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Biomedical subjects

C Diaz

Publications and source records attributed to C Diaz.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Unusual serum bile acid pattern in children with the syndrome of hepatic ductular hypoplasia.

Fasting bile acids in serum of eight children with the syndrome of hepatic ductular hypoplasia were analyzed by gas chromatography. The children did not receive any kind of treatment during the month before the analysis. Serum concentrations of total bile acids ranged from 110.8-303.7 mumol/1. The predominant bile acids were chenodeoxycholic and cholic acids accounting for 62.8-86.5% of the total. The ratio of cholic acid to chenodeoxycholic acid ranged between 0.43 and 1.11. Monohydroxylated bile acids were found in increased amounts in all patients (5.1-23.9%), 3 beta-hydroxy-5-cholenoic acid being the major monohydroxylated bile acid (3.1-17.1%). Other unusual bile acids such as ursodeoxycholic acid and 12-oxo-3 alpha, 7 alpha-dihydroxy-5 beta-cholanoic acid (7.3-14.9%) were also detected. Neither 3 beta-hydroxy-5-cholenoic nor lithocholic acid levels were statistically correlated to cholic or chenodeoxycholic acids. However, a statistically significant correlation between total bile acid levels and 12-oxo-3 alpha, 7 alpha-dihydroxy-5 beta-cholanoic acid levels was found. These findings are interesting as far as the origin of the unusual bile acids found in this cholestatic syndrome is concerned. The large amounts of 3 beta-hydroxy-5-cholenoic acid measured in children with the syndrome of hepatic ductular hypoplasia could indicate the existence of an alternative fetal pathway of bile acid synthesis.

Bile Acids and Salts↗
PubMed1985

Methyl xanthines enhance taste: evidence for modulation of taste by adenosine receptor.

The methyl xanthines (MX), theophylline, caffeine, and theobromine, are potent antagonists of adenosine receptors. Adaptation of the human tongue to methyl xanthines at concentrations ranging from 10(-5) M to 10(-2) M was found to potentiate taste. The artificial sweetener acesulfam-K, which has a bitter component, was potentiated the most by MX, i.e., approximately 100%. This increase in perceived intensity for acesulfam-K occurred at 10(-5) M MX, a concentration known to inhibit adenosine receptors but below that required to inhibit phosphodiesterase. Increasing the concentration of MX as high as 10(-2) M did not increase the degree of enhancement appreciably. Taste enhancement was found for NaCl and quinine hydrochloride as well. When 10(-5) M adenosine was added to the MX, the potentiation was reversed. The human results were confirmed by animal studies in which single unit extracellular recordings were made from the nucleus of the solitary tract. These results suggest that the inhibitory A1 adenosine receptor plays an important local role in taste perception.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗
PubMed1985

Surgical management of synchronous coronary artery disease and multiple aortic stenosis: a case report with brief review of the literature.

One-stage surgery was successfully performed in a 44-year-old hypertensive man with uncontrolled angina, multiple coarctations of the thoracic and abdominal aorta, and a previous subtotal gastrectomy. There was a gradient of 120 mm Hg between the thoracic and abdominal aorta. A graft was placed retroperitoneally from the infrarenal aorta to the ascending aorta and was followed by a coronary artery bypass graft. Twenty-four months postoperatively, the patient was free of angina, and his hypertension was easily controlled.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1983

Serum bile acid levels in children with chronic persistent hepatitis and chronic aggressive hepatitis.

A statistical study was carried out to determine if fasting serum bile acid levels are clinically useful in differentiating children with chronic persistent hepatitis from children with chronic aggressive hepatitis. Serum bile acid levels were determined in 27 patients with chronic aggressive hepatitis, 41 with chronic persistent hepatitis and 55 control children. Several other biochemical tests of liver function were also determined in these children. There were significant differences in the mean fasting serum bile acid levels between chronic hepatitis patients and control children (p less than 0.001). These levels were significantly higher for the chronic aggressive group than the chronic persistent hepatitis group (p less than 0.001). Other biochemical 'hepatic function' tests did not show statistically different values between these two groups. Using stepwise discriminant analysis for the biochemical 'liver function' tests studied, only serum bile acid levels are able to distinguish statistically between chronic aggressive hepatitis and chronic persistent hepatitis children. These data suggest that fasting serum bile acid levels may have clinical utility in identifying children with asymptomatic chronic hepatitis and differentiating between chronic aggressive hepatitis and chronic persistent hepatitis children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Ascites: its correction by peritoneovenous shunting.

Patients with refractory ascites and HRS should be considered to present an urgent indication for peritoneovenous shunting. The shunt offers a method of continuous reinfusion of ascitic fluid which corrects avid sodium retention, oliguria and azotemia. Severe encephalopathy, jaundice or peritoneal sepsis--common complications of cirrhosis--contraindicate installation of the shunt before improvement occurs. Associated cardiac disease does not contraindicate the use of the shunt provided that ascitic fluid is removed at the time of operation and large amounts of diuretics are used. This operation has also proved useful in ascites attributed to causes other than cirrhosis. The main complications include disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, hepatic coma and sepsis in a few patients. Results of a randomized prospective study indicate that the shunt should probably be considered in patients with diet-resistant massive ascites even before they prove to be refractory to diuretic therapy.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

Phlebotomy improves pulmonary gas exchange in chronic mountain polycythemia.

There is not unanimous agreement in the literature regarding the effects of bleeding on pulmonary gas exchange in polycythemic patients. Spirometry, alveolar arterial O2 and CO2 tension differences, PaO2 breathing 100% oxygen and carbon monoxide-diffusing capacity were measured before and after 1 week of chronic phlebotomy in 4 chronic mountain polycythemic patients. Studies were carried out at 3,700 m above sea level (PB = 491 mm Hg). Before phlebotomy, 2 patients showed abnormal spirometry and gas exchange. Only 1 patient had high PaCO2 and all of them showed low values of PaO2 breathing oxygen. Phlebotomy improved both spirometry and gas exchange. Improvement in arterial oxygen saturation and PaO2 could not be attributed to changes in alveolar ventilation, but rather to better distribution of VA/Qc ratios since physiological dead space decreased. Our results are similar to those reported in polycythemia vera patients. A significant correlation between the changes in PaO2 with phlebotomy and the control PaO2 have been found from 45 polycythemic patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease collected from the literature. It is concluded that excessive polycythemia worsened hypoxemia and that phlebotomy improved gas exchange.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Extraperitoneal aortoiliac disobliteration with plaque cracker.

Disobliteration of the aorta and iliac arteries through an extraperitoneal approach is described. An intimal guillotine (plaque cracker) is used to transect the intima of the unopened vessel. The intima is then milked down to a transverse arteriotomy in the left common iliac artery, through which all of the discarded intima is removed. Since the intima is dissected free before opening the vessels, blood loss is minimal. The procedure is rapid and requires only an average of 19 minutes of aortic cross clamping. Our operative mortality was 4.2 per cent and the long-term patency rate 75 per cent.

Aorta↗
PubMed1978

Retroperitoneal aortofemoral bypass using a reversed L-shaped prosthesis.

An extraperitoneal approach for aortofemoral bypass has proven superior to the transperitoneal approach. The incision starts at the tip of the eleventh rib and extends obliquely downward to 2 inches above the femoral point, where it turns further downward over the femoral artery. This approach is especially suitable for a reversed L-shaped prosthesis which extends from the aorta directly to the left femoral artery and crosses the abdomen subcutaneously to the right groin, where an anastomosis is made with the right femoral artery. The operation is simple and rapid. Morbidity is reduced and recovery is accelerated. The same incision is used to perform aortoiliac endarterectomy. Fifteen patients with occlusive disease and twenty-one with aneurysms received reversed L-shaped prosthesis through an extraperitoneal approach. The procedure was superior to that involving a transperitoneal approach to the aorta and the reversed L-shaped graft was superior to the Y graft for replacement fo the iliac arteries.

Aneurysm↗