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Biomedical subjects

E Prats

Publications and source records attributed to E Prats.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Diagnosis of prosthetic vascular graft infection by technetium-99m-HMPAO-labeled leukocytes.

UNLABELLED: The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of 99mTc-HMPAO-labeled leukocyte scans in the diagnosis of prosthetic vascular graft infection. METHODS: We performed 75 scans in 61 patients with vascular grafts. Thirty-six patients were evaluated for suspected infection and 25 were control patients. Scintigraphic images were performed at 5 min, 30 min, 3 hr and, occasionally, 24 hr. Persistent increased uptake at 3 hr along the suspected area of the graft was considered evidence of graft infection. RESULTS: All 20 infected grafts were detected with 99mTc-HMPAO leukocyte scan. The sensitivity and specificity of the scan in the detection of infected graft were 100%. We also detected two pelvic abscesses, two infected fistulae, two soft-tissue infections, three cases of ischemic colitis, one acute diverticulitis, one infected hematoma, one septic arthritis and one noninfected hematoma. One patient with a superficial groin infection had a negative scan. The eight pseudoaneurysms did not show scintigraphic evidence of graft infection. Correlative CT studies were performed in 12 cases. CONCLUSION: Technetium-99m-HMPAO-labeled leukocyte scan is an accurate and valuable diagnostic method for evaluation of suspected prosthetic vascular graft infection.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Limitations of the Friedewald formula for estimating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in alcoholics with liver disease.

The accuracy of the Friedewald formula in estimating low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol was investigated in 47 alcoholic patients with liver disease (21 minimal-change, 26 cirrhotic) by comparing the results with those obtained by sequential preparative ultracentrifugation. In 14% of subjects with minimal-change disease, the error in the estimated LDL cholesterol was 50% +/- 9% (mean +/- SD; range 40-59%) and was related to the degree of attendant hypertriglyceridemia (r = 0.98; P < 0.001). A similar degree of error was observed in patients with cirrhosis, despite the absence of hypertriglyceridemia; an abnormal VLDL cholesterol: triglyceride ratio was the contributory factor in the discrepancy. We conclude that, as is the case in other clinical pathologies in which abnormalities of lipoprotein composition have been described (e.g., diabetes), the Friedewald formula to estimate LDL cholesterol may be inappropriate in chronic alcoholics, particularly those in whom a degree of hepatic dysfunction may be suspected.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[A toxic syndrome and subcutaneous nodules as the only clinical manifestation of systemic sarcoidosis].

Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease with frequent cutaneous manifestations. Among these exists a predominance of the so-called unspecific lesions because of their histopathological features. Within the specific lesions, that is those which showed non-caseous granulomas, subcutaneous nodules are underlined, which have been associated with chronic sarcoidosis with a frequency of 1.4%-6%. These lesions appear during the evolution of the disease but rarely constitute an initial manifestation of it. The patient whose case is discussed had a debut with toxic syndrome and subcutaneous nodules. Histopathological study of these nodules showed the existence of non caseous granulomas formed by histiocytes, epithelioid cells, Langhans and foreign body giant cells. Lobulet hepatic granulomas were showed together with mediastinal pulmonary captation of gallium. We conclude that sarcoidosis must be considered when performing the differential diagnosis of the disease which debut with subcutaneous nodules.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1992

Cloning and characterization of a highly conserved satellite DNA from the mollusc Mytilus edulis.

Sperm DNA of the common mussel, Mytilus edulis, has been found to contain a highly repeated sequence identifiable upon restriction with the endonuclease ApaI. The repetitive nucleotide (nt) sequence amounts to 0.63% of the mollusc genome with an estimated copy number of 5.4 x 10(4) copies per haploid complement. The monomer unit with a 173-bp repeat length has been cloned. Progressive DNA digestions with ApaI yield ladder-like banding patterns on agarose gels, indicating that the repeated elements are tandemly arranged in the genome and therefore represent a sequence of satellite DNA. The degree of internal redundancy of the reiterated sequence is deemed negligible, since nt sequence analysis of a random set of cloned monomers has detected the presence of only a few direct repeats while inverted repeated motifs or any other internal substructures appear absent. The homologies found among cloned monomers are strikingly high, averaging 95%. The results suggest that the exceptional sequence homogeneity of this satellite DNA may be attributed either to some homogenizing mechanism or to evolutionary conserved trends.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Organization of repetitive DNA sequences in the genome of the echinoderm Holothuria tubulosa.

The abundance of repetitive DNA in the haploid sea cucumber genome has been determined by screening a Holothuria genomic DNA library for clones containing repeated sequences using reverse genome hybridization. Analysis by in situ plaque hybridization of a set of 1132 clones has revealed the presence of repetitive DNA sequences in about 38.1% of the clones screened. The distribution of the reiterated DNA has been further analyzed by restriction endonuclease digestion of seven randomly selected repetitive clones. The repeated sequences have a fairly uniform distribution of lengths with an average length value of 7.3 kb. Analysis of the measurements suggests that the repetitive sequences are interspersed among longer single copy sequences with an average spacing interval of about 47.3 kb indicating that the repetitive and single copy DNA in the Holothuria genome are arranged in a long-period interspersion pattern.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

[Gastric emptying of solids, acid secretion and tobacco in duodenal ulcer].

We study in a group of patients with endoscopically diagnosed duodenal ulcer (19; 17 males) and controls (11; 7 males) the gastric emptying of solids through scintigraphy and gastric acid secretion by standard tests. In the same way we investigated prospectively some clinical data, specially smoking habits. As a whole, patients with duodenal ulcer showed an emptying of solids slightly faster than controls (T 1/2-minutes-: 85.4 +/- 28.6 in patients with duodenal ulcer versus 116.9 +/- 46.5 in controls, p less than 0.03). However, most of our patients (15 of 19 or 79%) were found to have a normal emptying rate. No correlation was found between secretory outputs and gastric emptying. Smokers with duodenal ulcer had a faster emptying that non-smokers with duodenal ulcer (T 1/2 74.8 +/- 30.05 vs. 99.91 +/- 19.86; p = 0.05).

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Branhamella catarrhalis respiratory infections.

Branhamella catarrhalis is an aerobic Gram-negative diplococcus. It has been traditionally regarded as an oropharyngeal commensal and until recently was only identified as a pathogen in cases of bronchopulmonary infections. The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of the respiratory infections caused by B. catarrhalis and to know the antibiotic susceptibility of this microorganism. We retrospectively studied 32 lower respiratory tract infections, caused by B. catarrhalis (20 cases of bronchial infection and 12 cases of pneumonia), diagnosed between 1988-1989 in our hospital. All patients had an underlying disease; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic heart disease being the most frequent. The aetiological diagnostic procedures were: sputum culture in 28 cases (15 in pure culture and 13 mixed), protected specimen brush (PSB) in three cases and transthoracic needle aspiration (TNA) in one case. Twenty B. catarrhalis isolates were penicillin and ampicillin-resistant, 11 in the pneumonia group and 9 in the bronchial infection group. All isolates were sensitive to amoxycillin-clavulanic acid and second generation cephalosporin. In our group four patients died. We conclude that B. catarrhalis is a not infrequent cause of respiratory infection, particularly in COPD patients, and that the high incidence of antibiotic resistance to penicillin and ampicillin should be taken into account before considering an empirical antibiotic treatment.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

[Gammagraphy with labeled leukocytes as an activity and extension index of Crohn disease].

The knowledge of the location and extent of bowel involment and disease activity can be an important aspect on the evaluation of inflammatory bowel disease. Thirty five patients of Crohn's disease (CD) have been studied in this sense. We performed a total of 44 scintigraphic examinations using 99mTc-HMPAO labeled leukocytes and the results were compared with several clinical-biological indexes and with radiology and endoscopy. The Tc scan was the most sensitive (84.3%) and specific (100%) activity index and showed an excellent correlation with radiology and/or endoscopy in the assessment of extent of disease. Leukocyte scanning brought useful information for the management of stenosis in CD.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

[Gammagraphy with sucralfate labelled with technetium in esophagitis].

In previous studies it has been reported that, after being labeled with technetium, sucralfate, an useful drug in peptic diseases, can be used to detect peptic lesions of the digestive tract. In this work we report our experience with this technique in the diagnosis of esophagitis. 25 studies (11 controls and 14 patients) were undertaken. Sucralfate scintigraphy was normal in the 11 control studies, and abnormal in 10 out of 14 patients. Scintigraphy was abnormal in peptic as well as caustic lesions.

Adult↗