Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

E Jakubowska

Publications and source records attributed to E Jakubowska.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

The role of echocardiography in diagnosing double chambered right ventricle in adults.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the utility of echocardiography in diagnosing double chambered right ventricle (DCRV) in adults. DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING: Department of Congenital Heart Diseases and Department of Cardiac Surgery, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland. PATIENTS: 32 patients, mean age 32.5 years, 21 female, and 11 male. INTERVENTION: Transthoracic (TTE) and transoesophageal (TOE) echocardiographic examination in patients with suspected DCRV. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Direct inspection during surgical treatment of 28 patients diagnosed as having DCRV as an isolated lesion or associated with other pathologies. RESULTS: Echocardiography allowed the final diagnosis of DCRV in 26 patients (81%) out of 32 studied. TTE was diagnostic in 5 (15.6%) whereas TOE was diagnostic in 21 of 21 studied by this technique. Of 6 patients with negative TTE, DCRV was identified by cardiac catheterisation in 3 and directly during surgery in the remaining 3. Of 26 patients diagnosed by echocardiography, the anomalous muscle bundle was discrete in 20 (77%) and diffuse in 6 (23%). In 23 patients (88%) right ventricular outflow obstruction was localised low in the right ventricle, and in the remaining 3 (11.5%), the obstruction was localised high in the right ventricle. Abnormal bundles localised high were discrete, bundles localised in the lower part of right ventricle were discrete in 17 (74%) and diffuse in the remaining 6 (26%). DCRV was an isolated lesion in only 2 patients (6.2%). In all subjects surgical inspection confirmed echocardiographic data. CONCLUSIONS: Echocardiography was very useful to diagnose DCRV in adults as well as to identify its anatomic type. Comparing two different approaches, TOE better defines the entire scope of pathology, including estimation of the resultant systolic pressure gradient within the right ventricular cavity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Clinical and echocardiographic assessment of a right-to-left shunt across an atrial septal defect secondary to tricuspid regurgitation.

OBJECTIVE: Cyanosis in conjunction with atrial septal defect does not necessarily indicate the Eisenmenger syndrome. Exceptionally, the right-to-left shunt may result from tricuspid regurgitant flow and its unusual direction. METHODS: We describe thirteen patients with atrial septal defect and accompanying tricuspid regurgitation. In all of them, the tricuspid regurgitant jet was oriented towards the interatrial septum. This was found on the basis of echocardiographic examination and subsequent frame-by-frame analysis of videotape. RESULTS: Of thirteen patients, cyanosis was observed in 7 (53%). Among those seven, three had moderate pulmonary hypertension (pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) between 40 and 60 mm Hg). The remaining four patients with marked pulmonary hypertension (PASP > 60 mm Hg) underwent cardiac catheterization, which demonstrated low values of pulmonary artery resistance. Except for the one patient with a history of the cerebral embolic event, all were qualified for cardiac surgery. In the postoperative observation they were uneventful and showed clinical recovery and echocardiographic improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Appreciable arterial desaturation and cyanosis in patients with ASD, regarded as uncomplicated, should be followed by careful investigation for the direction of tricuspid regurgitant flow.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

[Bone mineralization and calcium/phosphate metabolism in children with nephrotic syndrome].

The study was carried out in 20 children aged 6-18 years receiving long-term corticosteroid treatment for nephrotic syndrome. In these children densitometric evaluation of bone by DEXA method (total body and spine) and ultrasound measurement of heel were performed. Moreover, basic parameters of calcium-phosphate metabolism were determined. Osteoporosis and osteopenia were diagnosed in 6/20 (30%) patients. Disturbances of bone mineralisation were accompanied by hyperhydroxyprolinuria, hypercalciuria, hypocalcemia and also by some clinical symptoms. The results of these pilot investigations point at necessity periodical assessment of bone mineralisation and calcium-phosphate metabolism in children with nephrotic syndrome receiving corticosteroid treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

[Clinical observation of osteoporosis in adolescents].

The aim of the study was to evaluate the occurrence of clinical and biochemical symptoms of osteoporosis in 15 children aged from 10 to 18 years. In this group were 7 children with idiopathic juvenile osteoporosis, 2--with osteogenesis imperfecta and 6 children with secondary osteoporosis. The diagnosis of osteoporosis was based on the result of densitometric examination. The examination was performed with dual-energy X-ray absor-ptiometry (DEXA), with modality by Lunar. Anamnesis and clinical symptoms supported by X-ray examination of the painful region were used as a standard procedure. Biochemical examinations of calcium-phosphorus metabolism included ions and PTH concentrations in blood serum, and the activity of bone isoenzyme of AP. Besides, ions excretion and total hydroxyproline in 24 hrs collection of urine were assessed. The results of our investigations showed that in children with osteoporosis clinical and biochemical abnormalities were various. Pain in the lower limbs and weakening of muscle strength were the most frequently observed clinical symptoms. Among biochemical indices, urine excretion of hydroxyproline and increased concentration of isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase were of the greatest practical significance.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1982

Effects of septal lesion on go, no-go differentiation and reversal learning in rats.

Experiments were done on 24 Sprague-Dawley male albino rats. Acquisition of go, no-go differentiation and its reversal were compared between normal and septal animals. Rats were trained in Skinner boxes on a 30-s VI food reinforcement schedule. Differentiation sessions consisted of periods with flashing and steady light on, randomly distributed. In half the subjects of each group reinforcement was available only during the flashing light (CS+ periods) while during the steady light no reinforcement was delivered (CS- periods). For the remaining subjects the allocation of stimuli as CS+ or CS- was reversed. During reversal training the signalling properties of the stimuli were reversed. The experiments confirmed that there is lesion-induced increment in base-line response rate. During differentiation training septal damage had no significant effect on the proportion of total responses emitted during CS-, although it increased the overall rate of CS- responding when the flashing light was used as CS-. During reversal training when the flashing light was used as CS- septal animals both responded at a higher rate during CS-, and emitted a higher proportion of their responses during CS-, relative to controls. There were no lesion effects on CS- responding when the steady light was used as CS-. Thus the septal deficit appeared when the to-be-extinguished habit was fairly strong and only under conditions of greater stimulus generalization. These results indicate that septal effects depend on a variety of experimental factors determining performance in any given test situation, among which stimulus intensity dynamism is one of particular importance.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1979

Avoidance acquisition in cats as a function of temporal and intensity factors.

Acquisition of an active bar-pressing avoidance response was investigated in a factorial design with 3, 5 or 9 s CS-US intervals and CSs of 70- or 50-dB of white noise. As the CS-US interval increased the required time to meet the avoidance criterion decreased. The shorter the CS-US interval and the more intense the CS, the shorter the median response latencies observed at the end of the training. The latency data were analyzed in Vincentized fifths of acquisition trials. At the beginning of training, when the highest proportion of responses occurred soon after the US onset, escape latencies were shorter in groups trained with shorter CS-US intervals and the more intense CS. During the 1st and 2nd fifths of training, avoidances occurred with the same probability in each part the CS-US interval. By the middle of the training, after a performance level of 50 percent avoidance responses was reached, a rapid increase in the number of short-latency avoidance was observed, which was more pronounced in groups trained with the 70 dB CS. While the general shape of the latency distributions was preserved during the remaining two fifths of the training, a further increase in the intensity effect was noted, which occurred along with a decrease in the CS-US interval effect. The data are in favour of Two-factor Theory of Avoidance learning and suggest that at various stages of training, different variables emerge for acquisition and consolidation of the avoidance reflex. Data supported the hypothesis that two different mechanisms are involved in performance of short- and long-latency avoidance responses.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Stimulus intensity effects of acute extinction of the CER in rats.

Two groups of 9 rats were trained in the conditioned emotional response (CER) consisting of suppression of food-motivated behavior as a consequence of the pairing of white noise with unavoidable shock. One group was trained and then extinguished with an 80 dB white noise value and the other with the 50 dB white noise intensity as the conditioned stimulus (CS). The CER acquisition was faster with the more intense CS, however, on the last training day, conditioned suppression reached the same asymptotic level in both groups. Then an acute extinction procedure was introduced, wherein the CS was presented only once a day and lasted continuously until the end of the session with no US presentation during this period. This procedure was repeated over several consecutive days. During the first prolonged CS action, CER extinction was more rapid in the 50- than in 80-dB group. However, on the next extinction day the amount of suppression was less with the more intense CS. The results were discussed in terms of CS intensity effects on learning and performance of the conditioned response.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1977

Auditory intensity generalization after CER differentiation training.

Auditory intensity generalization was tested in 32 rats trained in CER (conditioned emotional response) differentiation between the 50- and 70-dB white noise intensities. All generalization gradients showed regular monotonicity across the noise intensity dimension independently on experience with the CS+ value prior to the differentiation training. Two kinds of peak shift were obtained. Stimuli further away from the CS? value and more intense than the CS+ inhibited the on-going food motivated behavior more strongly than the CS+ itself. Stimuli further away from the CS+ value and more intense than the CS? enhanced the on-going behavior more than the CS?. A method of statistical analysis indicated that individual gradients and group data corresponded to the same generalization functions.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1976

Differentiation learning as a function of stimulus intensity and previous experience with the CS.

Discrimination between 50- and 70-dB white noise was investigated in rats under three training procedures employing a conditioned emotional response (CER) technique. When a CER was initially established to the CS(+) and then the CS(-) was introduced, clear generalization of the CER from CS(+) to CS(-) was observed at the beginning of differentiation learning. When both CSi were simultaneously introduced from the beginning of training, subjects acquired the CER to both intensities. Only then, did differential response to intensities occur as an effect of CER extinction to the CS(-). Habituation of the white noise intensity used during differentiation learning as the CS(+) exerted only a small effect on the course of training. Under all training procedures differentiation of the 50-dB CS(+) and 70-dB CS(-) was more difficult than between the 70-dB CS(+) and 50-dB CS(-). This finding was related to both slower. acquisition of the CER when the less intense CS was paired with shock and to a marked decrease of suppressive properties of the weak CS(+) together with CER extinction to the more intense CS(-). Even by the end of differentiation learning intensity relations between CSi during criterion sessions exerted a strong effect on the magnitudes of suppression ratios.

Animals↗