Biomedical subjects
B Boyle
Publications and source records attributed to B Boyle.
Inadvertant atrial fixation of a Swan-Ganz catheter by suture and a method for its percutaneous removal.
A patient with type I dissection of the thoracic aorta inadvertently had a Swan-Ganz catheter sutured to the right atrium during surgical repair of the dissection. A method for its removal using percutaneous passage of a No. 15 scalpel blade is described. The hazards of Swan-Ganz catheters are explored, and the changing roles of nonsurgical interventional procedures are discussed.
Q fever endocarditis revisited.
A diagnosis of Q fever endocarditis was made in 7 patients, 6 with predisposing factors and 3 with occupational risk factors. Prompt recognition of Coxiella burnettii endocarditis is required when clinical signs of endocarditis such as fever, anaemia, elevated liver transaminases, congestive cardiac failure are accompanied by negative blood cultures. Serological evidence of elevated antibody titres to Phase I and Phase II antigens of Coxiella burnettii are diagnostic. Prolonged antimicrobial therapy combined with surgery has resulted in the marked reduction of mortality from 50 per cent of 17 per cent when Q fever endocarditis is revisited almost 20 yr later.
Selected topics from the 8th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. February 4-8, 2001. Chicago, Illinois.
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Sperm motility enhancement by nitric oxide produced by the oocytes of fathead minnows, Pimephelas promelas.
The effects of nitric oxide (NO) on sperm motility were examined in the fathead minnow, Pimephelas promelas, using computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA). The observed effects underscore the dual nature of NO as both a low-concentration regulatory agent and, at higher doses, a cytotoxic agent. At 1 x 10(-6) M concentration, NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) enhanced sperm motility percentages and increased CASA velocity parameters curvilinear velocity, straight-line velocity, and average path velocity, whereas 1 x 10(-2) M concentration inhibited percent motility and decreased velocities. Fathead minnow ova-produced NO was subsequently trapped as a paramagnetic ferrous iron complex and detected by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The distinctive triplet spectrum, with a(N) = 12.5G and g(iso) = 2.04, was recorded during a critical 5-minute period following laying. Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) was histochemically localized at the micropyle of mature unfertilized fathead eggs, and an inhibitor of NOS blocked histochemical staining. CASA analysis of sperm motility in the presence of ovaproduced NO over an 8-minute time course reveals an optimum motility enhancement at 4 minutes that is similar to the effect of 1 x 10(-6) M SNP. This transient NO production by freshly laid ova and the localization of NOS near the site of sperm entry, together with the motility-enhancing effect of 1 x 10(-6) M SNP on sperm, indicates an active role for low-concentration NO in fertilization.