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Biomedical subjects

C Robertson

Publications and source records attributed to C Robertson.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Prevalence of feline leukaemia virus and antibodies to feline immunodeficiency virus in cats in the United Kingdom.

A representative sample of the pet cat population of the United Kingdom was surveyed. Blood samples from 1204 sick and 1007 healthy cats of known breed, age and sex were tested for antibodies to feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV). The prevalence of FIV was 19 per cent in sick cats and 6 per cent in healthy cats, and the prevalence of FeLV was 18 per cent in sick cats and 5 per cent in healthy cats; both infections were more common in domestic cats than in pedigree cats. Feline immunodeficiency virus was more prevalent in older cats but FeLV was more prevalent in younger cats. There was no difference between the prevalence of FeLV in male and female cats but male cats were more likely to be infected with FIV than female cats. No interaction was demonstrated between FIV and FeLV infections. Of the cats which were in contact with FIV in households with more than one cat, 21 per cent had seroconverted. The prevalence of FeLV viraemia in cats in contact with FeLV was 14 per cent. The clinical signs associated with FIV were pyrexia, gingivitis/stomatitis and respiratory signs, and with FeLV, pyrexia and anaemia. It was concluded that both viruses were significant causes of disease, and that the cats most likely to be infected with FIV were older, free-roaming male cats and for FeLV, younger, free-roaming cats.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1989

Occupational status variations in disagreements on the diagnosis of cause of death.

Studies of occupational status-related risk factors in specific-cause mortality assume that the proportions of disagreements concerning the diagnoses of the cause of death do not vary between different statuses. This assumption was verified by the addition of data concerning the occupation of the decreased (collected at death registration) to a data set comparing the clinicians' and the pathologists' diagnoses at autopsy of the cause of death. It was found that clinicians and pathologists were least likely to agree on the diagnoses of the cause of death of non-manual workers and were most likely to agree on the diagnosis of the cause of death of skilled manual workers. These occupational status differences in diagnostic disagreements reached levels of statistical significance in the neoplasm chapter of the International Classification of Diseases. Artefactual and clinical reasons for these occupational status differences are discussed.

Cause of Death↗
PubMed1989

Clinically occult Leydig cell tumor presenting with gynecomastia.

An occult Leydig cell tumor is described in a patient who presented with gynecomastia. Diagnosis was established by means of testicular ultrasonography and selective testicular venous sampling. The pathophysiology and management of this rare disease entity are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

High frequency edge enhancement in the detection of fine pulmonary lines. Parity between storage phosphor digital images and conventional chest radiography.

Fine linear structures represent a severe test of the minimum spatial resolution that is needed for digital chest imaging. We studied the comparative observer performance of storage phosphor digital imaging (1760 X 2140 pixel matrix, 10 bits deep), and conventional radiography (Lanex medium screen, Ortho C film) in the detection of simulated fine pulmonary lines superimposed on the normal chest when exposure factors were identical (20mR skin entrance dose at 141 kVp). Receiver operating characteristics analysis of 2160 observations by six readers found that high frequency edge-enhanced digital images (ROC area: 0.78 +/- 0.06) performed better than unenhanced digital images (ROC area: 0.70 +/- 0.07) (P less than 0.01 for paired t-test), and that edge enhanced digital images performed on a par with conventional radiography (ROC area: 0.78 +/- 0.09). We conclude that for the detection of fine linear structures, storage phosphor digital images can perform on a par with higher resolution conventional chest radiographs when a high frequency edge-enhancement algorithm is employed.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Coping with chronic complications.

It's the chronic complications of diabetes--not the disease itself--that kill most patients. Helping them cope with nephropathy, retinopathy, and disorders of the nerves and blood vessels requires all the nursing expertise you can muster.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1988

Management of asthma in hospital: a prospective audit.

In a prospective study of management of asthma in hospital patients with acute asthma admitted to a single hospital over a calendar year were surveyed. Altogether 157 out of 194 admissions (81%) were studied. The patients (16 of whom had been admitted twice and one three times) were interviewed at home about two weeks after discharge, and their hospital records were reviewed. When interviewed an appreciable proportion of patients said that their asthma had been poorly controlled after their discharge from the hospital: 54 reported regular sleep disturbance due to wheeze, 78 tightness of the chest in the morning, and 77 wheeze after climbing one flight of stairs. Patients had been described on admission as having had symptoms of deteriorating asthma for a median of three days. Closer questioning of 71 patients, however, elicited that 50 had had regular symptoms indicating poor control for weeks or months. Most patients did not know how their drugs worked, and many did not have an appropriate plan of action in the event of a further attack. In all the cases studied 114 patients were treated with oral corticosteroids, only 70 had had their previous maintenance treatment increased at the time of discharge, and 107 had a follow up appointment booked for an average of three and a half weeks after discharge. These findings show that undersupervision and undertreatment of patients with asthma are common and not confined to those dying of the condition.

Asthma↗
PubMed1988

Differences in hospital asthma management.

Asthma management was audited prospectively for one year in a large teaching hospital. Full details were available on 77% of all patients admitted, or readmitted, with asthma during that year (150 of 195 admissions). 64 patients were admitted to general wards with a special interest in respiratory medicine, and 86 to general wards without this specialist interest. Cases in the two groups were similar in terms of age, previous severity of asthma, previous treatment, and initial pulse rate. Fewer cases in the non-specialist group were treated with oral corticosteroids (67%, vs 83%), had regular peak flow recordings (42%, vs 73%), or were given return appointments (56%, vs 92%); and fewer had their regular inhaled therapy increased after discharge (28%, vs 55%). At interview 13 days later, more patients from the non-specialist group reported sleep disturbance (41%, vs 23%), morning chest tightness (55%, vs 37%), ow wheeze on 1 flight of stairs (58%, vs 34%). 20% of first admissions in the non-specialist group were readmitted within the year, compared to 2% of the group treated on wards with a specialist interest in respiratory medicine. These data suggest that the intensive management of asthmatic patients, practised in respiratory units, prevents much unnecessary morbidity.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1988

A possible artefactual component in specific cause mortality gradients. Social class variations in the clinical accuracy of death certificates.

This paper investigates one possible avenue of artefactual influence on the production and/or concealment of social class gradients in specific cause mortality rates, namely, the possibility of social class biases in the accuracy of diagnosis of cause of death and the systematic misallocation of certain social groups to particular diagnoses. Information on this topic was obtained by matching occupational data gathered at death registration with data on the accuracy of diagnosis of cause of death (measured by diagnostic agreement between clinician and pathologist) collected in a prospective study of 1152 hospital necropsies. Extrapolation from these data to national mortality rates should be cautious, but it appears that in the majority of the most common causes of death grouped by ICD chapter (neoplasms, cerebrovascular and digestive) social class gradients would be steeper if mortality data were based on pathologists' rather than clinicians' diagnoses. Only in the respiratory chapter would the gradient be reduced, with the gradient in cardiovascular deaths unaffected.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1988

Effects of intrarenal adenosine on renal function and medullary blood flow in the rat.

Adenosine is a potent vasodilator of the systemic circulation. Infusion of adenosine into the aorta causes water and sodium retention and a fall in glomerular filtration rate and renal blood flow. The effect of adenosine on medullary blood flow is unknown. Because systemic vasodilatory effects may confound its renal actions, adenosine was infused into the renal artery of anesthetized Munich-Wistar rats at doses of 2, 6, and 15 micrograms/min. A marked dose-dependent increase in urinary flow and sodium excretion was observed. Inulin and p-aminohippuric acid clearance did not change significantly. Blood flow in vasa recta in the exposed renal papilla, as determined by fluorescence videomicroscopy, increased significantly only with the highest dose of adenosine. In control animals infused with the vehicle only, there was no change in any of the above variables. These results indicate that direct intrarenal infusion of adenosine in the rat increases urinary flow and sodium excretion and at higher doses also increases vasa recta blood flow. The effects on urinary flow and sodium excretion were therefore mediated by a mechanism other than an increase in vasa recta blood flow.

Adenosine↗
PubMed1987

Carcinoma of the larynx.

Six hundred sixty-eight patients with tumours of the larynx were treated by radiotherapy. The patients had stage T1 N0 M0 to T4 N3 M0 disease. Patients with T1 N0 M0 disease (273) had an excellent long-term survival (90%) as did those with T2 N0 M0 disease (142), whose 5-year survival was 70%. Patients with more advanced disease but no nodal spread did not respond as readily to radiotherapy; the 5-year survival was 40%. All patients were treated using a parallel pair set-up 6 X 6 cm lateral neck fields. A more aggressive radiotherapy regime to a larger tissue volume to include microscopic spread to lymph nodes may improve survival of locally advanced disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Statistical modelling of lung cancer and laryngeal cancer incidence in Scotland, 1960-1979.

The ratio of cancer occurrence among smokers compared to nonsmokers has been generally reported to be greatest for carcinomas arising in the lung and larynx. This report presents the results of an investigation into mechanisms underlying the temporal trends in the incidence of these two forms of cancer in Scotland over the 20-year period, 1960-1979. The purpose of the study was to establish the independent effects of age, calendar time, and birth cohort on the observed pattern of incidence by adopting an alternative approach to this classical problem which can be employed when data are available as individual records. The most economic model found to explain the data involved the independent effects of site, sex, and age and different cohort effects in each sex. The cohort effect was more pronounced in men than women in older cohorts but, conversely, stronger in women than in men in younger cohorts, i.e., among those born most recently. This observation accords with the observed increase in the use of cigarettes in young women relative to young men. There appeared to be a small effect of calendar time which was the same in both sexes and both sites, although this main effect, it must be emphasized, could be eliminated from the model on statistical grounds. The effect can be interpreted to indicate the increase in the coverage of cancer registration in Scotland which has taken place since 1960. These results indicate that lung cancer risk in Scottish males will continue to fall, with the risk in women lagging 20 years behind, although the levels in women will probably not reach those attained by men.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Saksenaea vasiformis osteomyelitis.

A 24-year-old man sustained a crush injury to the tibia, which subsequently became infected with Saksenaea vasiformis. He was treated with debridement and a free myocutaneous flap, but amputation was necessary because of mycotic osteomyelitis. S. vasiformis was recovered and identified on the basis of its characteristic morphology on cornmeal agar.

Adult↗