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Biomedical subjects

D L McCarty

Publications and source records attributed to D L McCarty.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Peripartum cardiac failure in a woman with Graves' disease.

A case of peripartum cardiac failure is reported in a 20-year-old gravida 3, para 3 black female. The patient was 6 weeks postpartum. Graves' disease had been diagnosed in the first trimester of her pregnancy. The patient presented to the emergency department with complaints of fever, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, and chest pain. Physical examination revealed signs of congestive heart failure and anasarca. Chest x-ray revealed bilateral pleural effusions, and an abdominal series was consistent with ascites. Bedside electrocardiogram revealed pan-hypokinesis of all four cardiac chambers. The authors believe that this is the first case reported in the literature of peripartum cardiac failure occurring in a patient with Graves' disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The antiphospholipid antibody syndrome in the emergency department setting--livedo reticularis and recurrent venous thrombosis.

We present the case of a 26-year-old man with an exacerbation of apparent chronic asthma with chronic peripheral vascular disease due to recurrent venous thrombosis. Localized livedo reticularis, new cutaneous infarctions, severe venous insufficiency, thrombocytopenia, renal failure, and cerebral supratentorial dysfunction were noted. During hospital admission, antibodies to phospholipids in high titer were present by three different testing methods. Renal biopsy demonstrated significant renal vasculature abnormalities characteristic of hemolytic endovasculopathy, and magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple cerebral infarctions. This case exemplifies the spectrum of presentations and management of the primary antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. The clue to its presence in this patient was the livedo reticularis rash, a cutaneous marker for this syndrome that was evident in the emergency department.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Investigation of a visual imagery mnemonic device for acquiring face--name associations.

Two studies were conducted on a face--name mnemonic containing several components: a prominent facial feature; a concrete, high imagery transformation of the person's name (e.g., "Bryant" became "bride ant"); and an interactive visual image of these two components. In the first experiment subjects were given one of six strategies for learning face--name associations; the strategies differed with respect to which of the three or combination of the three components were incorporated. Results indicated that all three components of the face--name mnemonic were essential for its effectiveness. The second experiment showed that the cue effectiveness of a facial feature decreased with the frequency of its usage and varied directly with the feature's distinctiveness among all faces in the list.

Discrimination Learning↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prehospital use of pulse oximetry in rotary-wing aircraft.

A prospective study of 200 patients was conducted to evaluate the use of pulse oximetry as an adjunct to clinical monitoring of clinically ill patients transported by rotary-wing aircraft with non-pressurized cabins. Thirty-four subjects (17%) were found to have significant hemoglobin desaturation of less than 90%, as defined by pulse oximetry (SpO 2). Data were recorded continuously for later review. Desaturation often was noted prior to alterations in vital signs or clinical appearance. In 32 of 34 hypoxemic subjects (94%), therapeutic interventions corrected the low SpO 2. The use of pulse oximetry permitted measures for cardiorespiratory support to be instituted and assessed more rapidly than otherwise would have been possible. The availability of a continuous record of SpO 2 facilitated detailed review of case management. It is concluded that the use of pulse oximetry is a practical and valuable adjunct for monitoring critically ill patients transported by rotary-wing aircraft.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Patterns of acetaminophen use in alcoholic patients.

Alcoholics may be predisposed to the hepatotoxicity of acetaminophen due to increased activity of the cytochrome P-450 system and decreased hepatic glutathione. To date, scattered case reports provide only a brief sketch of the frequency and pattern of acetaminophen use by alcoholics. To determine these variables, we obtained a detailed ethanol and drug history from patients answering yes to at least one of four questions on the CAGE questionnaire. Patients were classified in terms of their acetaminophen use as nonusers, users as necessary, or regular users. Regular users were further classified as nondaily or daily users, or abusers (> 4 g/day). A total of 64 patients were enrolled in the study. The average number of positive responses to the CAGE questionnaire was 3.27 +/- 0.91. Of the 64 patients, 34 (53.1%) were continuous daily drinkers, 28 (43.8%) binge drinkers, and 2 (3.1%) had completely discontinued using alcohol. By history, 32 (50)% were nonusers of acetaminophen. Of the 32 users, 12 (37.5%) stated they took it as needed and 20 (62.5%) took it regularly. Of the 20 regular users, 7 (35%) were nondaily users, 11 (55%) were daily users, and 2 (10%) were abusers. Approximately 31% of alcoholics used acetaminophen regularly, most on a daily basis, with 1 of every 10 abusing the drug. Of the 64 alcoholics interviewed, 3 (4.7%) fit the drinking and acetaminophen use patterns theoretically associated with hepatotoxicity.

Acetaminophen↗