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Biomedical subjects

F Morell

Publications and source records attributed to F Morell.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Influences of pituitary-adrenal hormones on kindling.

The kindling process represents a progressively augmenting electrical and behavioral response to brain stimulation, that has been proposed as a model for the development of epileptogenesis. The first experiment examined the effects of hypophysectomy on the kindling process. The effects of hypophysectomy were found to be dependent on the number of days between hypophysectomy and the beginning of kindling. The kindling rate was slowed, compared to intact controls, when hypophysectomy was performed less than 2 weeks prior to the first kindling stimulation. However, if more than 4 weeks and passed since hypophysectomy, the kindling rate was faster than that of intact controls. The second experiment tested the influence of systemic administration of cortisone (10 mg/animal), upon kindling of control and hypophysectomized animals. Cortisone was found to reverse the kindling deficit of hypophysectomized animals at less than 2 weeks and to slow kindling of intact controls, but to have no effect on hypophysectomized animals at more than 4 weeks (at this dose). These results are interpreted as indicating that pituitary-adrenal hormones have profound influences on the kindling process, but it is unclear whether the influence is upon brain excitability or more directly upon modification of synaptic function.

Amygdala↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The results of the evaluation of 208 patients referred in the first 4 years to a lung transplantation program. The Lung Transplantation Group of Hospital Vall d'Hebron].

Retrospective analysis of the patients referred for possible lung transplants between 1990 and 1994. Between 1990 and 1994 the Lung Transplant Program at Hospital Vall d'Hebron received 208 referrals from all over Spain. The cases most often involved a combination of bronchiectasia and cystic fibrosis (29%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (25%) and pulmonary fibrosis (16.5%). Internationally established guidelines for lung transplantation were used to screen the cases and the results have been analyzed retrospectively. After first evaluating the report sent by the patient's pneumonologist, 100 patients (49%) were considered candidates for further hospital study. Of the 100, 53 (25%) were finally placed on an active waiting list. Twenty-seven (12.9%) of the 53 received transplants, 6 died while waiting, and the others remained on the waiting list on 31 December 1994. Mortality among the rejected patients between the first visit until the end of the study, excluding those who were not yet classified as serious cases and those who were terminally ill, was 36/123 (29%). Actuarial survival rates at 12 and 24 months for transplanted patients were 64 and 49%, respectively. After following the currently accepted screening methods, one in 4 patients referred for possible lung transplantation was finally given a place on the active waiting list. The series studied here is noteworthy for the relatively low number of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in comparison with other programs, although we expect the number to increase in the coming years.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mineralogical microanalysis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

A mineralogical analysis of lung tissue was conducted on 25 samples from patients who had been diagnosed as having idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at low magnification and energy-dispersive x-ray analysis (EDXA) was used. In all samples, the surface silicon/sulfur (Si/S) ratio was calculated. The Si/S ratio for 25 samples of normal lung and 6 samples of pneumoconiotic lung was also determined (upper limit of normal Si/S ratio = 0.3). The difference between the Si/S ratio in the group with IPF and group with normal lung tissue was significantly significant (p less than .007, Wilcoxon test). Six of 12 patients with a previous diagnosis of IPF and a Si/S ratio greater than 0.3 had an exposure history that could imply inhalation of silica/silicates, and the correct diagnosis for these patients is most probably pneumoconiosis. The silica/silicate deposits detected in patients with IPF, and who had a ratio and no past exposure to dusts, could be either a cause or an effect of the disease.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung transplants: results in Spain].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the outcome of lung transplantation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Spain. METHODS: In all COPD patients transplanted at four Spanish hospitals over a period of seven years, we studied actuarial survival rates retrospectively using the Kaplan Meier test in relation to demographic characteristics, type of transplant, underlying disease, lung function evolution in terms of forced vital capacity (FVC), maximum expiratory flow in 1 second (FEV1) and gasometric evolution (PaO2 and PaCO2). RESULTS: Seventy-four transplants were performed in COPD patients over a five-year period. Mean age was 47 +/- 7 years (26-61) and 77% of the patients were men. A diagnosis of emphysema was made in 58%, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency emphysema in 14% and chronic bronchitis in 28%. The likelihood of survival was 75% for the first year, 63% for two years and 41% for the third year. Lung function and blood gases improved significantly by the third month after transplantation: FVC was 1677 +/- 637 ml before transplantation and 2631 +/- 670 ml afterwards; FEV1 was 585 +/- 189 ml before transplantation and 2118 +/- 673 ml afterwards (p < 0.001). Double lung transplants achieved significantly greater improvement in function variables than did single-lung transplants (FVC 2843 +/- 681 ml and FEV1 2543 +/- 620 ml by the third month in DLT patients versus FVC 2402 +/- 587 ml and FEV1 1659 +/- 350 ml for SLT), with no significant differences in blood gases after the two types of transplant. Half the sing-lung transplant patients developed hyperinflation of the native lung and reached maximum lung function values, which tended to be lower than those for patients who did not experience this complication (FEV1 1638 +/- 349 ml versus 1930 +/- 307 ml, p = 0.051). CONCLUSIONS: First-year mortality in patients with COPD undergoing lung transplantation in Spain is similar to that described in the International Transplant Registry. We found no differences between double- and single-lung transplant patients. Functional change is good for both types of transplantation, although this aspect of outcome is significantly better when two lungs are transplanted.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Non immunological analytic data for the differential diagnosis between miliary tuberculosis (MTBC) and bird breeder's disease (BBD).

A group of 86 patients diagnosed as having MTBC were compared to a group of 25 patients with BBD on the basis of various blood values included in routine analysis (hemogram, leukocyte count and differential, blood electrolyte values, urea, creatinine, total proteins and proteinogram). After statistical evaluation of the results, we concluded that the finding of low values for hemoglobin, and red blood cell (RBC) count and hematocrit, alterations of leukocyte count and differential, hypoalbuminemia, and hyponatremia, in a patient with fever and a miliary chest X-ray pattern, supports the diagnosis of MTBC. On the other hand, normal values for the above parameters, together with hypergammaglobulinemia favors the diagnosis of BBD. Our data also demonstrated a 79% mortality rate in patients with MTBC and plasma urea levels of more than 55 mg/100 ml (p less than 0.001).

Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic↗