Faculty Bibliography

After a decade-long wait, a chimpanzee that had been injected with the AIDS virus contracted the disease. It is the first time that man's closest relative has developed AIDS. The finding may shed new light on trials of experimental vaccines. Although about 100 other similarly injected chimps have not developed AIDS, scientists said that the transmission of AIDS to a primate was important evidence to counter critics who say that H.I.V. does not causes AIDS.

An experimental drug has nearly halved both the death rate resulting from advanced AIDS and the number of serious complications of the disease in a large international study that lasted seven months, the drug's developer reported at a scientific meeting here Thursday. Ritonavir is a member of a new class of drugs known as protease inhibitors that have excited participants at the Third Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, which ended Thursday. Studies reported earlier this week showed that another protease inhibitor, indinavir, when combined with standard AIDS drugs, appeared to be the most powerful AIDS therapy ever tested in infected patients. In the ritonavir study, involving nearly 1,100 patients, 13 percent died or suffered further progression of severe AIDS compared with 27 percent of patients receiving a placebo, Dr. John M. Leonard, an Abbott Laboratories official reported. Disease progression was defined as the onset of a new AIDS-related illness like thrush in the gullet, a cancer known as Kaposi's sarcoma, infection of the retina with cytomegalovirus or pneumocystis carinii pneumonia

WASHINGTON - An experimental drug has nearly halved both the death rate from advanced AIDS and the number of serious complications of the disease in a large international study that lasted seven months, the drug's developer reported at a scientific meeting here Thursday. Nevertheless, Paul and many others cautioned that there is no way to determine how long the drug's beneficial effect would last. Participants pointed to some disquieting data in the report that raised questions whether resistant strains of the AIDS virus might have taken over early in the treatment period, jeopardizing longer-term results. Ritonavir is a member of a new class of drugs known as protease inhibitors that have excited participants at the third Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, which ended Thursday. Studies reported earlier this week showed that another protease inhibitor, indinavir, when combined with standard AIDS drugs, appeared to be the most powerful AIDS therapy ever tested in infected patients

Ritonavir is a member of a new class of drugs, protease inhibitors, that have excited participants at the Third Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, which ended today. Studies reported earlier showed that another protease inhibitor, indinavir, when combined with standard AIDS drugs, appeared to be the most powerful AIDS therapy ever tested in infected patients. In the ritonavir study, involving nearly 1,100 patients, 13 percent died or suffered further progression of severe AIDS compared with 27 percent of patients receiving a placebo, Dr. John M. Leonard, an Abbott Laboratories official reported. Disease progression was defined as the onset of a new AIDS-related illness like thrush in the gullet, a cancer known as Kaposi's sarcoma, infection of the retina with cytomegalovirus or pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. The study was designed to allow all patients in both groups to continue receiving all drugs that they were taking to fight the AIDS virus before the ritonavir study began. Thus the participants were taking many combinations of anti-H.I.V. drugs. But the participants from 67 medical centers in the United States, Canada, Australia and seven European countries agreed to let the selection of ritonavir or placebo be made by lot.

An experimental drug has nearly halved both the death rate from advanced AIDS and the number of serious complications of the disease in a large international study that lasted seven months, the drug's developer reported at a scientific meeting here Thursday. Ritonavir is a member of a new class of drugs known as protease inhibitors that have excited participants at the 3rd Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, which ended Thursday. Studies reported earlier this week showed that another protease inhibitor, indinavir, when combined with standard AIDS drugs, appeared to be the most powerful AIDS therapy ever tested in infected patients. In the ritonavir study, involving nearly 1,100 patients, 13 percent died or suffered further progression of severe AIDS compared with 27 percent of patients receiving a placebo, Dr. John M. Leonard, an Abbott Laboratories official reported. Disease progression was defined as the onset of a new AIDS-related illness such as thrush in the gullet, Kaposi's sarcoma, or pneumocystis carinii pneumonia

By coating a heart device with an anti-clotting drug, European cardiologists have greatly improved success in keeping coronary arteries open after an obstruction has been removed. The method was also found to greatly reduce the major complications that have plagued the device. The device is known as a stent and is a modification of one now marketed in the United States. But the Food and Drug Administration said it needed additional data before it could approve the new stent. The new stent is coated with heparin, a natural and standard anti-clotting drug. The stent eliminates the need for a patient to take injections of heparin or similar anti-clotting drugs. Such drugs have been needed to prevent formation of blood clots that block the artery at the site of the cleared obstruction

How long a patient survives from AIDS is directly linked to a doctor's experience in treating the disease, according to a study reported Wednesday at a scientific meeting. After AIDS was diagnosed, median survival among patients of doctors with the most experience with AIDS was 26 months, compared with 14 months for those treated by the least experienced doctors. Earlier studies have found that hospitals admitting higher numbers of AIDS patients have a lower death rate than those admitting fewer patients. Dr. Mari Kitahata, the head of the research team, said the study supports the concept that ``practice makes perfect.''

How long a patient survives with AIDS is directly linked to a doctor's experience in treating the disease, according to a study reported Wednesday at a scientific meeting. After AIDS was diagnosed, median survival among patients of doctors with the most experience with AIDS was 26 months, compared with 14 months for those treated by the least experienced doctors

WASHINGTON - How long a patient survives AIDS is directly linked to a doctor's experience in treating the disease, according to a study reported Wednesday at a scientific meeting. After AIDS was diagnosed, median survival among patients of doctors with the most experience with AIDS was 26 months, compared with 14 months for those treated by the least experienced doctors. Earlier studies have found that hospitals admitting higher numbers of AIDS patients have a lower death rate than those admitting fewer patients. Dr. Mari Kitahata, the head of the research team, said the new study supports the concept that ''practice makes perfect.''

By coating a heart device known as a stent with an anti-clotting drug, European cardiologists have greatly improved success in keeping coronary arteries open after an obstruction had been removed. The method was also found to greatly reduce the major complications that have plagued the device. Although the authors of a new study on the method, published in the Feb 1, 1996 edition of the journal Circulation, were cautious, American cardiologists called the improved device a major advance in treating heart disease