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Biomedical subjects

H Becher

Publications and source records attributed to H Becher.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Improved sensitivity of color Doppler by SH U 454.

SH U 454, a suspension of galactose microparticles, provides microbubbles (97% less than 7 microns) in variable, reproducible concentrations. Its influence on color Doppler imaging was evaluated in a flow model study and in a clinical study. In the flow model, increasing attenuation (up to 11.4 dB/MHz) impaired the signal to noise ratio and decreased the sensitivity for detecting flow velocities. Thus, flow signals were obtained with flow velocities greater than 3 cm/s (0.1 dB/MHz), greater than 9 cm/s (5.7 dB/MHz) and greater than 17 cm/s (11.4 dB/MHz). After injection of SH U 454 (200 mg/ml), velocities down to 3 cm/s were detected even with high attenuation (11.4 dB/MHz). Color Doppler imaging was performed before and after intravenous injection of 2 ml, 3 ml and 4 ml of SH U 454 (200 mg/ml) in 22 adult patients, and the maximal color-coded areas of diastolic blood flow were determined in the right atrium and ventricle. In 19 of 22 patients, the displayed color-coded areas increased after injection of SH U 454. The diastolic blood flow was imaged on 14 +/- 8% (mean +/- 1 standard deviation) of the cross-sectional area of the right ventricle (4-chamber view) without SH U 454, compared with 39 +/- 15% with 3 ml of SH U 454 (p less than 0.001). For the right atrium, the area displayed by color Doppler increased from 9 +/- 13 to 62 +/- 25% (p less than 0.001). The variability of the measurements from patient to patient after injection of SH U 454 was 5.9 +/- 4% as compared with 10.7 +/- 6.9% without SH U 454 (p less than 0.05). These findings indicate that the intravenous injection of SH U 454 increases the sensitivity of color Doppler imaging for detection of blood flow by improving the signal to noise ratio.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Dose and frequency effect in mouse skin tumor promotion.

In order to study the influence of both dose and application frequency of tumor-promoting agents on tumor development, we conducted a large-scale mouse skin two-stage carcinogenesis experiment. The back skins of 1110 CD-1 mice were painted once with 50 micrograms benzo(a)pyrene. These mice were divided into 24 groups according to subsequent schedules of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) treatment. Mice were treated with TPA at five different frequencies, i.e., daily, or every second, 4th, 8th, or 16th day, and six different TPA doses per application were used (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, or 3.2 micrograms), which allowed groups to be established with the same total dose of TPA applied per time unit. Six of the 30 frequency/dose combinations at extreme low or high frequency and dose were excluded. At each fixed frequency of TPA application, there was a good dose-response of TPA in mouse skin papilloma incidence. There was also a good application frequency-response relationship at fixed doses of TPA application. Within the set of groups in which animals received the same total dose of TPA per time unit, some variation was observed with respect to frequency of application. In general, TPA applications every 4th and 8th day tended to yield a small number of tumors.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene↗
PubMed1989

[Ambulatory sonography in clinical and general practice. Incidence and accuracy of findings and consequences].

In a prospective study an ultrasound examination was performed in 372 out-patients. 230 were examined in two physicians offices (group I) and 142 in a clinical ultrasound center (group II). The indication for ultrasound was different in both groups: 42% of patients in group I were examined without exact questions. Search for primary tumors or metastasis were more often indications in group II. More patients were found to have liver abnormalities and less biliary disease in group II. The impact of ultrasound findings on final diagnosis was not different. More diagnostic and therapeutic consequences resulted in group I, in particular in patients with cholelithiasis. A broad indication for sonography in the physicians office is justified given sufficient experience of the examiner. With respect to the consequences of the findings improvement is warranted.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗
PubMed1989

Lung cancer, smoking, and employment in foundries.

A case-referent study on lung cancer was conducted in Cracow, Poland. Men dying of lung cancer within a 6-year period (1980-1985) formed the case group. The reference series was selected from death registers and was frequency-matched with the cases by sex and age. Deaths due to other respiratory diseases were excluded. Information on the occupation, smoking habits, and residency of 901 cases and 875 referents was collected from their next-of-kin. The combined effect of smoking and industrial exposure, in particular employment in steel or iron foundries, was investigated by multivariate analyses and was very well fitted by a multiplicative model. Foundry employment, in particular in the younger age (less than 70 years) group, occupational exposure to known carcinogens in other industries for more than 20 years, and smoking were found to be risk factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Assessment of the severity of mitral valve insufficiency using color Doppler echocardiography].

UNLABELLED: To evaluate different methods for quantification, 55 adult patients with mitral insufficiency were investigated by Doppler color flow mapping (CFM). The maximal area, length and width of the regurgitant jet were determined using apical windows and these were then related to the angiographic findings (Sellers I-IV). In 11/55 patients reliable tracing of the regurgitant flow was not possible because of drop-outs and impaired signal-to-noise ratio. With none of the three systems was a reliable differentiation of moderate to severe forms of mitral incompetence possible because of wide overlapping of the CFM-values in the four angiographic classes. Relating the CFM-values to the diameter or area of the left atrium did not improve the correlations with the angiographic data. At best, the measurement of the maximal area allowed an approximate estimation of the degree of insufficiency: values greater than 6.5 cm2 were not found in patients with Sellers class I or II. Results below this limit could be found in all four angiographic classes. The variability for the estimation of the maximum area (linear regression analysis) was r = 0.96, SEE = 0.07 (intraobserver) and r = 0.94, SEE = 0.08 (interobserver). CONCLUSION: CFM is not a reliable method for classification of mitral regurgitation.

Blood Flow Velocity↗
PubMed1989

[Clinical and control studies of cancer of the lungs. Smoking and employment in metallurgy].

Deaths due to the lung cancer has been investigated among the Cracow inhabitants in years 1980-1985. The control group consisted of men died to other causes than diseases and neoplasms of the respiratory tract. Data on smoking habits and habitation place of the investigated and the control group were received from family members of subjects studied. It has been stated that relative risk of death due to the lung cancer in subjects working in metallurgical industry increases parallely to the time of work and the class of workers employed more than 30 years and in these groups the relative risk of death to above cancer was equal to 2.66 (95% PU 1.37-5.42). The relative risk associated with occupational exposure has also been significant in subject working more than 20 years in other industry branches. The cigarette smoking has been determined as most significant etiologic factor of the lung cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[Improving color Doppler echocardiography of the right heart chambers following intravenous injection of SHU 454].

The echocardiographic contrast agent SHU 454 provides microbubbles of defined size (median 3 micron) in a solution of galactose and is available in different reproducible concentrations. In 22 patients with suspected tricuspid regurgitation, color flow mapping (CFM) Doppler echocardiography was performed before and after intravenous injection of 2-4 ml SHU 454. Without SHU 454 the diastolic blood flow was imaged on 13.6 +/- 7.5% (mean value + standard deviation) of the cross sectional area of the right ventricle (four-chamber view) in comparison to 39.0 +/- 15.0% with SHU 454 (p less than 0.001). For the right atrium, the area analyzed by CFM increased from 9.4 +/- 12.9% to 62.4 +/- 25.3% (p less than 0.001). The interindividual variability of measurements after injection of SHU 454 was 5.9 +/- 4.0% as compared to 10.7 +/- 6.9% without SHU 454 (p less than 0.05). These findings demonstrate that intravenous SHU 454 administration increases the detection of blood flow by CFM within the right heart.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

[Cardiomyopathy in idiopathic hemochromatosis. Diagnostic possibilities using proton spin tomography].

In idiopathic hemochromatosis, there is progressive deposition of iron in parenchymatous organs owing to a defect in iron absorption the nature of which is not so far known. This can result in cardiomyopathy with heart failure and arrhythmia which are refractory to therapy. Nuclear magnetic resonance tomography is a specific imaging technique for early detection of myocardial iron deposits. With quantitative determination of the T2 relaxation time of the myocardium, a progress control under venesection therapy is possible above and beyond diagnostics.

Bradycardia↗
PubMed1987

[Heart surgery in acute bacterial endocarditis without preoperative heart catheterization. Long-term observation of 40 patients].

In 40 patients with acute bacterial endocarditis, the indication for cardiac valve replacement was established exclusively on the basis of the echocardiographic and clinical findings. The patients had an average age of 42 years and were under followup observation for an average of 2.2 years. The endocarditis involved the aortic valve 32 times, the mitral valve once, the tricuspid valve in two cases and the aortic and mitral valve together in five cases. In addition to the valve replacement, a ventricular septum defect and aneurysm of the ascending aorta had to be dealt with surgically in two cases each. The intraoperative and perioperative lethality was 2.5% (n = 1). The postoperative lethality was 12.5% (n = 5). In the surviving 34 patients, a recurrence of the endocarditis has not occurred up to now in any case. According to the NYHA classification, six of the surviving patients were to be classified as stage II and 28 as stage I, whereas stage III or IV had been present preoperatively in all cases. The postoperative echocardiographic investigation revealed a significant decrease of the left ventricular enddiastolic diameter (from 61 +/- 8 mm to 51 +/- 5 mm; P less than 0.001). In four cases, a slight insufficiency of the artificial valve could be detected. Reoperation was not necessary in any of these patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

[Cardiac MRT. Research technic and topographic anatomical imaging information].

ECG-triggered cardio-MRT, using T1-weighted SE sequences, provides images of the heart showing very high anatomical resolution. So far, however, it has not been possible to demonstrate the morphology of the valves and coronary vessels. By using multiplanar sections, it is possible to obtain cuts which are perpendicular to the portion of myocardium or valve under consideration. This provides optimal imaging for morphological diagnosis and for evaluating the ventricular myocardium and its function.

Coronary Vessels↗
PubMed1987

Promotion of skin tumours by TPA in the progeny of mice exposed pre-natally to DMBA.

Pregnant SHR mice were treated once with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) on day 17-19 of gestation, and F1 and F2 descendants received multiple skin applications of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) twice a week for 24 weeks beginning at 12 weeks of age. Post-natal promoter treatment resulted in a high incidence of skin tumours in F1 and F2 mice (37.3 and 19.7%, respectively), whereas only 6.6% of control animals treated with TPA only developed skin tumours. DMBA was shown previously to be capable of initiating skin carcinogenesis transplacentally; however, our results on the second generation provide suggestive evidence of hereditary transmission of at least part of the initiating action of this carcinogen.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene↗
PubMed1987

[Evaluation of aortic valve insufficiency using color Doppler echocardiography].

UNLABELLED: Colour flow mapping Doppler echocardiography is a new, noninvasive method for studying the direction and velocity of blood flow within the cardiac chambers. In order to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of this method in the evaluation of aortic regurgitation, 44 patients were examined consecutively. In 24 patients, aortic valve incompetence was proven by angiography; in 20 patients aortography revealed no regurgitation. Quantification of the severity of aortic insufficiency was performed by grading the amount of colour of the regurgitant flow (grade I-IV) and comparing it with the angiographic data. In 43 out of 44 patients diagnostic images could be obtained with colour flow mapping Doppler echocardiography. With this method aortic insufficiency was detected in all cases (sensitivity 100%). The specificity was 97% (one false positive diagnosis). For quantification of the severity of regurgitation agreement with the angiographic findings was obtained in 18 out of 24 cases. In the remaining 6 patients the difference was one grade. CONCLUSION: Colour flow mapping Doppler echocardiography is an important advance in the noninvasive preoperative diagnostics of aortic incompetence.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

[Fungal endocarditis of the tricuspid valve in Crohn disease].

In a 59-year-old patient with Crohn's disease, tricuspid valve endocarditis caused by candida albicans was observed. Prior to fungal endocarditis a treatment with prednisone and azathioprine was performed. The patient had severe embolic pneumonia with abscesses. Following the echocardiographic examination, the infected valve was replaced by a Hancock bioprosthesis. Despite high dose antifungal chemotherapy the patient died. Septic disorders in patients with Crohn's disease, who are treated with prednisone and azathioprine, can be caused by fungal endocarditis and should be investigated by echocardiography.

Candidiasis↗
PubMed1986

[Comparison between i.a. DSA and cineangiography for evaluating the coronary arteries and the left ventricle].

In twenty-two patients with coronary heart disease, selective coronary angiography and laevo-cardiography were carried out by means of conventional cine angiography and intra-arterial DSA. For evaluating left ventricular function, intra-arterial DSA and cine angiography were of equal value (r = 0.97). A significant advantage of DSA was the fact that it is easily reproducible. On the other hand, DSA is less good for quantifying coronary stenoses and for demonstrating the peripheral vessels.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

[Differential analysis of ventricular contraction using digital subtraction angiography].

One hundred and thirty-six patients with various cardiac abnormalities that had been diagnosed by standard methods, were examined by I-V DSA; images of the left and right ventricles during a representative cardiac cycle were submitted to amplitude and phase analysis, using a Fourier transformation. Temporal differentiation of ventricular function was derived from the best available right anterior oblique projection; the amplitude of cardiac movement of abnormal areas in the myocardium were obtained from a grey scale or colour coding at a fixed point. Comparison with a control group of 35 individuals showed the following pathological findings: hypokinetic segments (33 cases) showed delay, dyskinesias (20 cases) showed complete separation of maximal phases, frequently with a double peak in the phase histogram; disturbances of cardiac rhythm (14 cases) showed atypical localisation of initiation of contraction: in Wolfe-Parkinson-White syndrome this is basal-anterior, in left bundle branch block and VVI stimulation it is apical inferior; in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (eight cases) it is postero-basal inferior with high, narrow peaks on the phase histogram. Differential phase analysis on I-V DSA enables one to define cardiac contraction in a simple manner.

Angiography↗