Biomedical subjects
G Dickinson
Publications and source records attributed to G Dickinson.
Is emergency medicine a specialty?
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Effect of sodium polystyrene sulfonate on lithium bioavailability.
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of a single dose of sodium polystyrene sulfonate and sorbitol on lithium absorption. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, crossover. SETTING: University teaching hospital. TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS: Healthy volunteers. INTERVENTIONS: Subjects ingested 600 mg lithium carbonate on two occasions, with and without 30 g concomitant sodium polystyrene sulfonate. Blood samples were drawn up to 24 hours after ingestion and assayed for serum lithium concentration. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Compared with control, sodium polystyrene sulfonate and sorbitol reduced the area under the lithium serum concentration-time curve by 11.33%, reduced the mean observed peak serum lithium concentration 0.07 +/- 0.08 mmol/L, and delayed the time to the mean observed peak serum lithium concentration by 2.04 +/- 2.40 hours. CONCLUSION: Sodium polystyrene sulfonate and sorbitol may be used in patients immediately or shortly after ingestion of a significant acute overdose of lithium in situations in which hemodialysis cannot be instituted promptly.
Deposition of aerosolized pentamidine and failure of pneumocystis prophylaxis.
OBJECTIVE: To determine if outcome of Pneumocystis carinii prophylaxis is related to total lung dose of aerosolized pentamidine. SETTING: AIDS treatment centers at a VA and University Hospital. PATIENTS: Fifty-eight HIV-infected patients receiving P carinii prophylaxis with aerosolized pentamidine using a nebulizer (CIS-US AeroTech II) were followed up over a 90-week period. Treatment consisted of 60 to 90 mg every two weeks. MEASUREMENTS: In all patients, deposition of pentamidine aerosol was measured using a radioaerosol filter technique. Factors thought to be important in deposition, nebulizer output and breathing pattern were also measured. Six months later, repeated deposition studies were performed in 20 patients. Pentamidine dose to the lung was related to occurrence of P carinii pneumonia and correlated with nebulizer function and breathing parameters. Outcome was assessed in terms of pentamidine deposition and patient characteristics, including demographic, immunologic, physiologic, and medical variables. RESULTS: Ten patients (17.2 percent) had development of P carinii pneumonia. However, pentamidine deposited in the failures (8.18 +/- 4.74 mg) was no different than deposition in protected patients (6.39 +/- 3.07 mg, p = NS). Most of the variability in deposition was accounted for by variability in nebulizer output (r = 0.919, p less than 0.001). Deposition did not significantly correlate with any of the measured breathing parameters. Serial deposition measurements were not significantly different by paired analysis. The incidence of P carinii pneumonia did not correlate with any measured patient characteristic. CONCLUSIONS: Failure of aerosolized pentamidine prophylaxis is not related to total lung dose of pentamidine. Other factors such as inadequate microscopic deposition between alveoli, pentamidine clearance, or drug resistance may be important. In HIV-infected patients, interpatient variability in aerosol deposition can be reduced by reducing variability in nebulizer output rather than control of breathing pattern.
Asthma management preceding an emergency department visit.
BACKGROUND: The burden of illness from asthma in North America has not decreased despite advancements in understanding disease pathogenesis and improved pharmacotherapeutics. This study examined the adequacy of preventive measures applied to asthma. METHODS: Using a standardized self-administered questionnaire, 111 consecutive patients presenting to the emergency department because of asthma were surveyed about their "usual" level of disability from asthma, usual medications, self-management plans to deal with an asthma attack, and environmental control measures. RESULTS: Twenty-five percent of subjects suffered sleep disturbance more than 15 days per month, had work/school attendance affected more than 14 days per year, and previously visited an emergency department twice in the past year. Thirty-seven percent had no effective plans to deal with an attack and another 32% had plans that were never discussed with a physician. Although 78% reported that cigarette smoke aggravated their asthma, one third of these were exposed at home. CONCLUSIONS: For a significant proportion of adults requiring emergency health services for asthma, preexisting management was poor by current standards. We recommend that patients be screened by emergency physicians and those with identifiable inadequacies in usual care be referred to physicians with expertise in asthma management.
Hepatobiliary cryptosporidiosis and cytomegalovirus infection mimicking metastatic cancer to the liver.
A cholestatic syndrome caused by sclerosing cholangitis and papillary stenosis has been described in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and hepatobiliary cryptosporidiosis and cytomegalovirus infection. The case of a 41-year-old homosexual man with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome who presented with abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, and cholestasis is reported. A percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram showed that the extrahepatic and right-sided intrahepatic ducts were normal. Computerized tomography of the abdomen showed multiple hypodense lesions in the liver. Guided needle biopsies of several of these lesions showed severe confluent necrotizing pericholangitis with cytomegalovirus-infected cells. Numerous cryptosporidia were seen attached to biliary epithelium. The unique histopathologic and radiographic features of this case should be added to the spectrum of hepatobiliary manifestations of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
Annual reports.
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Self-directed and other-directed continuing education: a study of nurses' participation.
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