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Biomedical subjects

A Garcia

Publications and source records attributed to A Garcia.

At least 325 records · Page 18Linked to original sources

[Acute suppurative mediastinitis in heart surgery performed under extracorporeal circulation].

The incidence of acute suppurative mediastinitis after open heart cardiac surgery in a 5 year retrospective study was found to be 1.56%. The commonest causal agent was the DNAse + coagulase + staphylococcus (68.8%). All cases were treated with bactericidal antibiotics and local measures (dosed chest irrigation-drainage in 1 or 2 stages). Adult men, early and/or late reoperation, immediate postoperative complications (cardiovascular collapse, haemorrhage) were positive risk factors. On the other hand, the type of underlying cardiac disease, the duration of surgery and bypass time, emergency surgery, and protocols of prophylactic antibiotic therapy did not seem to influence this risk. No sources of exogenous contamination, no notions of epidemics or periodicity were discovered in this study. The clinical course may be complicated, especially by renal failure. Thirty-two of the 109 patients studied died. However, the prognosis has improved in the last 5 years in relation to technical advances in intensive care and, above all, to adoption of 1 stage dosed chest irrigation-drainage: the mortality rate has fallen from 37.2% in the first period to 20% more recently. When a cure is obtained, it is complete and there are no sequellae. Nevertheless, irrespective of the adoption of draconian measures of asepsis and protocols of prophylactic antibiotic therapy, the risk of acute postoperative mediastinitis persists. This suggests that the efficacy of the patient's local (and general) anti-infective immunity defenses may vary in the presence of constant mediastinal bacterial contamination despite aleatory preventive measures, due to the remenance of the skin flora.

Acute Disease↗

Primary actinomycosis of the thyroid mimicking carcinoma.

Primary actinomycosis of the thyroid was diagnosed in a 59 year old farmer who presented with a hard, non-tender, thyroid nodule. The difficulties encountered in the diagnosis of actinomycetal infections, its pathogenesis, and treatment are discussed.

Actinomyces↗

[Hypoxemia after heart surgery by a right-left shunt via a permeable unrecognized foramen ovale].

Hypoxemia is a relatively common complication in the immediate postoperative period after cardiac surgery under cardio-pulmonary bypass, usually due to pulmonary disease. When this does not improve with oxygen therapy and in the absence of pulmonary disease, it may be due to a right-to-left shunt. We report a case with a right-to-left intracardiac shunt due to persistence of a patent foramen ovale, which became functional again under the new hemodynamic conditions after surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass and assisted ventilation. The diagnosis and physiopathological mechanism were studied by cardiac catheterisation and angiography. Contrast echocardiography should be able to detect these acquired shunts relatively easily. The diagnosis requires appropriate therapy: discontinuation of ineffective assisted ventilation as this may aggravate the situation by increasing pulmonary resistance, and anticoagulant therapy to prevent potentially disastrous paradoxical thromboembolism.

Aortic Valve Insufficiency↗

Leydig cell hypogenesis: a rare cause of male pseudohermaphroditism and a pathological model for the understanding of normal sexual differentiation.

We describe a patient who presented for treatment of primary amenorrhea and was found to have male pseudohermaphroditism due to Leydig cell hypogenesis. This rare disorder is characterized by ambiguous genitalia with a normal clitoris, labioscrotal folds, a urogenital sinus and inguinal or intra-abdominal testes microscopically devoid of mature Leydig cells. The diagnosis is made biochemically by the presence of low testosterone and estradiol values with elevated luteinizing hormone levels in the absence of other significant hormonal changes. The clinical and laboratory features of this disorder offer support for human developmental concepts derived from animal models.

Adult↗

Cancer mortality in Barcelona 1960-1978.

Cancer mortality rates specific for sex and site for the 1960-1978 period are presented. The population covered is the municipal area of Barcelona. Rates have been adjusted taking as the standard population the Spanish census of 1970. Leading sites for males are lung, stomach and large intestine. Breast, large intestine and stomach are leading causes of death for females. Secular trends follow the general picture of the western industrial countries.

Aging↗

Mebendazole therapy of enteral trichinellosis.

Mebendazole was highly effective against the helminth parasite Trichinella spiralis in mice subjected to a 3-day course of treatment during the enteral phase of experimental trichinellosis. When treatment began 72 hr after the mice were inoculated with parasites, the number of adult worms recovered from the host intestine was greatly reduced by twice-daily oral administration of 7.5 mg of mebendazole per kilogram of body weight.

Administration, Oral↗

Effect of 4-aminopyridine on cardiovascular functions in the dog.

The drug 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) at a dose of 0.2 mg . kg-1 body weight intravenously is an effective antagonist of non-depolarizing neuromuscular blockade. We studied its cardiovascular effects in the canine heart using a right-heart bypass with extracorporeal circulation in seven dogs. This study demonstrates that 4-aminopyridine significantly augments arterial blood pressure, left ventricular dp/dt maximum, as well as left ventricular pressure at dp/dt mx. The highest values were obtained between two and 20 minutes after administration of 4-AP. Left ventricular end-diastolic pressure diminished slightly, but this was not statistically significant. Although the exact mechanism of action of 4-AP is not known, its positive inotropic effects may be of value in the reversal of non-depolarizing neuromuscular blockade in patients with impaired myocardial function of diverse aetiologies and it would be contra-indicated in patients with arterial hypertension and/or coronary artery disease.

4-Aminopyridine↗

Survival of bacteria after freezing of human semen in liquid nitrogen.

Thirty-four semen samples from fertile men were subjected to bacteriologic evaluation before and after freezing to -196 degrees C using 10% glycerol as the protective medium. Cultures of the fresh portions from all ejaculates examined showed the presence of aerobic bacteria. Staphylococcus epidermidis, Corynebacterium sp., alpha-streptococci, and nonhemolytic streptococci were found so commonly that they were considered commensals. Enterococci, Escherichia coli, S. aureus, and beta-hemolytic streptococci group B, as well as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. maltophilia, and P. fluorescens, were also recovered from a few semen samples of these fertile men. Practically all bacteria isolated from the fresh ejaculate were also recovered from the portions frozen in liquid nitrogen.

Humans↗

Nuclear processing of viral high-molecular-weight RNA in cells infected with herpes simplex virus type 1.

Nuclear RNA isolated from cells infected by herpes simplex virus type 1, strain F, was fractionated on formamide-sucrose gradients into two major classes, greater and less than 45S. These two classes of labeled nuclear RNA were hybridized to viral DNA fragments generated by digestion with the restriction enzymes HindIII and BglII. Early in infection, only a few DNA fragments hybridized to RNA, with slight differences between the two classes. Late in infection, all DNA fragments hybridized, showing that all viral RNA was present in large precursor molecules greater than 14 kilobases. The fragments that correspond to late gene products hybridized more of the small RNA than the large RNA. This suggests that the mRNA corresponding to late genes accumulated after the large precursors have been cleaved. Large (greater than or equal to 45S) and small (< 45S) nuclear RNA and cytoplasmic RNA from cells late in infection were hybridized in excess to in vitro-labeled HindIII M and L fragments. More than 50% of the HIndIII M fragment annealed with the large nuclear RNA, but only 36% of it annealed with the cytoplasmic RNA. The HindIII L fragment hybridized large nuclear RNA and cytoplasmic RNA to the same extent (30% and 26%). These results suggest that RNA complementary to the HindIII M fragment, which is the template for immediate early polypeptides, was regulated in the nuclei at the posttranscriptional level. This seems to suggest that temporal regulation of RNA cleavage occurs in the nucleus.

DNA, Viral↗

[Clinical use of nitroglycerin as an hypotensive agent during general anesthesia for caesarean section. Report of a case (author's transl)].

Nitroglycerin in aqueous solution has been used as hypotensive agent during a caesarean section, in a patient who presented an arterial hypertension not controled by administration of four antihypertensive agents (acebutolol, clonidine, dihydralazine, alpha-methyl-dopa). Nitroglycerin continuous infusion started two hours before caesarean section at the dose of one milligramme over one hour and stopped several hours after.

Adult↗

Disposition of cefoxitin in the elderly.

The pharmacokinetics off cefoxitin were studied after a single i.v. and i. m. dose of 15 mg/kg of cefoxitin to 15 younger people (15-55 years) and to 16 geriatric patients (66-94 years). The kinetics of the antibiotic follow an open two-compartment model for both administration routes. After i.m. administration of the antibiotic, there are modifications in the distribution with respect to i.v. administration, and there is a decrease in beta K21 and as a consequence, an increase in Vp. In geriatric patients, pharmacokinetic modifications take place with respect to those recorded in the younger people in both administration routes, there being a decrease in the following pharmacokinetic parameters: alpha, beta, K12, K21, K13 and Clp, together with an increase in the apparent distribution volume Vdss. A linear relationship has been established between the constant beta and the age of the patient. In spite of the pharmacokinetic modifications observed as a function of age, given the wide safety margin of the antibiotic, it is not necessary to modify the dosage regimen of cefoxitin in geriatric patients.

Adolescent↗