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Biomedical subjects

A Salim

Publications and source records attributed to A Salim.

45 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Fetal retinoblastoma.

Fetal tumors are sporadic entities and in some cases can be diagnosed prenatally. A team approach, incorporating the skills of obstetricians, radiation therapists, pediatric medical oncologists and hematologists, neonatal surgeons, rehabilitation specialists, and social workers, is imperative to ensure that the patient receives the best treatment. Retinoblastoma is a relatively uncommon tumor of childhood that arises in the retina. The estimated annual incidence is between 1 in 15,000 and 1 in 34,000. Although it may occur at any age, it most often arises in younger children, with 80% of cases diagnosed before the age of 5 years. We report a case of prenatally diagnosed fetal retinoblastoma.

Adult↗

Human BRCA1 inhibits growth in yeast: potential use in diagnostic testing.

Germline-inactivating mutations of BRCA1 result in a hereditary predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer. Truncating mutations of BRCA1 predispose to cancer and can be ascertained by protein truncation testing or sequencing. However, cancer-predisposing missense mutations of BRCA1 are difficult to distinguish from polymorphisms by genetic testing methods currently used. Here we show that expression of BRCA1 or BRCA1 fused to a GAL4 activation domain in Saccharomyces cerevesiae inhibits growth, resulting in small colonies easily distinguishable from vector-transformed controls. The growth inhibitory effect can be localized to sequences encoding the recently described BRCA1 C-terminal domains. Growth suppression by a BRCA1 fusion protein is not influenced by introduction of neutral polymorphisms but is diminished or abolished by frameshift, nonsense, or disease-associated missense mutations located in the C-terminal 305 amino acids of BRCA1. These observations may permit the functional significance of many BRCA1 sequence changes to be assessed in yeast. Additionally, the correlation of growth suppression with wild-type forms of BRCA1 suggests that the assay may be capable of detecting functionally conserved interactions between the evolutionarily conserved BRCA1 C-terminal domains and cellular elements found in both human and yeast cells.

BRCA1 Protein↗

Symptomatology of metastatic prostate cancer: prognostic significance.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the various presenting symptoms in patients with metastatic prostate cancer, quantify the metastatic load for each symptom group and compare their case-specific survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective and consecutive series of 279 men with metastatic cancer of the prostate was analysed. Based on the symptom at presentation, six different groups were identified: bladder outflow obstruction, bone pain, anaemia, weight loss, paraplegia and alteration of bowel habit. RESULTS: Significant variations were observed in their metastatic load (Kruskal-Wallis test, P = 0.0035) and in case-specific survival (log-rank test, P = 0.0038). CONCLUSION: Bladder outflow obstruction, bone pain and anaemia not only dictate treatment selection but we provide evidence that each of these symptoms has considerable prognostic significance in patients with metastatic cancer of the prostate.

Aged↗

Corpus luteum blood flow in normal and abnormal early pregnancy: evaluation with transvaginal color and pulsed Doppler sonography.

One hundred and thirteen (66.5%) women in this study had a normal intrauterine pregnancy with ages ranging 6 to 12 weeks of gestation. Fifty-seven (33.5%) patients were admitted to the hospital owing to clinically suspected abnormal early pregnancy. Dilatation and curettage were done on all women and tissue sample sent to the pathologist for a final diagnostic. Diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy was made on laparoscopy. Both ovaries were examined carefully by color Doppler in sonography in all patients. Color flow was used as a guide for pulsed Doppler exploration. Corpus luteum blood flow was defined as random, usually semilunar in appearance, dispersed vessels with very low impedance to blood flow. The resistive index and pulsatility index were calculated. Overall detection rate of corpus luteum blood flow in normal pregnancies was higher for the left ovary (62.6%) than for the right ovary (37.4%) (P < 0.01). The mean resistive and pulsatility indices from corpus luteum blood flow were not influenced by gestational age in normal pregnancy. The overall mean value for for resistive index was 0.452 +/- 0.04 and for pulsatility index 0.636 +/- 0.09. The overall detection rate of corpus luteum in abnormal pregnancies also was higher for the left ovary (56.7%) than for the right ovary (43.4%) (P < 0.01). The mean resistive indices from corpus luteum blood flow in patients with missed abortion was higher than in women with normal pregnancy (P < 0.01). Both resistive and pulsatility indices were higher in patients with incomplete or threatened abortion in comparison with normal pregnancy (P < 0.01). No statistically significant difference was seen in the case of anembryonic, molar, or ectopic pregnancy.

Adult↗

Structural requirements for the direct and cytochrome P450-dependent reaction of cyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds with glutathione: a study with coumarin and related compounds.

The interaction of glutathione (GSH) with coumarin, or one of a series of compounds related to coumarin, was assessed in the absence and presence of liver microsomes (direct reaction and indirect reaction, respectively) to determine the structural requirements for direct and mono-oxygenase-mediated reaction of cyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyls with GSH. Acrolein was used as a positive control for the direct reaction, and produced complete or nearly complete depletion of GSH under all assay conditions. 5,6-Dihydro-2H-pyran-2-one and 2-cyclohexen-1-one also produced substantial depletion of GSH in the direct reaction, which was not increased by the addition of liver microsomes. Coumarin, 2H-pyran-2-one and precocene I (a substituted pyran lacking the 2-one structure) were not substrates for the direct reaction but did cause depletion of GSH when incubated in the presence of rat or human liver microsomes. These depletions were dependent on a functioning mono-oxygenase system as judged by the effects of omission of cofactors, addition of competitive or inactivating inhibitors of cytochrome P450, and induction. Dihydrocoumarin, delta-valerolactone, cyclohexanone and 4H-pyran-4-one were not substrates for either the direct or indirect reaction. These findings are rationalized on the basis of a direct nucleophilic attack of GSH on the alpha,beta-centre of the alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, which is hindered by benzenoid resonance in coumarin and 2H-pyran-2-one, for which enzyme-mediated reaction with GSH, probably via a 3,4-epoxide, is the favoured mechanism.

Aged↗

Aortopulmonary window in the first year of life: report on 11 surgical cases.

From June, 1975, through April, 1986, 11 consecutive infants with aortopulmonary window were operated on at the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Ospedali Riuniti, Bergamo, Italy. The classic type of aortopulmonary window was present in 6 patients, whereas 4 patients had a ductus type of aortopulmonary window and 1 patient had a double aortopulmonary window, associated transposition of the great arteries, and ventricular septal defect. Operative technique included patch closure of the defect by means of cardiopulmonary bypass using various approaches: transaortic in 3, transpulmonary in 2, and transwindow in 2. The aortopulmonary window was ligated in 3 patients, in 2 of whom an incorrect diagnosis of patent ductus arteriosus was made at cardiac catheterization. Division and suture of the defect through a median sternotomy was performed in the remaining patient, who was moribund on admission. There was a single operative death. All survivors are in New York Heart Association Functional Class I at a mean interval of 6 1/2 years postoperatively.

Aortopulmonary Septal Defect↗

Treatment of tetanus: an open study to compare the efficacy of procaine penicillin and metronidazole.

A prospective, open, non-randomised clinical trial was carried out to compare the efficacy of procaine penicillin with metronidazole in the treatment of moderate tetanus among 173 patients. Patients in the metronidazole group had a significantly lower mortality rate, a shorter stay in hospital, and an improved response to treatment. These results establish the value of antimicrobial treatment in the management of tetanus and show that metronidazole is more efficacious than penicillin in this respect.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗

Diagnosis of pulmonary embolus by spiral CT: a case study.

A thirty-eight-year old immunosuppressed woman presented with respiratory distress and was diagnosed with Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia. Pulmonary embolism was also suspected on clinical grounds. A Ventilation-Perfusion Scan was indeterminate. Contrast-enhanced spiral computed tomography of the chest confirmed the presence of a central pulmonary embolus and helped to avoid pulmonary angiography in this critically ill patient.

Adult↗