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Biomedical subjects

E Garcia

Publications and source records attributed to E Garcia.

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources

Surgical repair of atrial septal defect in patients over 60 years of age. Long-term results.

In order to evaluate results of surgical repair of secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) in patients 60 years of age or older, a review was made of 16 patients who had undergone such operation between January 1964 and December 1974. Before operation eight patients were in functional classification III (New York Heart Association), seven were in class II, and one was in class I. Twelve patients had a left-to-right shunt greater than 3:1. Pulmonary artery systolic pressure was greater than 40 mm Hg in 12 patients and greater than 60 mm Hg in five. Four patients had documented paradoxical emboli and were being treated with Coumadin. Before operation all patients but one were receiving digoxin. Repair was accomplished by direct suture in two patients and Dacron patch graft in 14. No deaths occurred during the postoperative period. Postoperatively, ten patients were in class I, five in class II, and one remained in class III. The hospital stay ranged from eight to 20 days (average 11 days). Two patients died one year and another (at the age of 77) five years after surgery. The remaining 13 patients are alive and well three months to 11 years after surgery. We conclude that repair of secundum ASD in patients over the age of 60 is safe, has low morbidity, and produces considerable clinical improvement.

Age Factors↗

Treadmill exercise testing in the presence of digitals therapy or nonspecific ST-T changes: correlation with coronary angiography.

Treadmill exercise test results were studied in 93 patients with chest pain who had received digitalis therapy or had nonspecific ST-T changes in the resting electrocardiogram. Results of the treadmill test were correlated with the findings of coronary angiography. A positive treadmill result was defined as horizontal or down-sloping ST segment depression greater than or equal to 1.0 mm. Of the 40 patients with no or insignificant coronary artery disease, 15 had taken digitalis; 4 of the 15 demonstrated a positive response on the treadmill test. Of the 53 patients with coronary artery disease, 21 had taken digitalis; 15 of the 21 displayed a positive response. Among the remaining 32 not on digitalis, 20 had a positive response. The specificity of the treadmill exercise test was 96% in patients with coronary artery disease not on digitalis and whose resting electrocardiogram showed nonspecific ST changes. The specificity of the treadmill test in patients who had received digitalis was 73%. Sensitivity was 63% and 71%, respectively. By utilizing more stringent criteria in the interpretation of the treadmill exercise test (greater than or equal to 1.5 mm ST depression), among the patients on digitalis only 6.7% (1/15) with normal coronary arteries and 48% (10/21) with coronary artery disease had a positive response. With the use of the latter criterion the test was specific in 93% (14/15) of the patients and is usually indicative of coronary artery disease.

Adult↗

Evaluation of different antibiotic actions combined with rifampicin. In vitro synergism against Pseudomonas and Proteus.

Associations of penicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline and polymyxin B with rifampicin were tested for synergism against Pseudomonas and Proteus pathological strains. The combination of rifampicin and polymyxin B was clearly synergistic for all strains as it was evaluated by isobolograms and killing curvesmthe bactericidal action of this association, without any cross-resistance between its components, may eradicate gram-negative bacteria infections with marked polyvalent drug resistances.

Drug Synergism↗

Runaway pacemaker in seven patients: a persisting problem.

Runaway pacemaker has been encountered in 7 patients during the past 7 years at the Texas Heart Institute. In this series, 4 patients with fixed-rate pacemakers experienced pacemaker arrhythmias because of battery depletion, and 3 had arrhythmias because of component failure. Battery deterioration was heralded by an increase in cardiac rate. Ventricular tachycardia, rapidly followed by ventricular fibrillation, occurred in 2 patients. Prompt surgical exteriorization of the failing pulse generator and connection to an external pacemaker resulted in prompt recovery in all patients. Elective generator change should be performed routinely after 24 to 30 months unless reliable serial observations of ventricular rates can be attained. This at least will reduce the lethal complications attributed to battery exhaustion. Increasing developments in the design of generators and sources of power, as well as data from pacemaker clinic follow-up and telephone pulse transmittal, are expected to decrease the frequency of this complication.

Adult↗

The training and generalization of a conversational speech form in nonverbal retardates.

Differential reinforcement and imitation were used with two retarded children to train three sequential verbal responses associated with the display of a picture and questions related to that picture. Each response consisted of a three-word chain in sentence form; combined with verbal responses from the experimenter, this trained sequence formed a short conversational unit. Three experimenters measured the use of each sentence in settings different than the one in which training took place, and with pictures different than those used during training. Two types of generalization sessions were used: (1) General sessions, during which 10 pictures never used during training were displayed to the subject with reinforcement delivered on a noncontingent basis, and (2) Intermixed sessions, during which 10 pictures never used during training were displayed to the subject, but a picture having received training was also displayed, and correct responses to this picture were reinforced on a variable schedule. Both subjects learned the sentences being trained. However, little generalization was evident from this training when all experimenters conducted General probe sessions. Generalization occurred with one experimenter only after that experimenter conducted Intermixed probe sessions. Generalization to a third experimenter was then observed (i.e., after the first two experimenters had conducted Intermixed probe sessions) without the use of Intermixed probe sessions by this third experimenter.

Adolescent↗

Development of syntax in a retarded girl using procedures of imitation, reinforcement, and modelling.

Three experiments demonstrated the development and generalized use of a singular and plural declarative sentence in a child initially lacking sentence form responses. In each experiment, an adult(s) served as a language model(s), and consequences (sweets) were provided for imitation of the model. During training trials, an item(s) was displayed first to the model(s) then to the subject; these displays were accompanied by requests to label the item(s). Generalization was assessed by a number of probe trials that were periodically interspersed among training trials. During these trials, the subject was requested to label the displayed item(s) without any preceding labelling response from the model. Using these procedures, generalized use of a singular sentence ("That is one-") resulted in Experiment I, and generalized use of a plural sentence ("These are two-") resulted in Experiment II. In Experiment III, two models (a singular and a plural sentence model) were made available to the subject but imitation of only one model was reinforced during any one condition. Results indicated the subject labelled probe (generalization) items with the same sentence form that was modelled and reinforced during training trials.

Journal Article↗