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Biomedical subjects

C Kelly

Publications and source records attributed to C Kelly.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

A prospective evaluation of the hepatotoxicity of lofepramine in the elderly.

Lofepramine has been acclaimed as an effective and safe antidepressant, particularly for the elderly. Recent case reports of hepatic toxicity following treatment with lofepramine, however, caused clinicians to question its use in a patient population who frequently have concomitant physical illness. From published data the incidence of serious side effects as well as the implications for its use remain unclear. In this study, 52 patients over the age of 65 years treated with lofepramine were monitored over a 12-week period. The results suggest that for the overwhelming majority of patients, any rise in liver enzyme activity is transient. It is recommended, however, that LFTs be monitored for the first 12 weeks of treatment.

Aged↗

Learning to pay attention. An ethics study group refocuses on issues affecting long-term care residents' daily lives.

In 1991 the Sisters of Charity Healthcare Systems (SCHCS), Cincinnati, established an ethics study group for its long-term care facilities. The group was originally organized to address end-of-life treatment decisions, but it soon found that the daily lives of people by and for whom such decisions would be made were worthy of attention in their own right. Autonomy had been a topic of group discussions early on. Once reinterpreted in the context of long-term care, it became the pivotal value for the group. One key to the group's progress was identifying intrinsic and extrinsic factors that distract care givers' attention from issues of concern to residents. Members found that state and federal regulations, as well as constraints on medical treatment by payers such as Medicare and Medicaid, often ignore the human dimension in terms of which the elderly's needs and preferences can be framed. Rigidly defined roles and routines also blunt care givers' sensitivity to residents' concerns. The group is currently developing a program of in-service ethics education and training. Designed in four modules, the program will focus on the following topics: protecting and enhancing resident rights, staff issues and professionalism, talking about death and dying, and staff-physician issues.

Aged↗

Pleuropulmonary abnormalities in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Sixteen patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (1 degree SS) who complained of dyspnea were investigated with high resolution computerized tomography of the thorax, bronchoalveolar lavage, and transbronchial biopsy. Six patients had evidence of interstitial fibrosis, 5 had a peribronchiolar lymphocytic infiltration and 3 had pleural thickening. We conclude that significant pulmonary disease is not uncommon in patients with 1 degree SS.

Adult↗

Percutaneous screw fixation of tibial plateau fractures.

A series of 13 patients with displaced fractures of the tibial plateau treated by closed reduction and percutaneous pinning have been reviewed 17 months after surgery. All the operations were performed using image intensification to aid reduction of the fracture by ligamentotaxis and to guide screw placement. In two cases, arthroscopy was used in addition to facilitate elevation of the articular surface using a probe inserted through a cortical window in the proximal tibial metaphysis. The postoperative rehabilitation programme consisted of early mobilization and non-weight bearing for at least 2 months. Of the patients, 11 had a satisfactory result, one patient had a fair result with persistent pain and the other had a poor result when the fixation failed in a comminuted bicondylar fracture in porotic bone. This technique is minimally invasive and avoids many of the complications of both conservative and operative treatment and will have an expanding role to play in the management of these fractures.

Adult↗

Dermofasciectomy: a long term review.

Thirty-two dermofasciectomies in 24 cases were reviewed with an average of thirteen years for follow-up. These were compared with the same patients followed-up ten years earlier. A marked increase in extension of the disease from 24% to 79% was noted. The recurrence rate has remained constant at 47% and only two recurrences were found under the skin graft. This procedure must, therefore, remain the operation of choice in the management of aggressive Dupuytren's disease.

Adult↗

Regional hypothermia protects against tourniquet neuropathy.

Ischaemic nerve injury has been suggested as the mechanism for post-tourniquet limb paralysis. As hypothermia has been shown to prolong ischaemia time in many tissues, we tested the hypothesis that cold protection would reduce tourniquet induced neural injury. In 16 male Wistar rats a tourniquet was applied to the right hind limb for 3 h. In eight rats both hind limbs were maintained at room temperature (27 degrees C) while the limb temperature was decreased to 4 degrees C by application of cold polyglycol gel packs in the remaining eight animals. Motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) and the amplitude of muscle motor units (AMMU) in response to nerve stimulation were measured at 0 h, 1 h and 1 week post-tourniquet release. Application of the tourniquet for 3 h abolished nerve conduction in all animals. Hypothermia resulted in a significant improvement in AMMU (5.8 +/- vs. 0.6 +/- 0.4 mv, p less than 0.05) at 1 h and in MNCV (26.6 +/- 1.6 vs. 8.1 +/- 4.4 ms-1, p less than 0.05) and AMMU (18.5 +/- 2.0 vs. 9.7 +/- 4.5 mv, p less than 0.05) at 1 week. Hypothermia without ischaemia also reduced MNCV (44.2 +/- 9.4 vs. 74.3 +/- 8.9 ms-1, p less than 0.05) and AMMU (28.1 +/- 2.8 vs. 36.3 +/- 8.4 mv, N.S.). These data indicate that hypothermia reduces normal MNCV and protects nerve function during tourniquet ischaemia. These results support the ischaemic hypothesis for post-tourniquet nerve injury. Cold protection may have clinical applications for surgical procedures performed with tourniquet ischaemia.

Animals↗

Association of DR3 with susceptibility to and severity of primary Sjögren's syndrome in a family study.

A study of HLA and primary Sjögren's syndrome (1 degree SS) was performed in 40 index cases and 180 relatives all of whom were Caucasian. The association of DR3 and 1 degree SS was confirmed. In probands, DR3 associated with extraglandular manifestations of 1 degree SS and homozygosity for DR3 associated with younger onset of disease. Familial clustering of 1 degree SS was evident. Definite or probable 1 degree SS (Fox criteria) occurred with a prevalence of 4.4% in the relatives, exclusively in older female first degree relatives and was associated with DR3. The relative risk was greatest in those who expressed anti-nuclear factor, rheumatoid factor or Ro and DR3. We identified a group of young females expressing some criteria for 1 degree SS and the same immunogenetic markers. They may be at risk of full expression of 1 degree SS as they become older. Milder forms of 1 degree SS were common in older relatives but not DR3 associated. 1 degree SS in males was rare and mild irrespective of immunogenetic status. Symptoms of 1 degree SS in relatives were mild or absent. Such individuals will only be identified through a family study or a community survey.

Adolescent↗

A misleading case of central pontine myelinolysis. Risk factors for psychiatric patients.

Central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) is an uncommon disorder initially described in alcoholic or malnourished patients. Recent reports suggest an aetiological association with abnormalities of serum sodium. A physically unwell non-alcoholic chronic schizophrenic patient, whose symptoms led to psychiatric referral, died of CPM. A review of the literature reveals that psychiatric patients may indeed be at risk for CPM.

Demyelinating Diseases↗

Legal issues in transfusion medicine. Is blood banking a medical profession?

In legislation concerning the transfusion of AIDS, the issue of whether blood banking is a profession has become extremely important. The status of blood banking determines how blood center actions will be judged and what liability rules will be applied. The issue was recently hotly argued in the high courts of Colorado and Florida. The courts' decisions impact not only on the outcome of other lawsuits regarding the transfusion of AIDS against blood banks, but also on the way blood bank practices will be made in the future.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

A change in flushing protocols of central venous catheters.

Oncology nurses working with hematology patients at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre questioned the need for twice daily flushings of central venous catheters. The nurses speculated that weekly flushings would be more convenient for patients, maintain patency, reduce risk of infections, and save the costs of supplies and nursing time. In 1986, the nurses, in collaboration with physicians, introduced a weekly flushing protocol for outpatients attending the clinic. The staff noted that no difference in rates of infection or patency appeared to result from this change in protocol. In an effort to provide empirical data in support of this fundamental shift in nursing protocols, the nurses initiated a study to examine infection rates and patency related to weekly flushing procedures. The study involved 82 patients with 89 catheter insertions. Overall infection rates were 19.1% or 0.15 per 100 catheter days. These rates were 0.25 per 100 catheter days for patients undergoing bone marrow transplant (BMT) and 0.07 per 100 catheter days in patients not undergoing BMT. Reduced patency occurred in only 13.5% of catheters studied, requiring a change in flushing protocol. When compared with published complication rates, these findings support the use of a weekly flushing protocol. As a result, staff and patients continue to use the weekly flushing protocol with greater confidence.

Adult↗

Deliberate self-poisoning presenting at Craigavon Area Hospital: 1976 and 1986.

Deliberate self-poisoning presenting at Craigavon Area Hospital was compared in the years of 1976 and 1986. A decline in the use of benzodiazepines and increase in other agents, notably paracetamol, is reported. Alcohol is frequently associated with deliberate self-poisoning, while severe mental illness is less common. Diagnostic practice may have effects on bed occupancy in this group.

Adolescent↗

Characterization of a mammalian smooth muscle myosin heavy-chain gene: complete nucleotide and protein coding sequence and analysis of the 5' end of the gene.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the complete cDNA sequence encoding the rabbit smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (MHC) and determine the exon/intron organization at the 5' end of the corresponding gene. The full-length cDNA sequence of 6644 base pairs encoding a protein of 1972 amino acids was generated from two cDNA clones: PBRUC1 (approximately 6.3 kilobases), isolated from a rabbit uterus cDNA library, and PBRU-PCR33 (420 base pairs), produced by primer extension and PCR amplification. Compared with the chicken smooth muscle MHC sequence [Yanagisawa, M., Hamada, Y., Katsuragawa, Y., Imamura, M., Mikawa, T. & Masaki, T. (1987) J. Mol. Biol. 198, 143-157] the rabbit MHC shares about 90% amino acid identity in the S1 globular head region but shows a striking sequence divergence at the junction between the 25-kDa and 50-kDa proteolytic fragments of the functionally important S1 head domain. Genomic cloning shows that the rabbit smooth muscle MHC gene is large and has an unusual exon/intron organization at the 5' end. The first eight contiguous exons are located within a region of at least 70 kilobases of genomic DNA. Some introns span several kilobases of DNA and others at the 5' end show a high degree of intron conservation in the Mg(2+)-ATPase domain when compared with more distantly related sarcomeric MHC genes. Primer extension and S1 nuclease mapping analysis demonstrate that transcription initiates from a single site in the rabbit smooth muscle MHC gene.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms and sequence variation within the spaP gene of Streptococcus mutans serotype c isolates.

A restriction fragment length polymorphism study was undertaken to determine the extent and location of heterogeneity within spaP encoding the Mr 185,000 cell surface protein P1 (antigen I/II) of Streptococcus mutans serotype c isolates. The gene was found to be highly conserved except for a central variable (V) region predicted to encode less than 150 amino acids. Sequence analysis identified two V-region variants. These differences were independent of the geographic source of the isolates. Southern analysis using synthetic oligonucleotide probes indicated that nonretention of P1 (I/II) by some isolates is not due to a deletion of the 3'-terminal DNA necessary to encode an intact carboxy terminus.

Antigens, Bacterial↗

Prognostic significance of paraproteinaemia in rheumatoid arthritis.

The incidence of lymphoma and myeloma is increased in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), though the reasons for this are incompletely understood. The predictive value of monoclonal gammopathy in RA for the later development of lymphoproliferative malignancy was assessed. A serum paraprotein was discovered in 23 patients (14 female) with a median age of 58 years and a median duration of RA of six years. The paraprotein was quantified and further investigations, including a bone marrow examination and skeletal survey, were undertaken to study the possible development of a lymphoproliferative disorder. Secondary Sjögren's syndrome was noted in 12 patients. The paraprotein was monoclonal in 21 patients and was classed as IgG (12 cases), IgA (six cases), or IgM (three cases). Biclonal paraproteins were seen in two patients. Free light chains were found in the urine of eight patients. Bone marrow abnormalities were found in 13 subjects. The bone marrow was abnormal in four of six patients with an IgA paraprotein, in two of three with an IgM paraprotein but in only five of 12 patients with an IgG paraprotein. Patients were followed up for a median of four years, and five patients with an abnormal bone marrow developed myeloma, of whom three had an IgA lambda paraprotein. Two other patients developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Extra-articular bone erosions were seen in four patients, three of whom developed myeloma, but the presence of urinary free light chains was not specific for the development of malignancy. Paraproteinaemia in RA indicates monoclonal B cell proliferation and carries a high risk of malignant transformation.

Adult↗