Real-time 3D using a matrix transducer is a feasible, reliable and valid method for volume determination in the fetus beyond 19 weeks of gestation. If compared to 2D, real-time 3D echocardiography provides improved accuracy of cardiac volumetry, decreases intraobserver and interobserver variability and is a promising tool for the accurate assessment of cardiac size and function.

In 8 healthy subjects the absorption of cimetidine was investigated when given alone, together with 60 ml aluminium/magnesium hydroxide containing antacid (neutralising capacity 26 mmol HCl/10 ml), and together with liquid metoclopramide 14 mg. The antacid significantly (P less than 0.01) reduced the bioavailability (area under the plasma level-time curve) of cimetidine, on average by one third. Metoclopramide also reduced the bioavailability by an average of 22%. The reductions were associated with significantly reduced excretion of cimetidine in urine. There was no change in the half-life or renal clearance of cimetidine, supporting the hypothesis of reduced gastrointestinal absorption. The results indicate that cimetidine and antacids should not be given together, and that the dose of cimetidine may have to be increased if it is administered concomitantly with metoclopramide.

Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the validity, accuracy, and reproducibility of real‐time 3‐dimensional (3D) echocardiography for small distances, areas, and volumes. Methods Real‐time 3D echocardiography using matrix technology was performed in small calibrated tissue‐mimicking phantoms and compared with 2‐dimensional (2D) echocardiography. In a systematic variation of variables on data acquisition and analysis including different 3D workstations (manual disk summation versus semiautomatic border detection), the relative contributions of sources of errors were determined. The clinical relevance of the in vitro findings was assessed in 5 neonates and infants. Results Distance calculation was valid (mean relative error ± SD, −0.15% ± 1.2%). Underestimation of areas and volumes was significant for both 2D and 3D echocardiography (area: 2D, −7.0% ± 2.9%; 3D, −6.0% ± 2.8%; volume: 2D, −13.1% ± 4.5%; 3D, −6.7% ± 2.5%; P < .05). Adjustment of compression and gain on data acquisition (difference of the means: 2D, 11.6%; 3D, 17.9%), gain on postprocessing (3D, 3.4%), and the border detection algorithm on analysis (2D, 4.8%; 3D, 16.6%) had a highly significant effect on volume and area calculations (P < .001). In vivo, compression and gain on acquisition (3D, 19.1%) and the 3D workstation on analysis (3D, 22.2%) had a highly significant impact on left ventricular volumetry (P < .001). Conclusions Real‐time 3D echocardiography is a reliable method for calculation of small distances, areas, and volumes comparable with the size of the neonatal and infant heart. Variables influencing boundary identification during image acquisition and analysis have a significant impact on 2D and 3D area and volume calculations. Standardized protocols are mandatory to avoid these sources of error in both clinical practice and research.

Between 1960 and 1976, 1645 women with carcinoma of the uterine cervix were treated in the Radiotherapy Department, Edinburgh. In the earlier years the majority of patients were treated using a partially afterloaded radium line source system, combined with 4 MV external irradiation. The radium was later replaced by caesium which, from 1972, was used in a fully afterloaded line source intracavitary applicator. In recent years a computer program has been used to calculate the dose distribution, resulting in improved pelvic dosimetry and a decline in the frequency and severity of radiation reactions. Actuarial survival rates are reported by stage for a 20-year period. The 5-year survival rate for patients with Stage I disease treated by the Edinburgh method was 74.7% (71.5% for the whole group). For patients with Stage II disease, the rates were 57.1% and 51.3% and for those with Stage III disease, the rates were 40.1% and 28.0%.