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Biomedical subjects

G M Deeb

Publications and source records attributed to G M Deeb.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Aortobronchial fistula 13 years following repair of aortic transection.

We describe a 56-year-old man with the new onset of hemoptysis, increasing in frequency and magnitude, initially diagnosed and treated as pulmonary embolism. Bronchoscopy, computed tomography, and thoracic aortography were performed twice before the diagnosis was made. Thirteen years previously, the patient underwent thoracic aortic interposition graft placement for aortic laceration as a result of a motor vehicle accident. The second aortogram demonstrated a small pseudoaneurysm at the expected proximal graft suture line. Aortobronchial fistula, a rare cause of hemoptysis, was diagnosed. The patient underwent successful resection of the graft and placement of a new dacron interposition graft. All cultures, including blood, sputum, and operative specimen cultures, were negative. The patient is alive and well 1 year following surgery.

Aneurysm, False↗

The bimodal expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in association with rat lung reimplantation and allograft rejection.

Lung transplantation has become a therapeutic option for a number of end-stage pulmonary disorders. Lung transplant recipients experience more complications due to acute and chronic allograft rejection as compared to recipients of other solid organs. We postulated that the generation of TNF-alpha plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of acute lung allograft rejection. To test our hypothesis, we used a RT1-incompatible rat lung allograft model and demonstrated the time course, cellular source(s), and major compartment(s) of TNF production during the course of lung allograft rejection. This model allowed for immunogenetic standardization and reproducibility of lung allograft rejection across disparate major histocompatibility barriers. TNF production was characterized at the whole animal, organ, cellular, and molecular levels, and was found to be compartmentalized and expressed in a bimodal fashion from the lung allograft during lung allograft reimplantation and maximal rejection. Lung allograft rejection was significantly attenuated in animals pretreated with neutralizing TNF antisera as compared to animals receiving control sera. These findings may provide interesting insight into the use of novel and specific therapeutic intervention(s) during periods of acute lung allograft rejection.

Animals↗

The role of intravascular ultrasound in acute traumatic aortic rupture.

Acute traumatic aortic rupture is a lethal injury and requires immediate diagnosis and surgical repair. The standard of diagnosis for aortic rupture is aortography. In patients in whom the angiographic findings of rupture are subtle or uncertain, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging of the descending aorta has been useful in confirming or excluding mural injury. However, because IVUS is unable to provide a complete and expeditious survey of the aorta and brachiocephalic arteries, the diagnosis of rupture will continue to rely on aortography or current generation computed tomography.

Acute Disease↗

Pheochromocytomas that do not accumulate metaiodobenzylguanidine: localization with PET and administration of FDG.

Many imaging methods can be used to detect pheochromocytoma, but some tumors are not detected with conventional modalities. To explore the possible usefulness of positron emission tomography (PET) after administration of 2-[fluorine-18]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) to localize pheochromocytoma in patients with false-negative scintigrams obtained after administration of metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), FDG was administered and PET was performed in two adult patients with pheochromocytomas that had never been localized despite administration of MIBG. In both patients, images were obtained dynamically for 50 minutes; then a limited truncal sequence was performed. PET enabled correct localization of the tumors. In patient 1, a tumor that had not been detected for 21 years was localized in the middle mediastinum; in patient 2, a pheochromocytoma was detected in the right adrenal gland. PET performed after administration of FDG may be useful for localization of pheochromocytomas that do not accumulate MIBG.

3-Iodobenzylguanidine↗

Expression of interleukin-6 in association with rat lung reimplantation and allograft rejection.

Organ transplantation has become a therapeutic option for the replacement of malfunctioning tissues and organs. Since the advent of the first combined heart-lung transplant in 1981, there has been a rapid growth in the popularity of lung transplantation for a number of end-stage pulmonary disorders. Interestingly, these lung transplant patients experience more complications of acute and chronic allograft rejection compared with recipients of other solid organs. These episodes of rejection are related to a complex series of events that depend on the interaction of many cells and soluble mediators leading to cellular and tissue injury. The histopathology of lung allograft rejection has been actively studied and is associated with the sequestration of activated mononuclear phagocytes, T and B lymphocytes. These cells secrete a number of soluble mediators, that is, cytokines, that participate in the evolution of the immune response via autocrine, paracrine, or endocrine mechanisms. The interaction of cytokines with their targets leads to cellular activation, proliferation, and differentiation. In this study, we postulated that interleukin-6 (IL-6) may have a central role in the pathogenesis of acute lung allograft rejection. To test this hypothesis, we employed an unmodified RT1-incompatible rat lung allograft model and assessed the time course and major tissue compartment(s) of IL-6 production during the evolution of lung allograft rejection. The expression and production of IL-6 during the pathogenesis of lung allograft rejection was measured at the whole-animal, organ, cellular, and molecular levels. The expression of IL-6 was found to be bimodal in character, initially related to the reimplantation response and finally to the maximal allograft rejection.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Diagnosis of unilateral mainstem bronchial obstruction following single-lung transplantation with routine spirometry.

Single-lung transplantation has become a treatment option for many patients with advanced pulmonary disease. Recent advances in surgical technique and refined immunosuppressive regimens have led to improvement in long-term outcomes, but postoperative complications, including airway disorders, remain problematic. Serial spirometry with flow-volume loops is sensitive in detecting early small-airway disease associated with lung allograft rejection or bronchiolitis obliterans, but its role in the diagnosis of large-airway disease in the posttransplantation setting has not been delineated. In this report, we describe a novel alteration in the configuration of the flow-volume loop in a patient who developed unilateral mainstem bronchial obstruction following single-lung transplantation for severe emphysema. Surveillance spirometry performed 6 weeks after transplantation demonstrated a new initial plateau in the maximal expiratory flow-volume curve suggestive of a variable intrathoracic airway obstruction. This unique aberration in the flow-volume curve sheds new insight into the physiologic abnormalities of spirometry in patients receiving lung transplants.

Acute Disease↗

Neutrophils are not necessary for ischemia-reperfusion lung injury.

The role of neutrophils (PMNs) in ischemia-reperfusion injury after lung transplantation is unclear. If PMNs are involved in ischemia-reperfusion injury in the intact rat, then PMNs should sequester in the injured lung and PMN-depleted rats should develop less injury. Group A rats were treated with a rabbit anti-rat PMN antibody causing profound neutropenia (less than 100 PMNs/microL) and group B with control serum (greater than 2,000 PMNs/microL). Rats were anesthetized and left lung ischemia was sustained for 90 or 180 minutes by clamping the bronchus and the pulmonary artery and vein. Lung injury was quantified by the accumulation of radiolabeled (125I) albumin in ischemic left and nonischemic right lungs (cpm per gram of lung/cpm per gram of blood). Ischemia caused significant lung injury (p less than 0.05) in both PMN-depleted (albumin leak index: 90 min, 0.208; 180 min, 0.218) and nondepleted (90 min, 0.222; 180 min, 0.241) animals compared with nonischemic controls (depleted: 90 min, 0.050; 180 min, 0.100; nondepleted: 90 min, 0.063; 180 min, 0.101); microscopy also demonstrated lung injury. The injury was not associated with PMN sequestration as shown by light microscopy. Thus, we conclude that PMNs are not necessary for ischemia-reperfusion injury and PMN-depletion does not attenuate ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Albumins↗

Clinical outcome of patients with advanced coronary artery disease after viability studies with positron emission tomography.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic significance of perfusion-metabolism imaging in patients undergoing positron emission tomography for myocardial viability assessment. BACKGROUND: Positron emission tomography using nitrogen-13 ammonia and 18fluorodeoxyglucose to assess myocardial blood flow and metabolism has been shown to predict improvement in wall motion after coronary artery revascularization. The prognostic implications of metabolic imaging in patients with advanced coronary artery disease have not been investigated. METHODS: Eighty-two patients with advanced coronary artery disease and impaired left ventricular function underwent positron emission tomographic imaging between August 1988 and March 1990 to assess myocardial viability before coronary artery revascularization. RESULTS: Forty patients underwent successful revascularization. Patients who exhibited evidence of metabolically compromised myocardium by positron emission tomography (decreased blood flow with preserved metabolism) who did not undergo subsequent revascularization were more likely to experience a myocardial infarction, death, cardiac arrest or late revascularization due to development of new symptoms than were the other patient groups (p less than 0.01). Concordantly decreased flow and metabolism in segments of previous infarction did not affect outcome in patients with or without subsequent revascularization. Those with a compromised myocardium who did undergo revascularization were more likely to experience an improvement in functional class than were patients with preoperative positron emission tomographic findings of concordant decrease in flow and metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: Positron emission tomographic myocardial viability imaging appears to identify patients at increased risk of having an adverse cardiac event or death. Patients with impaired left ventricular function and positron emission tomographic evidence for jeopardized myocardium appear to have the most benefit from a revascularization procedure.

Aged↗

Hemodynamics versus biopsy findings during cardiac transplant rejection.

Before the use of cyclosporine as the major component for immunosuppression after cardiac transplantation, rejection was accompanied by catastrophic hemodynamic decompensation. However, the hemodynamic changes that occur during rejection after cardiac transplantation in patients treated with cyclosporine have not been clearly described. Between July 1986 and October 1989, 89 adults underwent orthotopic heart transplantation at the University of Michigan Medical Center. All patients received triple-drug therapy immunosuppression consisting of steroids, cyclosporine, and azathioprine. Cardiac hemodynamics were measured and correlated with the histologic assessment of rejection. There have been ten deaths among these 89 patients for an overall survival of 89%. There were no deaths from rejection. One hundred fifty-three of the biopsy specimens were read as grade 0, 31 were grade 1, 75 were grade 2, 103 were grade 3, and 9 patients had grade 4 biopsy specimens. No hemodynamic differences were noted in patients with increasing grade of rejection. Five patients (5/9, 55%) with severe rejection (grade 4) had symptoms of congestive heart failure at the time of biopsy. These symptomatic grade 4 patients differed from asymptomatic grade 4 patients only in cardiac output (2.9 versus 5.2 L/min). Overall hemodynamic decompensation was not evident as rejection grade increased. Routine serial endomyocardial biopsies remain the procedure of choice in the diagnosis of rejection in the asymptomatic patient after cardiac transplantation as hemodynamics do not predict degree of rejection.

Adult↗

A randomized prospective comparison of MALG with OKT3 for rescue therapy of acute myocardial rejection.

A randomized prospective trial for rescue therapy from acute myocardial rejection was undertaken utilizing Minnesota antilymphoblastic globulin (n = 15) versus murine monoclonal anti-CD3 antibody therapy (OKT3) (n = 14). Patients included in the study had moderate rejection unresponsive to bolus high-dose steroid therapy, or moderate-to-severe rejection with hemodynamic instability. Analysis was performed using the t test and chi-square, significance was P less than 0.05. Patient age, sex, interval from transplant to treatment, and number of unresponsive patients vs. hemodynamically unstable patients were similar in both groups (P greater than 0.05). Initial resolution occurred in 9/15 MALG- vs. 14/14 OKT3-treated patients (P = 0.017). Secondary resolution following repeat treatment occurred in 5/6 remaining MALG patients, for a final resolution of 14/15 MALG vs. 14/14 OKT3 patients (P = NS). Rebound rejection was not significantly different (1/14 MALG vs. 4/13 OKT3). However, 7/14 OKT3-treated patients developed life-threatening infections (1 CMV pancreatitis, 2 CMV pneumonias, 1 systemic candidiasis, 3 CMV viremia) vs. 1/15 MALG-treated patients (CMV viremia) (P = 0.014). Death occurred in 4/14 OKT3- (infection) vs. 1/14 MALG- (rejection) treated patients (P = NS). There were no significant differences in the rate of resolution, rebound, infection, or outcome between unresponsive or hemodynamically unstable patients within either group. Although initial rescue is significantly better with OKT3, final resolution is the same in both groups. Since there was a significant incidence of life-threatening infections (7/14) leading to 4 deaths with OKT3 treatment, we recommend MALG for rescue therapy of refractory acute myocardial rejection if this immunosuppressive regimen is to be used.

Adult↗

Inhibition of cyclooxygenase metabolite production attenuates ischemia-reperfusion lung injury.

We investigated if cyclooxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid were involved in ischemia-reperfusion lung injury by determining if inhibition of their production attenuated the injury. Isolated rat lungs were perfused with physiologic salt solution osmotically stabilized with Ficoll until circulating blood elements were not detected in lung effluent. Ischemia was induced by stopping ventilation and perfusion for 90 min. Lung ventilation and perfusion were then resumed. Ischemia-reperfusion resulted in the production of prostacyclin and thromboxane assessed by lung effluent and tissue measurements of their respective stable metabolites, 6-keto-PGF1 alpha thromboxane B2 (TxB2). In contrast, prostaglandin F2 alpha did not increase. Ischemia-reperfusion also caused lung injury as assessed by increased lung 125I-BSA accumulation compared with nonischemic control lungs. Addition of the cyclooxygenase inhibitors, indomethacin, or flubiprofen to the lung perfusate before and after ischemia inhibited lung injury as well as the production of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha and TxB2. Addition of a thromboxane synthetase inhibitor (U 63557A) reduced lung injury as well as TxB2 formation without affecting the production of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha. The attenuation of lung injury was not explained by direct H2O2 removal by indomethacin, flubiprofen, or U 63557A because the concentrations of the inhibitors used in the isolated lung experiments did not remove exogenously added H2O2 from buffer in vitro. We conclude that cyclooxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid are involved in ischemia-reperfusion injury to isolated rat lungs.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha↗

Evidence for regional catecholamine uptake and storage sites in the transplanted human heart by positron emission tomography.

Positron emission tomography in combination with the newly introduced catecholamine analogue [11C]hydroxyephedrine ([11C]HED) enables the noninvasive delineation of sympathetic nerve terminals of the heart. To address the ongoing controversy over possible reinnervation of the human transplant, 5 healthy control subjects and 11 patients were studied after cardiac transplant by this imaging approach. Regional [11C]HED retention was compared to regional blood flow as assessed by rubidium-82. Transplant patients were divided into two groups. Group I had recent (less than 1 yr, 4.4 +/- 2.3 mo) surgery, while group II patients underwent cardiac transplantation more than 2 yr before imaging (3.5 +/- 1.3 yr). [11C]HED retention paralleled blood flow in normals, but was homogeneously reduced in group I. In contrast, group II patients revealed heterogeneous [11C]HED retention, with increased uptake in the proximal anterior and septal wall. Quantitative evaluation of [11C]HED retention revealed a 70% reduction in group I and 59% reduction in group II patients (P less than 0.001). In group II patients, [11C]HED retention reached 60% of normal in the proximal anterior wall. These data suggest the presence of neuronal tissue in the transplanted human heart, which may reflect regional sympathetic reinnervation.

Blood Pressure↗

Prolonged extracorporeal life support of pediatric and adolescent cardiac transplant patients.

Options for mechanical support of pediatric patients with severe heart failure who are awaiting transplantation or have undergone transplantation are limited. This report examines 3 patients placed on extracorporeal life support (ECLS) while awaiting transplantation and 3 patients who underwent transplantation and suffered subsequent heart failure due to rejection or postoperative myocardial dysfunction. The overall survival rate was 2 of 6. The 2 surviving patients had a failing transplanted heart. There were no survivors among the patients placed on ECLS as a bridge to transplantation. In each case a contraindication to transplantation developed before a donor heart could be obtained. The mean time of ECLS support was 147.5 hours (range, 70 to 370 hours). The ECLS circuit did not affect cyclosporin levels or antirejection therapy. Extracorporeal life support can be used to support pediatric cardiac transplant patients with biventricular failure due to acute rejection or postoperative dysfunction. Although the results have been discouraging, ECLS may still have a role as a bridge to transplantation. However, complications can develop during ECLS that may preclude transplantation.

Adolescent↗

Neutrophils are not necessary for induction of ischemia-reperfusion lung injury.

Ischemia-reperfusion lung injury limits lung transplantation. Neutrophil activation and/or xanthine oxidase-mediated purine degradation may cause toxic oxygen metabolite production and lung injury. We investigated whether circulating blood elements are involved in the pathogenesis of ischemia-reperfusion lung injury. Isolated rat lungs were perfused with physiological salt solution (PSS) stabilized with Ficoll until circulating blood elements were not detected in the lung effluent. Lungs were then rendered ischemic by stopping ventilation and perfusion for 45 min at room temperature. Lung injury occurred and was quantitated by the accumulation of 125I-bovine serum albumin into lung parenchyma and alveolar lavage fluid during reperfusion. Lung injury occurred, in the absence of circulating blood elements, when ischemic lungs were reperfused with PSS-Ficoll solution alone. Reperfusion with whole blood or PSS-Ficoll supplemented with human or rat neutrophils did not increase lung injury. Furthermore, during lung ischemia, the presence of neutrophils did not enhance injury. Experiments using PSS-albumin perfusate and quantitating lung injury by permeability-surface area product yielded similar results. Microvascular pressures were not different and could not account for the results. Toxic O2 metabolites were involved in the injury because addition of erythrocytes or catalase to the perfusate attenuated the injury. Thus reperfusion after lung ischemia causes injury that is dependent on a nonneutrophil source of toxic O2 metabolites.

Animals↗

Amrinone versus conventional therapy in pulmonary hypertensive patients awaiting cardiac transplantation.

Pulmonary hypertension is associated with an increased perioperative mortality for orthotopic heart transplantation. A transpulmonary gradient greater than 15 mm Hg or a pulmonary vascular resistance greater than 5 Woods units increases mortality secondary to right heart failure. This study compares amrinone with conventional therapy in 38 transplant candidates with pulmonary hypertension. All patients had elevated transpulmonary gradient, pulmonary vascular resistance, or both. Group 1 (n = 21) received prolonged continuous intravenous amrinone therapy, whereas group 2 (n = 16) received high-dose oral diuretics, digitalis, and captopril. Both groups 1 and 2 had decreased pulmonary hypertension, transpulmonary gradient, and pulmonary vascular resistance. However, amrinone was more effective, with a 86% response rate versus 63% response for conventional therapy. Survival awaiting transplantation was significantly higher in group 1 (20 of 22, 91%) than in group 2 (10 of 16, 63%). Although both groups 1 and 2 had significantly decreased pulmonary vascular resistance, only group 2 had significantly decreased systemic vascular resistance. Comparison of pulmonary vascular resistance after therapy showed that the response in group 1 (amrinone) was significantly lower than the response in group 2 (conventional therapy), suggesting that amrinone may function as a direct vasodilator of the pulmonary vasculature. There were no operative deaths or episodes of perioperative right heart failure in either group. Amrinone appears to be more effective and safe than conventional therapy in the treatment of prospective heart transplant candidates with pulmonary hypertension.

Adult↗