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Biomedical subjects

H Heimpel

Publications and source records attributed to H Heimpel.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Adjuvant intermittent chemoimmunotherapy for primary breast cancer: a prospective study with immunologic follow-up.

In an interdisciplinary prospective study 50 patients surgically treated for breast cancer were treated with six monthly courses of aggressive adjuvant chemotherapy (adriamycin and cyclophosphamide) and were randomized to receive either immunotherapy with levamisole or no additional therapy. Probability of disease-free survival for the whole group is 54.9% at 42 months. There was no noticeable difference in disease-free survival for either pre- and postmenopausal women or for patients treated with or without levamisole. The addition of levamisole had no effect on the depression of in vitro immunologic functions during chemotherapy.

Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity↗
PubMed1982

Impaired T-cell and NK-cell function in patients with preleukemia.

The responses to the T-cell mitogens Phythemagglutinin (PHA) and Concanavalin A (Con A) and the natural killer (NK) cell activity are tested in patients with preleukemia (PL). The results are compared with those of healthy controls. The PL patients show low responses to T-cell mitogens and low NK cell activities. It is discussed that the data are not of prognostic value in PL as to development of overt leukemia. However, the results suggest that PL impaired cell functions are not limited to erythropoiesis, granulopoiesis, and thrombopoiesis but are also found in the immune system.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Disseminated mycobacterial histiocytosis due to M. Fortuitum associated with helper T-lymphocyte immune deficiency.

Mycobacterial histiocytosis is a rare disease usually associated with haematological or immunological disorders. We report a fatal case caused by M. fortuitum infection showing the typical disseminated histiocytosis. Immunological investigations revealed impaired cellular immunity demonstrated by negative skin tests with different "recall-antigens", and in vitro an isolated defect of helper T-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood which in combination with hypergammaglobulinemia suggests a "lymphocyte and distribution syndrome".

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Infection prophylaxis in acute leukaemia patients: comparison of selective and total antimicrobial decontamination of the gastrointestinal tract.

In a retrospective study, total antimicrobial decontamination with strict reverse isolation (ITD) and selective decontamination without isolation (SD) were compared as means of preventing infection in patients with acute leukaemia. Thirty patients were treated with ITD and 34 patients with SD. The surveillance cultures indicated that aerobic gram-negative bacilli and yeast could be equally eliminated effectively in both the groups. The anaerobic flora was only minimally influenced by SD. The incidence of acquired infections was 1.17 per patient in group ITD as compared to 0.85 in group SD. In group ITD, acquired bacterial infections were mostly caused by gram-negative bacilli (63%) whereas in the group SD these microorganisms accounted only for 25% of the infections. In group SD the total number of fever days was significantly lower and the mean duration of pyrexial episodes was substantially shorter. The results indicate that SD is an effective and inexpensive method for preventing gram-negative infections and might be at least as effective as ITD.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1981

[Drug therapy for pain in cancer patients].

The treatment of chronic pain in cancer patients with analgesic drugs has been evaluated from the records of 70 hospital admissions. Frequently, dose, timing and mode of prescription did not correspond to the requirements for treating this condition, which are derived from pathophysiological and pharmacological consideration. The reported experience stresses the importance of principles in analgesic therapy for chronic cancer pain, in particular, regular and sufficient medication to relieve pain as well as anxious expectation of pain, and restraint from placebo medication.

Analgesics↗
PubMed1981

Risk factors for infections of the oropharynx and the respiratory tract in patients with acute leukemia.

The pathogenicity of microorganisms isolated by surveillance cultures, the neutrophil count in the peripheral blood, and the interaction of the two factors were analyzed as risk factors for infections of the oropharynx and the respiratory tract in patients with acute leukemia being treated in strict reverse isolation under antimicrobial modulation. A statistical method was developed for the identification of bacteria, the presence of which was correlated with an increased risk of infection. A significantly increased risk was found mainly for species of Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Proteus, and Pseudomonas. The degree of neutropenia was significantly correlated with the risk of infection, which was influenced by the microbiologic state of the oropharynx. Thus, patients with gram negative bacilli had significantly more days with infection at all levels of neutropenia than patients without gram-negative bacilli. These two risks factors were additive but did not potentiate each other.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1981

In vitro and in vivo studies on filter collected granulocytes.

The in vitro function of granulocytes collected by filtration leukapheresis after premedication of donors with dexamethasone was found to be normal. In vivo studies were performed in a 21-year-old woman who was transplanted with allogeneic bone marrow for severe aplastic anaemia. The patient received granulocyte transfusions for treatment of septicaemia during the transplantation period. On 11 consecutive days an average dose of 7.2 X 10(10) granulocytes/transplantation, the patient died from cardiac failure. Transfused granulocytes were found ante mortem in a pericardial effusion and post mortem in lungs, kidneys, liver and spleen. The data indicate that filter collected granulocytes function normally in the recipient and are clinically effective.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Granulocyte transfusions in acute leukaemia. Regeneration of granulopoiesis as determining factor of survival.

40 patients with acute leukaemia and severe granulocytopenia were treated with granulocyte transfusions for bacteriologically documented or clinically suspected septicaemia. The patients received an average of 5 transfusions each with 2.1 X 10(10) granulocytes per m2 body surface area per day. 26 patients showed clinical benefit from transfusion therapy as documented by the course of blood cultures, local lesions and fever. Only patients with regeneration of granulopoiesis had definite benefit from granulocyte transfusions. All other patients died ultimately from septicaemia.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1980

[Clinical results with a new intravenous immunoglobulin preparation (author's transl)].

A new immunoglobulin preparation (Sandoglobulin) was administered to 20 patients, a total of 49 infusions at a dose averaging 12.6 gamma-globulin per infusion. Twelve patients had congenital or acquired immunoglobulin deficiency, in come of them very severe. A In-vivo recovery, on the basis of an estimated plasma volume, averaged 85% of expected values. Half-life on repeat substitutions was over 20 days. There were no severe side-effects or changes in important biochemical values. In one woman with an antibody deficiency syndrome fever regularly developed after several infusions, but it always fell to normal spontaneously after several hours. In two women followed for some time, both with severe antibody-deficiency syndrome, there was a definite decrease in severity and frequency of pulmonary infections.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

The efficiency of strict reverse isolation and antimicrobial decontamination in remission induction therapy of acute leukemia.

The efficiency of strict reverse isolation and antimicrobial decontamination in remission induction therapy of acute leukemia was studied retrospectively in 47 patients who were treated with a standardized aggressive chemotherapy of daunorubicin and cytosine arabinoside. Twenty-two patients were treated in strict reverse isolation with antimicrobial decontamination and 25 patients in the open ward without any measures against infections. In the patients in isolation the incidence of new infections per patient was 0.77 compared to 1.42 in the control group. The rate of complete remissions was 77% in the patients in isolation vs. 56% in the control patients.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1980

Micromegakaryocytes in Human Bone Marrow.

Micromegakaryocytes (MMK) were defined morphologically by the cell area, nucleus form and cytoplasmic structure. Bone marrow smears of 7,156 patients were retrospectively analyzed. MMK were found most frequently and abundantly in acute non-lymphatic leukaemia, chronic myeloid leukaemia and pre-leukaemia. The presence of more than 10% MMK in the megakaryocyte population suggest a pre-leukaemic condition or non-lymphatic leukaemia. The platelet production of MMK is probably quantitatively normal although a functional defect is suspected.

Acute Disease↗