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Biomedical subjects

A J Hall

Publications and source records attributed to A J Hall.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Perthes' disease in yorkshire.

Perthes' disease is common in certain urban areas within Britain. It is one manifestation of a generalised growth disorder and nutritional causes are suspected. Orthopaedic surgeons throughout the Yorkshire region recorded all new patients with Perthes' disease over two years. There were large geographical differences in incidence which could not be explained by urban-rural or social class differences. No cases were recorded in a large area within the eastern part of the region, which is in high-grade farming land and has had a relatively low infant mortality throughout this century.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Cancer in homozygotes and heterozygotes of ataxia-telangiectasia and xeroderma pigmentosum in Britain.

We have documented mortality and cancer incidence in the families of 67 patients with ataxia-telangiectasia and 48 patients with xeroderma pigmentosum resident in Britain. For both diseases, parents of patients are obligate heterozygotes and grandparents have a probability of heterozygosity of 0.5. Fourteen ataxia-telangiectasia patients had died by June 30, 1986. This was a significant excess (14 deaths observed, 1.65 expected). Only one death was from a malignancy (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma). Three parents of ataxia-telangiectasia patients had died, all from cancer. The excess from breast cancer (two deaths observed, 0.17 expected) was statistically significant, p less than 0.05. However, no excess mortality from malignant neoplasms was found in the grandparents. Five xeroderma pigmentosum patients had died, none from internal malignancies. No excess mortality from malignant neoplasms was recorded in either their parents or grandparents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

The epidemiology of Perthes' disease in south India.

The incidence of Perthes' disease in parts of south India was estimated by means of a hospital survey, an incidence study and a prevalence survey. Based on the incidence study it was noted that the minimum incidence of Perthes' disease in Udupi Taluk on the western coastal plain of south India was 4.4 per 100,000 children aged 5 to 14 years, while the prevalence survey suggested that the incidence may be as high as 14.8 per 100,000 children. The studies showed that there is a marked geographical variation in the incidence of Perthes' disease in south India, the disease being much more common in the western coastal region than elsewhere. The age of onset of the disease was significantly higher than that reported from England and the disease appeared to be rural rather than urban.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Biochemical and biophysical characteristics of Rio Bravo virus (Flaviviridae).

Rio Bravo (RB) virus has been assigned to the family Flaviviridae on the basis of its antigenic relatedness to other members of this family. RB virus, unlike most members of the Flaviviridae, is believed not to have an arthropod vector. We examined biochemical and biophysical characteristics of RB virus to determine whether it should be assigned to the Flaviviridae and to compare it with arthropod-borne flaviviruses. Purified RB virus banded at a density of 1.18 g/ml in sucrose and had a sedimentation coefficient of about 200 S. Virions, negatively stained with ammonium molybdate, were spherical, had diameters of 42 nm, and appeared to be surrounded by envelopes bearing surface projections. The loss of infectivity after infectious virus was incubated with diethyl ether or sodium deoxycholate confirmed the presence of envelopes. Partially purified RB virions contained single-stranded RNA, lacking 3' poly(A) tracts, that sedimented in a 15% to 30% sucrose gradient as one discrete band with a sedimentation coefficient of about 40 S. Most of the viral proteins in preparations of purified virus and in immunoprecipitates had similar electrophoretic mobilities and glycosylation patterns to known flavivirus proteins. Therefore, they were assigned the following tentative designations using the nomenclature for flavivirus proteins: gp52 and gp47, envelope proteins; gp46, non-structural protein 1; p25, gp20(prM), precursor to membrane protein; gp less than 18K. Putative core and membrane proteins were not identified. These physical and biochemical characteristics of RB virus are remarkably similar to those of the arthropod-borne members of the Flaviviridae and they confirm the classification of RB virus in this family. This is the first report of biochemical and physical properties of a non-arthropod-borne member of the Flaviviridae.

Flavivirus↗
PubMed1988

Small feet and Perthes' disease. A survey in Liverpool.

There is a high incidence of Perthes' disease among the children of unskilled manual workers in underprivileged urban areas in Britain. The skeletal measurements of 38 Liverpool children with Perthes' disease were compared with those of their siblings and of normal children from the inner and outer city. Children in families where Perthes' disease occurs have retarded growth of the trunk, with reduced sitting height and bi-acromial diameter. Among those who develop the disease there is also retarded limb growth, most evident as unusually small feet.

Anthropometry↗
PubMed1987

Follow up study of children born elsewhere but attending schools in Seascale, West Cumbria (schools cohort).

Records on 1546 children who were identified as having attended schools in Seascale up to November 1984 and were born since 1950 but not in the civil parish were studied. These children lived in or near Seascale for a period of time while they were attending one or more of three local schools and are an additional group to the 1068 children who were identified as born to mothers resident in Seascale in an accompanying study. Even though some of the schoolchildren apparently remained in the village for a short period only all but 7% were followed up through the National Health Service Central Register. Mortality among these children to 30 June 1986 is comparable to that expected at national rates. From all causes there were 10 observed deaths compared with 12.69 expected--a ratio of 0.79 (95% confidence interval 0.38 to 1.45)--and from cancer one observed death compared with 2.04 expected--a ratio of 0.49 (95% CI 0.01 to 2.73). No deaths from leukaemia or lymphoma were reported, but only 0.83 was expected. Since 1971 (the year when cases of cancer were first notified to the NHS Central Register) three non-fatal cases of cancer were reported, including two lymphomas, compared with 2.04 expected and two cases of carcinoma in situ of the cervix compared with 1.79 expected. In addition, there was a case of leukaemia among the schoolchildren which was known previously and had been diagnosed in 1968. There is an interesting difference between the results of this study and the results of the study of children born to mothers who were resident in Seascale. In the latter study there was an excess of leukaemia and of other cancers, but a similar finding is not apparent among children who spent some time at schools in Seascale but were born elsewhere. This raises the question of whether one or more aetiological factors in childhood cancer were acting on a locality specific basis before birth or early in life. This cannot be answered from these cohort studies, but it is hoped that the case-control study that is under way in West Cumbria will provide relevant information.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Follow up study of children born to mothers resident in Seascale, West Cumbria (birth cohort).

Records on 1068 children who were born to mothers resident in Seascale Civil Parish during 1950-83 were studied. There was a large degree of mobility among the families, and nearly half of the children did not subsequently attend the main local school. Use of the National Health Service Central Register, however, enabled us to follow up the children's records regardless of place of residence. The excess of leukaemia among Seascale children first supported from the analysis of geographical areas is confirmed. There were five deaths from leukaemia identified to 30 June 1986 compared with 0.53 expected at national rates--a ratio of 9.36 (95% confidence interval 3.04 to 21.84). One of these deaths occurred after the child had left Seascale. There were four deaths from other cancers compared with 1.06 expected--a ratio of 3.76 (95% CI 1.02 to 9.63). In addition, three further cases of cancer, apart from the deaths, were reported compared with 1.19 expected since 1971--a ratio of 2.53 (95% CI 0.52 to 7.40). For other causes of death, including stillbirths and infant mortality, there was a reported deficit compared with national rates, some of which at least was to be expected on the basis of the social class composition of the population of Seascale. In view of the importance of this cohort of births continued follow up is planned, with the possibility of extending it to include births since 1983, and the methods available for this type of study will be examined further.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Evaluation of the Singh index and femoral calcar width as epidemiological methods for measuring bone mass in the femoral neck.

Epidemiological research into the causes of osteoporosis requires a validated radiological measure of bone mass. Ashing studies were carried out on 62 excised femoral heads, and a positive correlation was demonstrated between the weight to volume ratio of the ash and two radiological indices in the contralateral femoral neck: the Singh grade and the femoral calcar width. The repeatability and right-left concordance of the Singh grading method was also assessed. It is concluded that these radiological indices will provide useful epidemiological tools for the measurement of bone mass in the proximal femur.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

The epidemiology of Perthes' disease.

Epidemiologic studies in Britain have shown that the incidence of Perthes' disease is higher in children from families of low socioeconomic status. The disease is associated with urban areas. The highest annual incidence recorded to date is 15.6 per 100,000 children younger than 15 years of age, in Liverpool, England. Within Liverpool, the incidence is higher in the inner city wards. The epidemiology of the disease points to major environmental influences in the etiology; these are associated with poverty. A study of time trends in Dortmund, Germany, supports this conclusion. It is unclear whether the impaired skeletal maturation of children with Perthes' disease is a characteristic of the patients alone or the families or communities they belong to. The low incidence in people of African and Chinese descent may reflect ethnic differences in maturation. The disease may have a major determinant acting at a critical stage of early life. Reported associations with congenital malformations are inconclusive evidence of a prenatal determinant. Rather, the normal birthweight and absence of association with known prenatal influences suggest a determinant acting in early postnatal life.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Mortality of hepatitis B positive blood donors in England and Wales.

Of 2880 men and 1054 women who were found to be hepatitis B surface antigen positive by the Blood Transfusion Service in England and Wales between 1971 and 1981, more than 92% were traced to the end of 1983. 5 deaths from hepatocellular carcinoma had been reported in men, giving a relative risk compared with the male population of England and Wales as a whole of 42. There had been no deaths from liver cancer in women. In both men and women there was a greater than ten-fold increase in the risk of death from chronic liver disease. Secondary preventive action may be indicated.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The age distribution of Legg-Perthes disease. An analysis using Sartwell's incubation period model.

The etiology of Legg-Perthes disease of the hip is unknown. One current hypothesis suggests that an environmental factor affects the growth mechanism at a critical prenatal stage. The time interval between the critical exposure and the onset of clinical disease can be regarded as the incubation period, and the distribution of ages at onset of disease will reflect the distribution of incubation periods. Published series of cases were examined for fit to Sartwell's logarithmic normal model of incubation periods. All fit except two. The study results are consistent with a single cause acting at a critical stage of life, i.e., before two years of age. The findings are compatible with either a prenatal or postnatal influence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Perthes' disease of the hip in Liverpool.

A survey of Perthes' disease of the hip in three regions of England showed a higher incidence in the Mersey region compared with Trent or Wessex. To explore this further a case register was set up in Liverpool. Analysis of all new cases that occurred in Liverpool and adjacent parts of Knowsley and Sefton during 1976-81 showed a steep gradient with social class, ranging from 7.7/100 000 children in the higher classes to 26.3/100 000 in social class V. The inner city of Liverpool, which has been shown to be underprivileged, had the highest yearly incidence of the disease ever reported--21.1 cases/100 000 children aged 14 years and under. The associations with poverty support the hypothesis that undernutrition is a causative factor in the disease.

Child↗