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Biomedical subjects

E C Wright

Publications and source records attributed to E C Wright.

72 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1975

Efficacy of hepatitis B immune serum globulin after accidental exposure. Preliminary report of the Veterans Administration Cooperative Study.

A randomised, double-blind, controlled trial has been undertaken to compare the efficacy of hepatitis B immune globulin (H.B.I.G.) with that of immune serum globulin (I.S.G.) for the prophylaxis of viral hepatitis. Participants in the trial were individuals exposed accidentally to material infectious for hepatitis (primarily viral B hepatitis). Preliminary evaluation of the first 302 of the 561 individuals entered into the study indicates that H.B.I.G. significantly reduced the frequencies of both clinical and subclinical hepatitis during the first 3--4 months after the injection. Less than 10% of H.B.I.G. recipients had detectable anti-HBs at the sixth month after the injection, suggesting that H.B.I.G. might need to be given every 3--4 months to continually exposed individuals. Further long-term evaluation is required in order to define more clearly those most likely to benefit from H.B.I.G.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗
PubMed1975

Quantitative light microscopic autoradiography. Emulsion sensitivity and latent image fading.

Emulsion sensitivity, latent image fading, and the effects of temperature, humidity, radiation dose and chemography on them were measured for NTB2 autoradiographic emulsion using quantitative methods. Sensitivity of NTB2 emulsion increased as the temperature during exposure increased, with the greatest increase per degree occurring between -20 degrees C. At 4 degrees C, emulsion sensitivity remained constant with time and radiation dose. Direct measurement of latent image fading showed no latent image fading for 60 weeks on slides exposed at 4 degrees C with Drierite. Slides exposed at 27 degrees C showed significant latent image fading and great variation between samples. High humidity decreased emulsion sensitivity and increased latent image fading. No evidence of either positive or negative chemography was found. The practical use of autoradiography requires an internal standard on each slide to correct for fluctuations in temperature and humidity during exposure time.

Autoradiography↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Anxiety disorders in major depression.

The prevalence and clinical impact of anxiety disorder comorbidity in major depression were studied in 255 depressed adult outpatients consecutively enrolled in our Depression Research Program. Comorbid anxiety disorder diagnoses were present in 50.6% of these patients and included social phobia (27.0%), simple phobia (16.9%), panic disorder (14.5%), generalized anxiety disorder ([GAD] 10.6%), obsessive-compulsive disorder ([OCD] 6.3%), and agoraphobia (5.5%). While both social phobia and generalized anxiety preceded the first episode of major depression in 65% and 63% of cases, respectively, panic disorder (21.6%) and agoraphobia (14.3%) were much less likely to precede the first episode of major depression than to emerge subsequently. Although comorbid groups were not distinguished by depression, anxiety, hostility, or somatic symptom scores at the time of study presentation, patients with comorbid anxiety disorders tended to be younger during the index episode and to have an earlier onset of the major depressive disorder (MDD) than patients with major depression alone. Our results support the distinction between anxiety symptoms secondary to depression and anxiety disorders comorbid with major depression, and provide further evidence for different temporal relationships with major depression among the several comorbid anxiety disorders.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Factors that influence adolescent adaptation to sickle cell disease.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether psychosocial factors play a more important role than biomedical risk factors in predicting adolescent adaptation to sickle cell disease (SCD); to determine whether psychosocial factors moderate the relationship between biomedical risk factors and adaptation. METHODS: Ninety African American adolescents from the multisite Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease were recruited to complete a battery that included measures of psychosocial status and psychological adaptation. Data regarding their health status were collected from medical records. RESULTS: The findings revealed that intrapersonal (self-esteem, social assertiveness), stress-processing (use of social support), and social ecological factors (family relations) were significant predictors of adaptation; however, biomedical factors did not predict adaptation. There was no evidence that psychosocial factors moderated the relationship between biomedical risk factors and adaptation. CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial factors proved to be better predictors of adaptation than biomedical risk factors. Additional research is needed to better understand the nature of the interrelationships among biomedical risk factors, psychosocial factors, and adaptation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hepatic disease in asymptomatic parenteral narcotic drug abusers: a Veterans Administration collaborative study.

The Veterans Administration is currently conducting a collaborative study in three hospital-based drug treatment clinics to evaluate asymptomatic parenteral drug addicts for evidence of hepatic disease. Preliminary data are presented on 347 patients who have completed at least three months of follow-up evaluation. On admission, abnormal serum transaminase values were demonstrated in one half, HBs Ag in 7 per cent, and anti-HBs in 59 per cent. The frequency of these findings increased during the follow-up evaluation, only 19 (5.5 per cent) remaining entirely free of one or more of these abnormalities. Definable hepatologic disease (acute or chronic hepatitis, alcoholic hepatitis) developed in 46 per cent of the patients. However, among 60 of them subjected to liver biopsy, a poor correlation was noted between the clinical and histologic diagnoses. In particular, routine liver function and immunologic tests did not discriminate between histologically detected chronic active and chronic persistent hepatitis. However, HBs Ag was present significantly more frequently in those with chronic active hepatitis. Wide variability of histologic diagnoses was seen among patients subjected to more than one biopsy, apparent progression and regression of the lesion being noted. This demonstrates the hazard of attempting to assign a prognosis to the disease on the basis of a single liver biopsy specimen, and suggests that repeated biopsies should be mandatory for the evaluation of chronic liver disease in drug addicts.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Va cooperative study of post-transfusion hepatitis, 1969-1974: incidence and characteristics of hepatitis and responsible risk factors.

The Veterans Administration has been conducting a cooperative randomized, double-blind, controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of conventional and hepatitis B immune serum globulin for the prevention of post-transfusion hepatitis. Data collected between 1969 and 1974 provide the opportunity to describe the annual incidence and characteristics of the hepatitis that has developed, and the risk factors which have been identified. Anicteric hepatitis has developed four times more frequently than icteric hepatitis, the total incidence for all six years being 11.3 per cent. The incidence of HBs Ag-associated hepatitis declined dramatically after 1973 with the institution of routine screening of donor blood by radioimmunoassay techniques, although no change in the incidence of antigen-negative hepatitis has occurred. There is indirect evidence to suggest that an undefined agent is responsible for the majority of instances of post-transfusion hepatitis occurring presently. The most important risk factor responsible for the development of hepatitis is the use of commercial blood, and it is strongly urged that this form of blood be removed from general use.

Blood Banks↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Multicenter comparison of magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography in the evaluation of the central nervous system in children with sickle cell disease.

PURPOSE: To compare the results of standardized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasonography of cerebral arteries in school-aged children with sickle cell disease to determine the correlation between these two different neurodiagnostic tests. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were analyzed from 78 children with sickle cell disease (mean age 11 yrs) who participated in both the Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease (CSSCD) and the Stroke Prevention Trial in Sickle Cell Anemia (STOP). Patients who had experienced an overt stroke were excluded. MRI findings were classified as normal or "silent infarct." Results of TCD were classified as normal, conditional, or abnormal, based on the time-averaged maximum mean flow velocity in the proximal middle cerebral and distal internal carotid arteries. RESULTS: Of 61 patients who had a normal MRI examination, 11 (18%) had either conditional (5 patients) or abnormal (6 patients) TCD results. Among 17 patients in whom silent infarction was seen on MRI, only 5 (29%) had a conditional (1 patient) or abnormal (4 patients) TCD velocity. Thus, discordant results were seen in 23 patients: 12 in which the TCD result was normal and the MRI abnormal; 11 in which the TCD velocity was elevated and the MRI normal. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal TCD and MRI examinations reveal different aspects of the pathophysiology of central nervous system (CNS) injury in sickle cell disease and are often discordant. Although TCD abnormality is predictive of overt stroke, the lack of concordance between TCD and MRI findings suggests a need to develop more sensitive and specific indicators of early CNS pathology, such as neuropsychometric testing and positron-emission tomography (PET) scans, and to obtain more information about microvascular pathologic processes that may affect CNS function.

Adolescent↗