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Biomedical subjects

A E Becker

Publications and source records attributed to A E Becker.

320 records · Page 18Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Primary heart tumors in the pediatric age group: a review of salient pathologic features relevant for clinicians.

Because primary tumors of the heart in infants and children are extremely rare, most knowledge is based on collections of case reports rather than large cohort studies. The types of heart tumors encountered in the pediatric age group differ from those seen in adults. In the latter, cardiac myxomas are by far the most common tumor; in infants and children the most common primary tumor of the heart is the rhabdomyoma. Spontaneous regression of these tumors has been well established so that surgical intervention is no longer indicated unless there are clinical manifestations from the heart. There is a high incidence of associated tuberous sclerosis. Any intracavitary mass in infants is suggestive for a cardiac rhabdomyoma unless otherwise proven. The second most common tumor in this age group is cardiac fibroma. These tumors probably represent hamartomatous lesions and this has led to a strategy in which radical surgical excision is not indicated if the procedure endangers postoperative heart function. Cardiac myxomas are of interest in this age group because of their familial occurrence as part of the myxoma syndrome. Other types of primary heart tumors occur, including malignant variants, but all are exceedingly rare. It is because of the sporadic nature of these tumors that treatment and insights into prognosis are based largely on case documentations and analogies from similar tumors originating elsewhere.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Postpartum illness in Fiji: a sociosomatic perspective.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to explore the apparent social mediation of a postpartum somatic illness, na tadoka ni vasucu, occurring among ethnic Fijian women. METHOD: During their first two postpartum days, 85 consecutive newly delivered ethnic Fijian women were recruited for a prospective study on na tadoka ni vasucu at the Sigatoka District Hospital in Nadroga, Fiji. Subjects underwent translated structured interviews and responded to the Kellner Symptom Questionnaire and to visual analog scales to assess social supports and occurrence of mood symptoms or an episode of na tadoka ni vasucu in the postpartum period. Semistructured ethnographic interviews were also conducted with subjects who reported an episode of na tadoka ni vasucu. Data were collected in the initial postpartum days and again at 2 to 5 months postpartum; 82 women completed the study. RESULTS: Na tadoka ni vasucu is a somatic syndrome occurring in 9% (N = 7) of this sample. Both quantitative and narrative data demonstrate that this syndrome is associated with perceived inferior social supports. Despite its relatively infrequent occurrence and benign clinical course, the disorder is a subject of serious social concern within the Fijian community. CONCLUSIONS: Although na tadoka ni vasucu seems to be clinically trivial, because of its cultural salience it is nonetheless able to mobilize intensive social surveillance and care for the postpartum mother. The moral concern generated by this culturally marked disorder, as well as its association with perceived inferior social supports, suggest a dialectical relationship between somatic idiom and its social context.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Suicide in contemporary China: a review of China's distinctive suicide demographics in their sociocultural context.

Suicide is a complex phenomenon--arguably a social and a moral deed--occurring within associated psychological, biological, and cultural contexts. We present data on suicide rates in China for 1988, 1990, and 1992 and provide an analysis of their social context. These figures, from the Chinese Public Health Annuals, have never before been publicly reported. These and other recent data indicate that suicide rates in China, although reportedly low in the past, are by global standards alarmingly high among certain demographic groups. They also reveal distinctive epidemiological patterns of suicide in China that contrast with the patterns characteristic of Western societies-for example, higher rates in rural than in urban areas and, among some demographic groups, higher among women than among men. As in the West, however, suicide among the elderly is a major problem in China. The sociocultural context of these data is examined as a means toward understanding their distinctive patterning.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Study of the cardiac conduction tissues in the paediatric age group.

We have reviewed our experience with study of the conduction system of the heart and tried to condense our experience in the hope of aiding others to study this neglected part of the heart. The techniques involved are not complicated but do require patience and attention to detail. The key to success is the ability to cut serial sections, and to mount and study sub-serial sections. The techniques used are briefly described and then attention is given to the removal of blocks, the single most important step in the whole procedure. Advice is offered on the optimal method of studying the sinus node and the atrioventricular junctional area in the normal heart. Thereafter methods are described for studying the conduction systems in hearts with abnormal atrioventricular nodes, with ventricular septal defects and with ventricular pre-excitation. Similar attention is then paid to sudden infant death syndrome with regard to the conduction system, to congenitally complete heart block and finally to acquired disease in congenitally malformed hearts. Hope is expressed that more may become interested in the study of this fascinating system, or else refer suitable hearts to those who already are.

Adolescent↗