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Biomedical subjects

D Friedman

Publications and source records attributed to D Friedman.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Identification of mothers at risk for congenital heart block and other neonatal lupus syndromes in their children. Comparison of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblot for measurement of anti-SS-A/Ro and anti-SS-B/La antibodies.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the fine specificity patterns of maternal anti-SS-A/Ro and anti-SS-B/La antibodies that are associated with the birth of a child with transient or permanent manifestations of neonatal lupus syndromes, and to suggest a predictor algorithm for use in counseling. METHODS: Sera were obtained from 4 groups of mothers: 57 whose children had congenital heart block, 12 whose children had transient dermatologic or hepatic manifestations of neonatal lupus but no detectable cardiac involvement, 152 with systemic lupus erythematosus and related autoimmune diseases, who gave birth to healthy infants, and 30 with autoimmune diseases whose pregnancy resulted in miscarriage, fetal death, or early postpartum death unrelated to neonatal lupus. Antibodies to SS-A/Ro and SS-B/La were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-immunoblot. RESULTS: Anti-SS-A/Ro antibodies were identified by ELISA in 100%, 91%, 47%, and 43% of the mothers of infants with heart block, with transient neonatal lupus, healthy infants, and fetal death, respectively. High titers of anti-SS-A/Ro antibodies were present more often in mothers of children with cardiac disease or transient neonatal lupus than in either of the other 2 groups. Maternal antibodies to SS-B/La were detected by ELISA in 76% of the heart block group, 73% of the cutaneous neonatal lupus group, 15% of the group with healthy children, and 7% of the fetal death group. On SDS-immunoblot, sera from 91% of the heart block group mothers who had antibodies to SS-A/Ro but not to SS-B/La recognized at least 1 SS-A/Ro antigen, with significantly greater reactivity against the 52-kd component. In contrast, only 62% of the anti-SS-A/Ro positive, anti-SS-B/La negative responders in the healthy group recognized the 52-kd and/or the 60-kd component. Although there was no profile of anti-SS-A/Ro response unique to the mothers of children with heart block or cutaneous manifestations of neonatal lupus, only 1% of the healthy infants were born to mothers with antibodies directed to both the 52-kd SS-A/Ro and 48-kd SS-B/La antigens and not to the 60-kd SS-A/Ro antigen. CONCLUSION: Women with antibodies to both SS-A/Ro and SS-B/La have an increased risk of giving birth to children with neonatal lupus, especially if the anti-SS-A/Ro response identifies the 52-kd component on SDS-immunoblot. Women whose sera contain only anti-SS-A/Ro antibodies in low titer and only recognize determinants that are altered by conditions of SDS-immunoblot have a low risk for giving birth to a child with neonatal lupus. Specific antibody profiles do not distinguish among the manifestations of the neonatal lupus syndromes.

Animals↗

The use of bioelectrical impedance analysis for monitoring body composition changes during nutritional support.

Body composition was measured with bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) in 30 patients with protein malnutrition following biliopancreatic diversion. Determinations were carried out prior to, during, and at the completion of intravenous nutritional support when the nutritional parameters had completely reverted to normal. Before treatment, body weight (BW), lean body mass (LBM), and body fat (BF) values were similar to those of controls, whereas the total body sodium/total body potassium (TBNa/TBK) and extracellular mass/body cell mass (ECM/BCM) ratios were considerably higher. During the support, no changes in BW, LBM, and BF were demonstrated, although a sharp decrease of TBNa/TBK and ECM/BCM was observed, thus demonstrating improved LBM composition. At the end of parenteral feeding, the BW, LBM, and BF values were similar to those observed before the support, while a further decrease in TBNa/TBK and ECM/BCM demonstrated a recovery towards normal of body composition. The full correspondence between clinical and BIA findings therefore suggests that this method may be valuable for monitoring body composition changes during nutritional support.

Adult↗

The effects of postural change and exercise on renal haemodynamics in familial dysautonomia.

Cardiovascular instability is a prominent manifestation of familial dysautonomia [FD] while renal insufficiency occurs in a large number of adult FD patients. To determine if there was a causative relationship, renal artery blood flow velocity using Doppler technology, was recorded and the ratio of the peak systolic velocity (point A) to the end diastolic velocity (point B) was calculated. The A/B ratio was assessed in response to change of position and exercise, and was correlated with renal function, heart rate and systemic blood pressure. Studies were performed in 54 FD patients with a mean age of 24 years +/- 9.8 years, and 20 controls, with a mean age of 24.7 +/- 7.6 years. In the supine position, the mean A/B ratios were not significantly different, but FD subjects had a significantly higher mean blood pressure and heart rate than controls. When erect and post exercise, the mean A/B ratios in FD subjects were significantly higher than controls, p = 0.0004 and p = 0.0001, respectively. In contrast to controls, when FD subjects were standing erect and post exercise, mean blood pressure decreased significantly without a significant change in heart rate. When FD subjects were divided into two groups based on their creatinine clearance value, the group with the lower creatinine clearances had a significantly greater fall in diastolic pressure when they moved from the supine to the erect position. Our results indicate that noninvasive Doppler techniques are helpful in detecting changes in renal blood flow in subjects with familial dysautonomia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

Event-related potential and clinical correlates of neurodysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The current study confirmed with increased sample sizes our preliminary findings of event-related potential (ERP) abnormalities in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (Towey et al., 1990) and examined their relationship to symptom severity, treatment response, and neurological soft signs. Unmedicated patients (n = 17) showed larger negativities in N200 and slow wave regions than normal control subjects (n = 16) to correctly detected auditory "oddball" stimuli. N200 amplitude was larger over left than right hemispheres of OCD patients, but not normal control subjects. Greater N200 amplitude correlated with less severe obsessions, better response to subsequent treatment with serotonin reuptake blockers, and fewer neurological soft signs in OCD. With increased task difficulty, N200 and P300 latencies lengthened for normal subjects, but not for OCD patients. The abnormal ERP pattern in OCD supports hypotheses of cortical hyperarousal and overfocused attention.

Adult↗

Abnormalities of the corrected QT interval in familial dysautonomia: an indicator of autonomic dysfunction.

We report abnormalities in corrected QT intervals with changes in position and after exercise in patients with familial dysautonomia and confirm the previously reported finding of abnormal heart rate and blood pressure responses. Prolonged corrected QT intervals (> 440 msec) with lack of appropriate shortening with exercise is a noninvasive means of demonstrating an aberration in autonomic regulation of cardiac conduction.

Adult↗

Hearing impairment and ear pathology in Nepal.

A stratified random cluster sample of 15,845 subjects was performed in two regions of Nepal to determine the prevalence and main causes of hearing impairment (the most common disability) and the prevalence of ear disease. Subjects reporting current ear pain, or ear discharge, or hearing impairment on direct questioning by a Nepali health worker (primary screening failed), had otoscopy and audiometry (using the Liverpool Field Audiometer) performed, and a questionnaire administered relating to past history. In every fifth house subjects who passed the primary screening (1,716 subjects) were examined to assess the false negative rate of screening. An estimated 16.6 per cent of the study population have hearing impairment (either ear worse than 30 dB hearing threshold level (HTL) 1.0-4.0 kHz, or 50 dB HTL 0.5 kHz), and 7.4 per cent ear drum pathology, equivalent to respectively 2.71 and 1.48 million people extrapolated to the whole of Nepal. Most hearing impairment in the school age group (55.2 per cent) is associated with otitis media or its sequelae. Probably at least 14 per cent of sensorineural deafness is preventable (7 per cent infectious disease, 3.9 per cent trauma, 0.8 per cent noise exposure, 1 per cent cretinism, and 1 per cent abnormal pregnancy or labour). Most individuals reporting current ear pathology (61 per cent) had never attended a health post, and of those receiving ear drop treatment, 84 per cent still had serious pathology. Of subjects who reported ear drop treatment at any time, 31 per cent still had serious pathology. The use of traditional remedies was prevalent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

Event-related potentials as indicators of repetition priming in young and older adults: amplitude, duration, and scalp distribution.

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded in young and older adults in an indirect repetition priming paradigm. Compared with the young adults, the older adults' ERP repetition effect was larger and of longer duration, due entirely to greater amplitude elicited by the repeated item. These data suggest that, although indirect memory (as indexed by a robust ERP repetition effect) appeared to be intact in the older adult, the possibility exists for qualitative age-related differences consistent with inefficient and/or additional processing of the repeated item.

Adult↗

Age-related changes in scalp topography to novel and target stimuli.

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from young, middle-aged, and older adults to infrequent target and novel stimuli during a version of the oddball paradigm. Analyses of scalp distribution suggested that the shift to a more frontally oriented topography with increasing age was confined to the P3 component (as compared to N1 and P2) elicited by both target and novel stimuli. This first demonstration of an age-related shift in the scalp distribution of the novelty P3 elicited by auditory stimuli was associated with an age-related increase in the false-alarm rate to novel stimuli. These age-associated differences in scalp distribution and false-alarm rate are consistent with a change in frontal lobe activity with increasing age.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Chyloperitoneum associated with chronic severe sarcoidosis.

A 51-year-old black female with sarcoidosis diagnosed 20 yr earlier developed massive chyloperitoneum and chylothorax. Autopsy demonstrated fibrotic and enlarged thoracic and mesenteric lymph nodes. Sarcoidosis can produce chyloperitoneum by producing intrathoracic nodal fibrosis and lymphatic obstruction.

Chronic Disease↗

Abnormal cerebral laterality in bipolar depression: convergence of behavioral and brain event-related potential findings.

Cerebral laterality in bipolar and unipolar major depression was compared using visual half-field and dichotic listening measures of perceptual asymmetry. The results replicate our prior finding of abnormal laterality in bipolar depressed patients on a visuospatial test. Bipolar patients (n = 11) failed to show the left visual field (right hemisphere) advantage for dot enumeration seen for both unipolar patients (n = 43) and normal controls (n = 24). Bipolar patients performed significantly poorer than unipolar patients on normal controls for left visual field, but not right visual field stimuli. An electrophysiological correlate of abnormal visual field asymmetry in bipolar depression was found in brain event-related potentials recorded during audiospatial and temporal discrimination tasks. Bipolar patients had smaller N100 amplitudes for test stimuli in the left than right hemifield, whereas unipolar patients and normals did not. The origins of left hemifield deficits in bipolar depression are discussed in terms of right-sided dysfunction of an arousal/attentional system involving temporoparietal and possibly frontal regions.

Adolescent↗

Event-related potential investigations of cognitive development and aging.

Comparison of the results of the studies of cognitive development and normal aging suggests a large degree of commonality in both behavioral and ERP effects across a wide age range. Whether measured in young children, adolescents, young, middle-aged or elderly adults, the size of the ERP repetition effect did not differ among the various age groups. This was true whether memory was tested directly during continuous recognition or indirectly during variants of semantic categorization tasks. Similarly, in the studies of adult aging, the degree of RT facilitation during the semantic task did not differ with age and, in both the studies of cognitive development and aging, the degree of RT prolongation during the explicit tasks did not appear to differ as a function of age. Moreover, in the studies of adult aging, the effects of three versus two exposures of a word assessed in the PM session (TABLE 1), modulated RT similarly in all three age groups. These data argue for continuity of information processing across a very wide age range during both direct and indirect memory tasks, when retention is assessed during the recognition (for explicit testing) and repetition (for implicit testing) phases of the task. Since ERP and RT modulation do not appear to differ with age during the retrieval phases of these experiments, how can the performance differential seen in young children and older adults be explained? Some evidence comes from the ERP data recorded during the study phases of our explicit tasks. During continuous recognition, both young children and elderly adults did not show the typical subsequent "memory effect." In the case of the children, the subsequently unrecognized ERP was larger than the subsequently recognized ERP, whereas for the older adults, there was no difference between these two ERPs. Moreover, during these same tasks, the young children did show the "crossover" (new greater than old) pattern for slow wave activity, whereas the older adults did not. Since these ERP findings were obtained during the acquisition phase (i.e., to new items that had to be encoded for subsequent retrieval), the data argue for encoding difficulties as one means of explaining the performance differences seen at the two ends of the age spectrum. However, since the older adults displayed a different new/old pattern for slow wave activity, the two age groups may differ qualitatively in the strategies employed to encode items for subsequent retrieval.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Aging↗

Health care fraud.

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Consumer Advocacy↗

Juvenile autoimmune thyroiditis and mitral valve prolapse.

An increased incidence of mitral valve prolapse (MVP) has been reported in adult patients with autoimmune thyroid disease. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of MVP in children and adolescents with juvenile autoimmune thyroiditis (JAT). Cardiac echo studies using M-mode, 2D, and Doppler examinations were performed on 23 patients (21 females, 2 males). The patients were studied at a median age of 12 years (range 5-20 years). Only one patient was found to have evidence suggestive of MVP, an incidence (4.3%) similar to that seen in the normal pediatric population. We, therefore, conclude that the incidence of MVP in children and adolescence with JAT is not increased.

Adolescent↗

Intravenous nutritional support in pregnancy. Experience following biliopancreatic diversion.

11 pregnant women with protein malnutrition following biliopancreatic diversion for obesity were supported by parenteral nutrition (PN). In 2 cases high concentration glucose, lipid emulsions and standard aminoacid mixtures were infused via a central venous catheter; in the other subjects, because oral intake was normal or increased, only aminoacids with or without lipids were administered through a peripheral vein. PN promoted foetal growth and was very well tolerated and totally safe both for mother and infant.

Journal Article↗

Event-related potentials (ERPs) during repetition priming in Alzheimer's patients and young and older controls.

Although memory tested explicitly (e.g., recognition) is clearly deficient in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, it is less clear if memory tested implicitly is similarly affected. To assess this, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a word-repetition priming paradigm, with semantic and orthographic orienting tasks, from 10 patients with mild probable Alzheimer's disease (PAD; mean age of 70.6), 10 young (24.1) and 10 older (69.8) controls. The extent of priming by word repetition was assessed using the new minus old ERP repetition effect. The young and older control groups showed clear ERP repetition effects that were larger during semantic than orthographic blocks. Although the PAD patients displayed the same general trends, their ERP repetition effects were not nearly as marked when compared to controls. To the extent that the ERP repetition effect recorded during this repetition priming paradigm is a measure of implicit performance, the data suggest that memory assessed in this fashion is spared in at least some Alzheimer's patients in the early stages of the disease.

Adult↗