Lancet
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Epidemiological surveillance of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) was reinstituted in the UK in 1990 to identify any changes in the occurrence of this disease after the epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle. ⋯ These cases appear to represent a new variant of CJD, which may be unique to the UK. This raises the possibility that they are causally linked to BSE. Although this may be the most plausible explanation for this cluster of cases, a link with BSE cannot be confirmed on the basis of this evidence alone. It is essential to obtain further information on the current and past clinical and neuropathological profiles of CJD in the UK and elsewhere.
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A winter excess of ischaemic stroke has been found in mortality and hospital-based studies. It is often assumed that this is due to seasonal variation in stroke incidence and several pathophysiological explanations have been proposed. We studied the incidence of stroke in relation to season and outside temperature. ⋯ The widely reported winter excess of ischaemic strokes may be an artifact due to referral bias in hospital-based studies and increased case fatality during the winter in mortality studies.
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Letter Comparative Study
Reduced quality of in-vitro clot formation with gelatin-based plasma substitutes.
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Comparative Study
Cyclical variation in paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia in women.
Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) in premenopausal women is often judged to be related to anxiety, and may be associated with the menstrual cycle. The aim of this study was to determine whether a cyclical variation of episodes of SVT exists and to correlate such variation with cyclical variation in plasma ovarian hormones. ⋯ Women with paroxysmal SVT and normal menses exhibit a cyclical variation in the occurrence of the arrhythmia with their menstrual cycle. There is a close correlation between the episodes of paroxysmal SVT and the plasma concentrations of ovarian hormones. These data suggest that changes in plasma levels of ovarian hormones (and their interaction) may be of importance in determining episodes of arrhythmia in such patients. The mechanisms of these effects are unknown.