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Biomedical subjects

A Shah

Publications and source records attributed to A Shah.

At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Human seminal plasma allergy in India.

Human seminal plasma allergy (HSPA) in women has been documented in the West. We describe here the first case of HSPA reported in India. An 18-year-old married woman presented with a 2-year history of episodic wheezing dyspnea. She had always had local postcoital symptoms since her first intercourse. Systemic symptoms developed subsequently. Despite more than 2 years of unprotected coitus, the patient had not conceived. The intradermal tests with seminal plasma antigen prepared from her husband's semen and from a healthy volunteer were markedly positive in the patient. Similar tests on her husband were negative. HSPA, especially the local forms, may be difficult to identify in our social conditions.

Antigens↗
PubMed1988

Pericardial effusion and left ventricular dysfunction associated with ascites secondary to hepatic cirrhosis.

Fluid retention in decompensated hepatic cirrhosis is frequently accompanied by edema, ascites, and hydrothorax. Whether pericardial effusion occurs in such patients has not been studied. Twenty-seven consecutively hospitalized patients with ascites secondary to alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver were studied, and 28 control subjects were studied with the use of an echocardiographic method to detect pericardial effusion and to evaluate their left ventricular (LV) function. Seventeen patients (63%) and three control subjects (11%) showed pericardial effusion. The prevalence of pericardial effusion in the patients was significantly greater than in the control subjects (chi 2 = 10.6). Although the mean values of the echocardiographic measurements of LV function of the patients and the control subjects did not differ significantly, the individual values of the patients varied considerably. Among the patients, six patients (27%) had LV dysfunction, 14 patients (64%) had normal values, and two patients (9%) had values suggestive of hypercontractility of the left ventricle. Furthermore, abnormal systolic motions of the mitral valve and/or septum were noted in eight patients (30%) but in none of the control subjects. Six patients with pericardial effusion on initial examination were evaluated after the resolution of their ascites; pericardial effusion disappeared in two patients, diminished in two others, and remained unchanged in two patients. Resolution of ascites was also associated with normalization of the systolic motion of the mitral valve and septum. It was concluded that pericardial effusion is common in patients with ascites secondary to alcoholic hepatic cirrhosis and that its presence is probably related to fluid retention.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Factor VII activity state in coronary artery disease.

In a recent study, Dalaker et al. (Br J Haematol 1985; 61:315-22) reported that men at high risk for cardiovascular disease had an increased mean level of factor VII procoagulant activity that was apparently attributable to an increase of a phospholipase C-sensitive form of factor VII in their plasma. We chose to investigate this phenomenon further by observing patients at high risk of coronary artery disease with assays that reflect the activity state of factor VII. We measured factor VII levels in patients before coronary arteriography and in normal subjects by an amidolytic assay (FVIIam assay) and by a standard clotting assay (FVIIc-A assay), both of which reflect the total amount of factor VII and are insensitive to activated factor VII, and by the method of Seligson et al. (Blood 1978;52:978-88) (FVIIc-B assay), which is sensitive to the presence of activated factor VII. In the FVIIc-A and FVIIam assays, the patients had a significantly higher mean value than the normal subjects; in the FVIIc-B assay, the patients had a significantly lower mean value than did the normal subjects. Moreover, the ratio of FVIIc-B to FVIIam, which is an indicator of the factor VII activity state, was much lower for the patients (0.70) than for the normal subjects (0.99). Thus, patients at high risk for coronary artery disease have an increased mean level of total factor VII that is not associated with an increase in activated factor VII and therefore presumably reflects an increase in zymogen factor VII.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Variability of mitochondrial cytochemistry in human neuromuscular diseases.

This study describes mitochondrial cytochemistry with reference to cytochrome c oxidase and NADH oxidase activities as well as calcium localization at subcellular level in a variety of human mitochondrial disorders. The enzyme activities, calcium homeostasis, and myofibrillary architecture were retained in the lipid storage myopathies with carnitine and carnitine palmityl transferase deficiency. The loss of enzyme reaction, excessive Ca++ deposit, and myonecrosis were the features of the group comprised of a variety of disorders with mitochondrial pathology (Kearns-Sayre's syndrome, chronic progressive ophthalmoplegia, polymyositis, neurogenic atrophy, and fascioscapulo humeral dystrophy). Based on these and our previous experimental study (Shah et al., 1985), we suggest that the human mitochondrial disorders may be grouped into two types: one in which the morphologically altered mitochondria retain the enzyme activities and Ca++ homeostasis and the other in which the altered mitochondria associated with muscle necrosis represent the loss/reduction of the enzyme activities as well as Ca++ homeostasis.

Calcium↗
PubMed1987

Echocardiographic features of mitral regurgitation due to ankylosing spondylitis.

A report of echocardiographic features of an extension of "subaortic bump" producing mitral regurgitation in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis and left-sided bivalvular regurgitation is described for the first time. The anatomic and echocardiographic features of "subaortic bump," specifically found in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, have been previously reported. A review of the literature on ankylosing spondylitis and mitral regurgitation is discussed.

Aortic Valve Insufficiency↗
PubMed1987

Locally-based residential services for mentally handicapped adults: a comparative study.

The patterns of daily living, occupation and leisure activities, skills, behaviour and the structure and organization of living units were assessed for 2 groups of mentally handicapped adults, first in a large hospital and second, a year later in the new local units to which they were transferred. Similar assessments were carried out for individually matched control subjects who remained in the large hospital. For the less severely handicapped, more sociable residents who moved to an NHS hostel in the community, there were significant improvements on several of these measures. For the more severely handicapped, socially aloof people who moved to a ward in a small converted hospital in the district from which they had originally come, some changes on the environmental measures were found, but on the whole the unit was run along similar lines to the wards of the large hospital. There was little change in the pattern of the residents' day to day life. The controls who remained in the large hospital experienced very little change in environmental and life-style measures. The discussion focuses on the interaction between environmental factors and the handicaps of the individuals, and the influence of this interaction upon quality of care and life-style. The study was carried out during the early stages of the rundown to closure of the large mental handicap hospital.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Phase II study of lonidamine in patients with small cell carcinoma of the lung.

Lonidamine, a substituted indazole carboxylic acid that inhibits cellular respiration, was given in an escalating oral schedule to 20 evaluable patients with measurable extensive small cell carcinoma of the lung. Two partial responses occurred. Reversible acceptable toxicity included myalgia, nausea, hyperesthesia, photophobia, somnolence, and testicular pain. The drug was not myelosuppressive. Lonidamine has modest activity in small cell lung cancer and further studies are warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Pericardial effusion and left ventricular function in patients with acute alcoholic pancreatitis.

Pericardial effusion as a complication of acute pancreatitis has been described in several isolated case reports. However, the prevalence of pericardial effusion in patients with acute pancreatitis has not been studied. Alcoholism and severe acute pancreatitis have been shown to cause left ventricular dysfunction. We studied 15 consecutive patients, hospitalized for the treatment of acute, alcohol-induced pancreatitis, and 28 control subjects by M-mode echocardiography to detect pericardial effusion and to assess left ventricular function. Seven patients (47%) with pancreatitis and three control subjects (11%) had pericardial effusion; the prevalence of pericardial effusion in patients with pancreatitis was significantly greater (Fisher's exact test) than in control subjects. There was no evidence of impairment of left ventricular function in the patients, all of whom had mild acute pancreatitis; the mean fractional systolic shortening of the left ventricle in patients was not significantly different from that of control subjects (38% +/- 8.5% vs 37% +/- 8.0%), and the mean velocity of left ventricular circumferential shortening in patients was significantly higher than in control subjects (1.58 +/- 0.34 circumferences per second vs 1.29 +/- 0.32 circumferences per second). We conclude that in patients with mild acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis, pericardial effusion occurs frequently and that left ventricular function is unimpaired.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1986

Cardiac function in alcohol-associated systemic hypertension.

The pathogenesis of alcohol cardiomyopathy is obscure. Because systemic hypertension is observed in one-third of alcoholics, the relation of this finding to left ventricular (LV) function was analyzed in 66 alcoholics (26 with a blood pressure of 160/95 mm Hg or higher) 4 to 5 days after alcohol withdrawal. Hypertensive alcoholics had a more abnormal ratio of preejection period/LV ejection time (PEP/ET) (0.398 +/- 0.01 vs 0.35 +/- 0.01, p less than 0.02) than normotensive alcoholics (matched normal 0.290 +/- 0.01). Hypertensive alcoholics (transitory hypertension) with blood pressures of 120/80 mm Hg or less at time of study also had more abnormal PEP/LVET than matched normotensive alcoholics (0.415 +/- 0.03 vs 0.331 +/- 0.01, p less than 0.05). In both hypertensive (77 +/- 6 dynes/cm2 X 10(3)) and normotensive alcoholics (67 +/- 4 dynes/cm2 X 10(3) LV stress was elevated (normal 46 +/- 3 dynes/cm2 X 10(3), both p less than 0.02). However, LV mass was not increased (hypertensive 96 +/- 4 g/m2; vs normotensive 100 +/- 4 g/m2; (normal 92 +/- 5 g/m2), resulting in a markedly increased stress to mass ratio (hypertensive 0.8 +/- 0.06; Normal 0.05 +/- 0.05, p less than 0.02). Hypertensive alcoholics also had LV "hyperfunction," with an increased stress/LV end-systolic volume ratio (1.7 +/- 0.1 vs 1.3 +/- 0.1 dynes/cm2 X 10(3)/ml, p less than 0.02). Thus, hypertensive alcoholics, even those with transitory hypertension, have more abnormal cardiac function than normotensive alcoholics. Presence of hypertension with hyperdynamic LV features may be a prelude to heart failure.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Morphology and morphometry of motor endings in primate intrafusal fibers.

The pre- and postsynaptic structure of 243 axon terminals of bag 1, bag 2, and chain fibers were studied in cynomolgus monkey skeletal muscle spindles. The motor endings of the biceps and gastrocnemius spindles (long limb muscle) were compared to the motor endings of lumbricals and opponens pollicis (intrinsic hand muscle) spindles. In both muscle groups the only significant difference observed in the presynaptic features was in the presynaptic membrane length. The postsynaptic features of bag 1, bag 2 and chain endings were similar in the long limb muscle spindles. In the intrinsic hand muscle, however, the bag 1 and chain endings showed complex postsynaptic structure which resembled the extra fusal endings while the postsynaptic structure of bag 2 endings was much simpler. From these studies we conclude that the postsynaptic structure of various intrafusal fiber types is dissimilar in different muscles.

Animals↗