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Biomedical subjects

C Garcia

Publications and source records attributed to C Garcia.

318 records · Page 18Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Computerized tomographic diagnostic aspects of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

The involvement of the CNS in patients with AIDS is frequent such that 80 percent of patients have evidence of CNS disease at autopsy. The clinical manifestations are quite varied. These disorders may be divided into two groups: (1) direct effect of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on the nervous system, for example, aseptic meningitis, subacute encephalitis, granulomatous angitis; (2) indirect effects of HIV on the nervous system which are due to immunodysfunction. In the later group, CNS infections (cerebral toxoplasmosis, herpes simplex encephalitis, neurosyphilis, fungal infections, tuberculosis) and unusual CNS neoplasms (Kaposi's sarcoma, primary and secondary brain lymphomas) are the disorders most commonly involving the nervous system. In many of these disorders, the computerized tomographic (CT) findings are helpful in detecting the presence of the abnormality; however, the CT findings are not sufficiently characteristic to permit specific pathological diagnosis without utilization of brain biopsy or CSF findings (including cytological examination and extensive studies for infectious agents). The most common nervous system conditions which complicate AIDS are reviewed emphasizing the conditions in which computerized tomographic findings are most helpful in delineating the pathological condition.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ten-year survival following aortic valve replacement: A multivariate analysis of coronary bypass as a risk factor.

The additional risk of coronary bypass surgery was analysed in 664 patients over 40 years of age undergoing aortic valve replacement between 1969 and 1981. Four hundred sixty-seven patients underwent aortic valve replacement alone, while 197 patients with coronary artery disease underwent combined aortic valve replacement and coronary bypass surgery. There were no significant differences in the preoperative hemodynamic characteristics of the two groups of patients. There were 41 (9%) operative deaths following aortic valve replacement alone and 20 (10%) following aortic valve replacement with coronary bypass surgery. Since 1976, operative mortality has fallen to 5% and perioperative myocardial infarction to 2% following the combined procedure. Ten-year actuarial survival (standard error) was 56 (3%) following aortic valve replacement and 49 (6%) following aortic valve replacement and coronary bypass surgery. A multivariate analysis including both groups of patients revealed that age, functional class and year of operation significantly affected ten-year survival (p less than 0.05). The same analysis showed that coronary artery disease requiring coronary bypass surgery also decreased ten year survival in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (p = 0.06).

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Gold therapy in arthritis treatment.

The purpose of this article is to familiarize primary care providers with the use of gold salts in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Gold salts used carefully can be very effective in controlling the disease when used in conjunction with other anti-inflammatory medicines. Side effects of gold therapy can be potentially dangerous; but used cautiously, gold can be of great value in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The dosage schedule of gold salts described in this article is the current method of administering gold salts. The side effects--dermatological, hematological, and renal are described, and the parameters that need to be followed are also included. The flow sheet in the article can be used by health care providers as a part of the medical record in which lab results and amount of gold can be kept current. The article also emphasizes that a nurse practitioner should be aware of the emotional and financial status of the patient.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Quantitative psychopathology of affect and emotion. Review of evaluation scales and emotion induction methods].

Emotions, affects and humor play an important part in psychopathology. This study describes the definition of these different terms as well as their psychological concepts. Concerning quantitative psychopathology, the available scales of evaluation of affects or emotions are destinated to evaluate the subjective compound of the emotions, depressive humor, seek for sensations, pleasure or anhedonia. They all have the same aim: the evaluation, in a subjective way, of the basic affectionate state of the subject at a precise moment in his life. The subject's affectionate reactivity to external emotional stimulations can also be studied using different methods of emotional inductions. These methods can be applied in a psychopathological as well as in a pharmacological point of view.

Affective Symptoms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The factors triggering epileptic crises according to patients].

The authors were interested in knowing what epileptic patients think about seizure-inducing factors; whether they are convinced that their seizures are induced by any trigger factor and, if so, which factor it is. While mainly interested in the psychological reality of patients, data about objective factors could emerge from this study. An inquiry was made among the 1005 patients who attended the outpatient clinic for epilepsy of Santa Maria Hospital, Lisbon, during five months of 1994. Of the 308 that answered the inquiry, 147 could not recognise any inducing factor for their last seizure, while 144 mentioned such a factor (of the latter, some mentioned two or more factors acting together). Emotional factors were most often mentioned. Seventeen answers were discarded. In many instances, seizure-inducing factors are identified by the patients but difficult to objectivize by investigators, namely those of emotional type. Answers given by the patients might help doctors to provide patients with better care.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A comparative study of two third-generation anti-hepatitis C virus ELISAs.

The sensitivity and specificity of two third-generation screening tests for the detection of antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) was evaluated in a side-by-side study (Abbott HCV EIA 3.0/Ortho HCV ELISA 3.0). Specimens that were reactive in either ELISA were then retested by the other ELISA, and confirmed by RIBA-3. The screening of 15,540 serum samples from healthy blood donors showed a significantly lower number of reactive cases tested by Ortho (21 out of 8,805, 0.24%), than tested by Abbott (35 out of 6,735, 0.52%). In the side-by-side comparison, we found that significantly (p = 0.005) more Ortho-positive samples were also reactive in Abbott (14/21, 66.6%), than in Abbott followed by Ortho (7/35, 20%). Moreover, the RIBA analysis revealed a significantly (p = 0.014) higher number of RIBA-positive specimens among those reactive in Ortho 10/21 (47.6%), than among those reactive in Abbott 6/35 (17.2%), thus the former provides a greater positive predictive value. However, we did not observed differences in the sensitivity between Abbott and Ortho, because all RIBA-positive samples demonstrated reactivity in both ELISAs.

Blood Donors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of anxiety on emotional reactivity, performance and vigilance, in healthy volunteers.

Healthy volunteers who participate in clinical trials usually present a specific personality profile characterized by high extroversion and low anxiety traits. Herein, we examined whether anxiety traits influence performance and vigilance, as well as reactivity for six emotions (fear, anger, disgust, sadness, happiness and a neutral state), the latter being induced by the presentation of six film excerpts. Sixty-four healthy volunteers were stratified into high and low anxiety groups on the basis of their score on the Cattell and Hamilton Anxiety Scales. They were assessed on the Digit Symbol Substitution Scale (DSST), Choice Reaction Time (CRT) and Visual Analogue Scales (VAS). Their emotional reactivity was evaluated before and after each film excerpt, on responses to the Differential Emotions Scale (Izard DES). Prior to emotional induction, high-anxious subjects presented a pattern of low positive emotions and high negative emotions. After each film excerpt, emotional reactivity was more pronounced for high-anxious subjects compared with low-anxious subjects. However, there were no significant interactions between anxiety level and the values of DSST, CRT or VAS. The present findings raise the question of the relevance of selecting healthy volunteers according to their personality traits. In future studies, anxiety level will be further investigated as a factor of response variability to drugs, by examining differences in response to psychotropic drugs as a function of this factor.

Anxiety↗