pneumonia and case-management of pneumonia by paramedics, village health workers, and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) who were trained to recognise childhood pneumonia and treat it with co-trimoxazole. Parents sought treatment, and coverage was 76% without active case-detection efforts. The case-fatality rate among the 612 cases treated by health workers was 0.8%, compared with 13.5% in the control area. After a year of intervention pneumonia-specific childhood mortality was significantly lower in the intervention than in the control area (8.1 vs 17.5 deaths per 1000 children under 5 years); the difference between the areas was greatest in children under 1 year. The differences in infant mortality (89 vs 121 per 1000) and total under-5 mortality (28.5 vs 40.7 per 1000) were highly significant. Mortality from other causes remained similar in the two areas but neonatal mortality due to birth injury and prematurity was significantly lower in the intervention area, presumably owing to the combination of better maternal and neonatal care by the TBAs trained in the project and the availability of treatment for pneumonia. The cost of co-trimoxazole was US $0.025 per child per year ($2.64 per child saved).