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Biomedical subjects

Alan E Oestreich

Publications and source records attributed to Alan E Oestreich.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Danger of multiple magnets beyond the stomach in children.

Examples from our recent experience, as well as several reports in surgical and pediatric journals, proclaim the danger in children whenever more than one swallowed magnet travels beyond the stomach. They may attract across the thin walls of small bowel, causing ischemia, necrosis and perforation into the peritoneum. The radiologist or other healthcare worker seeing magnets in the abdomen on radiographs should consider the situation an emergency and recommend surgical treatment as soon as possible.

Autistic Disorder↗

Gaucher disease: alendronate disodium improves bone mineral density in adults receiving enzyme therapy.

Symptomatic patients with Gaucher disease (GD) (acid beta-glucosidase [Gcase] deficiency) are treated with injectable human recombinant GCase. Treatment results in significant decreases in lipid storage in liver, spleen, and bone marrow, but the generalized osteopenia and focal bone lesions present in many adult patients are refractory to treatment. A double-blind, 2-arm, placebo-controlled trial of alendronate (40 mg/d) was performed in adults with GD who had been treated with enzyme for at least 24 months. Primary therapeutic endpoints were improvements in (1) bone mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC) at the lumbar spine, and (2) focal lesions in x-rays of long bones assessed by a blinded reviewer. There were 34 patients with GD type 1 (age range, 18-50 years) receiving enzyme therapy who were randomized for this study. After 18 months, DeltaBMD at the lumbar spine was 0.068 +/- 0.21 and 0.015 +/- 0.034 for alendronate and placebo groups, respectively (P =.001). Long-bone x-rays showed no change in focal lesions or bone deformities in any subject in either arm. Alendronate is a useful adjunctive therapy in combination with enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for the treatment of GD-related osteopenia in adults, but it cannot be expected to improve focal lesions.

Adult↗

The acrophysis: a unifying concept for understanding enchondral bone growth and its disorders. II. Abnormal growth.

In order to discuss and illustrate the effects common to normal and abnormal enchondral bone at the physes and at all other growth plates of the developing child, the term "acrophysis" was proposed. Acrophyses include the growth plates of secondary growth centers including carpals and tarsals and apophyses, and the growth plates at the nonphyseal ends of small tubular bones. Abnormalities at acrophyseal sites are analogous to those at the physeal growth plates and their metaphyses. For example, changes relating to the zone of provisional calcification (ZPC) are often important to the demonstration of such similarities. Lead lines were an early example of the concept of analogy from abnormality due to physeal and to acrophyseal disturbance. The ZPC is a key factor in understanding patterns of rickets and its healing. Examples (including hypothyroidism, scurvy and other osteoporosis, Ollier disease, achondroplasia, and osteopetrosis, as well as the family of frostbite, Kashin-Beck disease, and rat bite fever) illustrate the acrophysis principle and in turn their manifestations are explained by that principle.

Bone Development↗

The acrophysis: a unifying concept for enchondral bone growth and its disorders. I. Normal growth.

In order to discuss and illustrate the common effects on normal and abnormal enchondral bone at the physes and at all other growth plates of the developing child, the term "acrophysis" is proposed. Acrophyses include the growth plates of secondary growth centers including carpals and tarsals and apophyses, and the growth plates at the non-physeal ends of small tubular bones. The last layer of development of both physes and acrophysis is the cartilaginous zone of provisional calcification (ZPC). The enchondral bone abutting the ZPC shares similar properties at physes and acrophyses, including the relatively lucent metaphyseal bands of many normal infants at several weeks of age. The bone-in-bone pattern of the normal vertebral bodies and bands of demineralization of the tarsal bones just under the ZPC are the equivalent of those bands. The growth arrest/recovery lines of metaphyses similarly have equivalent lines in growth centers and other acrophyseal sites. Nearly the same effects can also be anticipated from the relatively similar growth plate at the cartilaginous cap of benign exostoses ("paraphysis"). The companion article will explore abnormalities at acrophyseal sites, including metabolic bone disease and dysplasias.

Bone Development↗

Mega os trigonum in progressive pseudorheumatoid dysplasia.

BACKGROUND: Progressive pseudorheumatoid dysplasia (PPRD), a noninflammatory condition, needs to be differentiated diagnostically from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). OBJECTIVE: Demonstration of an unusually large and often early-appearing os trigonum helps distinguish PPRD from JRA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ankle images in four children with PPRD were reviewed. RESULTS: The os trigonum was abnormally enlarged in all PPRD subjects and was shown to have appeared or fused earlier than normal in two subjects. CONCLUSION: A large and early os trigonum ossification helps differentiate PPRD from JRA.

Arthritis, Juvenile↗