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Biomedical subjects

B Kumar

Publications and source records attributed to B Kumar.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Cold reactive lymphocytotoxic antibodies in patients with tuberculoid and lepromatous leprosy.

Fifty-seven sera from leprosy patients and 33 sera from age- and sex-matched hospital controls were tested for the presence of cold-reacting lymphocytotoxic antibodies (LCAs) at 15 degrees C against a panel of 30 HLA-typed normal lymphocytes. Eighteen of 57 (31.6%) leprosy sera and 22 of 33 (67%) control sera showed reactivity, but the strength of reactivity of the patients' sera was significantly more than that of the control group (p less than 0.01 by Wilcoxon rank sum test). Within the leprosy group, there was no significant difference in the reactivity of 30 tuberculoid and 27 lepromatous sera. The occurrence of LCAs was independent of the sex or the HBsAg status of the serum donor. LCA activity was not correlated with treatment status, bacillary load, or reaction state.

Antilymphocyte Serum↗
PubMed1987

Venous involvement in leprosy: a venographic and histopathological correlation.

Venous system involvement was studied by venography and vein histology in 30 leprosy patients irrespective of age, sex, duration of the disease, and treatment. Vascular abnormalities by venography were seen in 96.3% and by histopathological studies in 76.6% of patients. The percentage and severity of radiological and histological changes increased from tuberculoid to lepromatous in the disease spectrum. Perfect correlation of histology and venography was found in 40% of the paucibacillary patients and good correlation was found in 100%. In multibacillary patients perfect correlation was found in 29.4%, good correlation in 41.1%, and no correlation in 29.4% of the patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

The (F)utility of the thallium-201 quantitative lung/myocardial ratio in the detection of coronary artery disease.

Exercise-induced increases in pulmonary uptake of thallium-201 (201Tl) have been associated with exercise-induced myocardial dysfunction. To evaluate this phenomenon more replicably, a quantitative semi-automated computer program was used to generate, from anterior exercise and delayed views, lung-myocardial ratios (LMR) of 201Tl uptake in 78 patients [40 normal, 38 with coronary artery disease (CAD)]. Patients with CAD had a significantly higher mean exercise lung myocardial ratio (EXLMR) than normals (30.8 vs. 27.3; P less than 0.003). In patients with adequate exercise (greater than or equal to 85% of an age-adjusted maximal heart rate), the EXLMRs of CAD patients were significantly higher than those of normals (29.7 vs. 25.5; P = 0.003). However, this difference between CAD and normal patients was not apparent in a patient subgroup with submaximal exercise levels (less than 85% of an age-adjusted maximal heart rate). In both normal and CAD patients, EXLMR decreased with increasing exercise levels (r = -0.555; P = 0.007). In patients with 201Tl scans lacking visually defined perfusion defects (visually normal), an elevated LMR detected 60% of CAD cases with 81% specificity. A considerably elevated EXLMR in patients achieving adequate exercise should suggest the presence of CAD, even if there are no visually apparent cardiac perfusion defects. With submaximal exercise, however, the EXLMR is not a useful discriminator between CAD patients and normals.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Emergency intubation of the trachea facilitated by suxamethonium. Observations in obstetric and general surgical patients.

The relationship between the time of onset of neuromuscular blockade and the time at which laryngoscopy was attempted was studied in patients presenting for emergency obstetric or emergency general surgical procedures. "Train-of-four" stimulation and visual observation of the evoked twitch response in the hand were used as a measure of the degree of neuromuscular blockade. The attendant anaesthetist was unaware of the response to the peripheral nerve stimulator. Intubation preceded complete neuromuscular blockade; in the obstetric patients there was no correlation between the two times. The use of a peripheral nerve stimulator should allow the anaesthetist to perform intubation in emergency situations with a greater degree of safety.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Selection of sites for slit skin smears in untreated and treated leprosy patients.

A total of 1000 slit-skin smears were taken from multiple sites (both ear lobules, right elbow, dorsal aspect of middle phalanx of the left finger, and dorsum of middle phalanx of the right foot) from 558 leprosy patients. There were 319 sets (1595 smears) from untreated patients and 681 sets (3405 smears) from the treated group. The duration of treatment varied from 6 months (multidrug therapy) to 7 years (dapsone monotherapy). The ear lobules gave significantly higher values for the bacterial index (BI) compared to toes and fingers in the untreated group. The morphological index (MI) was also significantly higher from the ear lobules compared to toes, elbows, and fingers. In five patients from the untreated group, bacilli were found in some other sites when the earlobes did not reveal any. In the treated group, all sites yielded similar BI and MI values, the figures being lowest from elbows and toes but not different statistically. In 20 long-treated patients, bacilli were detected at sites other than the ear lobules. In 28 patients, sites other than the ear lobules gave a higher MI and in 20 patients, solid bacilli were seen at sites other than the ear lobules.

Ear↗
PubMed1985

Prevalence of bacteria and fungi in athlete's foot of varying severity and response to topical antibacterial and antifungal therapies.

Ninety-six patients with clinical evidence of interdigital lesions classified as mild, moderate and severe athlete's foot were investigated for bacterial and fungal populations in the interspaces. Gram-negative bacteria, which were not found in the toe spaces of 50 normal controls, were grown in increasing numbers and with increasing frequency as the symptoms progressed from mild to severe. Gram-positive bacteria were also isolated regularly and in increasing numbers commensurate with the severity of the disease. Similarly the isolation rates of dermatophytes and Candida species were higher in patients with moderate and severe disease compared to those with mild disease. Clinical and culture responses to topical applications with framycetin, tolnaftate, miconazole and clotrimazole were also studied. In some patients the prevalence of pathogenic fungi increased as bacterial numbers decreased. The pure antibacterial framycetin brought symptomatic relief, as did the purely anti-dermatophyte substance tolnaftate, but best results were seen with two azole compounds having mixed antibacterial and antifungal properties.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

"Low-probability" ventilation-perfusion scintigrams: clinical outcomes in 99 patients.

To evaluate the reliability of "low probability" ventilation-perfusion (V-P) scintigrams in excluding pulmonary embolism (PE), we reviewed the clinical records of 99 consecutive patients (74 in-patients and 25 outpatients) whose V-P studies had been interpreted as indicative of a low probability of PE. None of the 99 patients were referred for pulmonary angiography. Venography was performed in four patients and was positive in three. No patients were treated specifically for pulmonary embolism, but five received full treatment with anticoagulants for other reasons (three for venous thrombosis, one for a history of venous thrombosis, and one for a ventricular aneurysm). Seven of the hospitalized patients died during the index admission and seven additional hospitalized patients (including one treated with anticoagulants) died 1-5 months after discharge from the hospital. None were thought clinically to have died as a result of PE, and autopsy disclosed no PE in two. Follow-up information was obtained for 69 surviving patients (49 inpatients and 20 outpatients) not treated with anticoagulants. None of these patients were thought clinically to have had PE during follow-up of at least 2 weeks duration (greater than 2 months in 93% and greater than 6 months in 75%). Our results suggest that major short-term morbidity or death attributable to PE are quite infrequent in patients with low-probability V-P scintigrams.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Phagocytic and bactericidal activities of macrophages from Mycobacterium leprae-infected normal and immunosuppressed mice.

Phagocytic and bactericidal activities were studied in Mycobacterium leprae-infected normal (NI) and thymectomized/irradiated (TRI) mice at different time periods. No significant differences were seen in the phagocytic activity for Staphylococcus aureus at 3, 6, and 9 months in the normal infected (NI) and normal control (NC) mice. A slight but significant decrease in the phagocytosis of S. aureus was seen in the TRI as compared to the NI group at 3 months which recovered at 6 months. Phagocytosis of sheep erythrocytes was depressed in the TRI as compared to the NI group at 6 months only. No significant differences in the phagocytosis of latex particles were seen in any of the groups at any time of infection. Bactericidal activity was significantly reduced in the NI group as compared to the NC group and, similarly, in the TRI group as compared to the TRC group at all periods of infection. The M. leprae-infected T/R 900 group (TRI) showed more decrease in bactericidal activity when compared to the normal infected (NI) group.

Animals↗