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Biomedical subjects

D J Diana

Publications and source records attributed to D J Diana.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

A new method for on-screen ultrasonographic determination of fetal cardiac axis.

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to develop an ultrasonographic method of using multiple electronic calipers for on-screen measurement of fetal cardiac axis. STUDY DESIGN: Two hundred low-risk patients who were seen for antenatal ultrasonography were studied. Standard biometry, anatomic survey, and echocardiography were performed on all fetuses. By use of a four-chamber view fetal cardiac axis was measured with electronic calipers. A table, derived from a trigonometric formula, was created to convert the caliper measurements to cardiac axis in degrees. The results were compared with a protractor-determined fetal cardiac axis. RESULTS: All echocardiograms had normal results. Fetal cardiac axis (+/- 2 SD) by the ultrasonographic method was 43 degrees (+/- 16 degrees) versus 43 degrees (+/- 14 degrees) by the protractor method. This difference was not significant. CONCLUSION: An on-screen method to determine fetal cardiac axis by use of multiple calipers is described. It is comparable to a protractor-measured fetal cardiac axis.

Echocardiography

Serial reduction of ventilation in lung with congenital absence of pulmonary artery.

A 3-year-old boy with unilateral absence of the right pulmonary artery had a lung scan that demonstrated 46% of total ventilation on that side. This had fallen to 39% by 2 years later, and at 11 years after the first study the value was 30%. Ventilation lung imaging may be useful in demonstrating the degree of ventilatory dysfunction in a lung compromised by absence of the pulmonary artery. Possible causes of the pulmonary damage are discussed.

Adolescent

Gas pocket causing pacemaker malfunction.

Pacemaker malfunction was attributed to the increase in impedance to current flow caused by a pocket of air separating the anodal contact plate of a unipolar generator from the overlying skin. Lack of capture was noted 20 hours after implantation. The malfunction was permanently corrected by bedside aspiration of the gas with a sterile syringe.

Air

Ultrastructure of a cardiac rhabdomyoma.

Electron microscopic study of a cardiac rhabdomyoma removed at open heart operation revealed large rounded or polygonal cells that contained large amounts of monoparticulate glycogen. Myofibrils in these cells were few and located either subjacent to the plasma membranes or radiating from central areas. Leptofibrils and masses of anomalous Z band material were abundant. Shallow tubular sarcolemmal invaginations and elements of free and junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum were associated with the myofibrils. Desmosomes and nexuses were evident in intercellular junctions, which were extensive and randomly distributed throughout the cell surfaces. It is concluded that cardiac rhabdomyomas probably are hamartomas.

Cell Membrane