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• The incidence of acute viral hepatitis among Rochester, Minn, residents 1971-1980 was 28.6 per 100 000 person-years (p-y) (age- and sex-adjusted to the 1980 white population in the United States). The adjusted incidence of hepatitis B (12.9 per 100000 p-y) was somewhat less than for hepatitis non-B (15.6 per 100 000 p-y). Each type was more frequent among young adults, especially males. The incidence of hepatitis was greater among those employed in the health service industry than among nonmedical employees (53.4 vs 20.0 per 100 000 p-y). Medical employees had nearly a fivefold increased incidence of hepatitis B and a twofold increased incidence of hepatitis non-B. Exposure to known hepatitis cases was common, but other possible causative factors were not frequent. In this midwestern community, the incidence of acute viral hepatitis is substantial, with medical employees at significantly increased risk.(Arch Intern Med 1987;147:1235-1240)

• We conducted a noncurrent prospective study of all Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents who had had a lowerextremity venogram, pulmonary angiogram, or lung scan performed because of suspicion of deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary emboli. One hundred thirteen cancer-free patients were followed for 386 person-years from the date of procedure. Nine subsequent cancers were observed compared with 4.5 expected (relative risk, 2.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.9 to 3.8), using total cancer incidence rates for the Rochester, Minn, population. Five hundred seventeen cancer-free controls were followed for 2072 person-years. Twenty subsequent cancers were observed compared with 11.6 expected, yielding a relative risk of 1.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 2.7). When cases and controls were compared directly, no statistically significant difference in cancer-free survival was found.(Arch Intern Med 1987;147:1907-1911)

• To estimate the risk of esophageal, gallbladder, small-bowel, and colon cancers after gastric surgery for benign disease, all 337 residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, who had surgical treatment of benign peptic ulcer disease during the years 1935 through 1959, were followed up. Patients were followed up for 6552 person-years of observation. No esophageal cancers developed (0.8 were expected). Members of the cohort developed one small-bowel malignant neoplasm (0.2 were expected), two gallbladder cancers (1.1 was expected), and four colon cancers (11.2 were expected), but these figures do not reflect a significant increase in the risk of these malignant neoplasms. In particular, the relative risk of developing colon cancer was only 0.4 when this analysis had 88% power to detect a relative risk of two or more. When the present investigation and two previous studies of this cohort were taken together, there was no strong evidence for an increased risk of any gastrointestinal cancer following gastric surgery.(Arch Intern Med 1988;148:405-407)