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Biomedical subjects

C Ryan

Publications and source records attributed to C Ryan.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1969

Cardiac abnormalities in poisoning with tricyclic antidepressants.

Of 80 consecutive admissions to a general hospital for drug overdose, 10 had taken one or other of the tricyclic antidepressants. All 10 had abnormalities of cardiac conduction as shown by prolonged Q-T(e) intervals, and eight had S-T segment and T-wave changes. Five of the 10 patients had arrhythmias and two of these died. Continuous electrocardiographic monitoring is recommended in patients with overdosage of tricyclic antidepressants.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Supine bicycle stress echocardiography: peak exercise imaging is superior to postexercise imaging.

The abilities of peak exercise (PEAK) stress echocardiography versus postexercise (POST) stress echocardiography to detect coronary artery disease were evaluated in 136 consecutive patients undergoing supine bicycle stress echocardiography and coronary arteriography: 42 (31%) had normal coronary vessels, 38 (28%) had single-vessel disease, 34 (25%) had double-vessel disease, and 22 (16%) had triple-vessel disease. The results were as follows: (1) For detection of disease in the group of patients, sensitivity of PEAK versus POST was 94% versus 83% (p < 0.01) and specificity was 88% versus 90%. (2) For detection of disease in specific vessels, sensitivity of PEAK versus POST was 90% versus 72% (p < 0.0001) and specificity was 89% versus 92%. (3) For evaluation of the three major coronary arteries, sensitivity of PEAK versus POST was 96% versus 85% (p < 0.05) for the left anterior descending artery, 90% versus 65% (p < 0.01) for the right coronary artery, and 79% versus 60% (p < 0.05) for the left circumflex coronary artery. There were no differences in specificity. (4) The percent diameter stenosis of vessels normalizing from PEAK to POST versus vessels abnormal at PEAK and POST was 80.6% +/- 16% versus 85.9% +/- 14%, p = 0.07. There were no differences in exercise parameters between patients with and without resolution from PEAK to POST. (5) PEAK versus POST accuracy for identification of patients with multivessel disease was 93% versus 68% (p < 0.001). We conclude that stress echocardiography performed during peak exercise is superior to postexercise stress echocardiography.

Coronary Angiography↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Supine bicycle stress echocardiography versus tomographic thallium-201 exercise imaging for the detection of coronary artery disease.

To compare the accuracy of supine bicycle stress echocardiography (SBSE), a new technique for evaluating coronary disease during peak exercise, with tomographic thallium-201 exercise imaging (SPECT), 71 patients were evaluated by SBSE, SPECT, and coronary arteriography. Twenty patients had normal coronary vessels; 22 had single-vessel, 14 had double-vessel, and 15 had triple-vessel disease. There were no differences in sensitivity (90% vs 92%), specificity (80% vs 65%), and accuracy (87% vs 85%) between SBSE and SPECT for the group of 71 patients. The results were similar in patients with and without prior myocardial infarction and with single-, double-, or triple-vessel disease. There were no differences between SBSE and SPECT for disease detection for the group of 213 individual vessels in sensitivity (88% vs 80%), specificity (87% vs 84%), and accuracy (88% vs 82%), but SBSE was more sensitive for the left anterior descending artery (97% vs 82%, p < 0.005) and for arteries involved in triple-vessel disease (93% vs 69%, p < 0.01) and more specific for the right coronary artery (88% vs 66%, p < 0.01). Supine bicycle exercise was associated with significantly lower maximal heart rates than treadmill exercise but with significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures. There were no differences in heart rate x systolic blood pressure. We conclude that SBSE and SPECT are equally reliable for coronary disease detection in patients and for evaluation of disease in specific arteries with the exception of SBSE's higher sensitivity for the left anterior descending artery and arteries involved in triple-vessel disease and higher specificity for the right coronary artery.

Coronary Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Improving the accuracy of identifying lesbians for telephone surveys about health.

Knowledge about the health status and health care needs of lesbians is limited by the lack of population-based studies, although recent survey methods research offers suggestions that may be relevant to involving lesbians in more rigorous studies. To explore the transferability of findings about the general population to research on lesbian health, focus groups were conducted in 1997-1998 with self-identified lesbians in five U.S. urban areas. Videotaped telephone interviews stimulated discussion about methods for enhancing participation of lesbians in random digit dial telephone surveys. Results are useful for developing improved practices for conducting health surveys with lesbians.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Managing patients with acute myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury with N-acetylcysteine.

Previously administered in cases of acetaminophen toxicity, N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) is now also being used in the management of acute myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury. NAC potentiates the beneficial effects of nitrates such as nitroglycerin and reduces oxidative stress on the heart. The critical care nurse plays an important role in optimizing the therapeutic benefits of NAC and minimizing its potential harmful effects.

Acetylcysteine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The effects of diabetes mellitus on the school attendance and school achievement of adolescents.

This study examined the relationship between school absences and neuropsychological functioning in a group of adolescents who developed diabetes mellitus after the age of 5 years, and a demographically-similar group of non-diabetic teenagers. The diabetic group missed significantly more school, performed more slowly on a series of visuomotor tasks, and obtained lower scores on tests of reading, spelling, and arithmetic achievement. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the cognitive measures were differentially affected by the demographic and school attendance variables. Achievement test performance was best predicted by measures of school attendance, whereas visuomotor test performance was best predicted by demographic characteristics (grade and sex). These results imply that the somewhat lower scores earned by many diabetic youngsters on tests of general knowledge may have a psychosocial basis.

Absenteeism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Continuing education outcomes related to pain management practice.

BACKGROUND: Nursing practice outcomes of continuing education need to be measured and reported as one indicator of the value of nursing continuing education. This article makes the case that knowledge gain, the traditional measure of continuing education effectiveness, is not necessarily sufficient to assess changes in nursing practice. METHOD: A pretest/posttest design was used to measure nursing practice outcomes of a continuing education program about pain management. A total of 50 attendees returned both the pretests and posttests and 68 attendees returned the follow-up evaluation. RESULTS: Ninety-four percent of the respondents had improved scores on the posttest. Ninety-one percent of the follow-up evaluation respondents stated they had an opportunity to use the new information and 98% stated the use of this information has improved patient care. CONCLUSION: This study found that a continuing education program triggered practice changes. The results of this study correlate with previous research that supports the need for practice outcome measurements.

Education, Nursing, Continuing↗