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Biomedical subjects

J Campbell

Publications and source records attributed to J Campbell.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Validation study of a computerized version of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities VA3.0 Osteoarthritis Index.

OBJECTIVE: To study the validity and feasibility of a computerized version of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index. METHODS: Thirty patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee completed both a paper and a computerized version of WOMAC in random order. The visual analog scaled version of WOMAC, VA3.0, was used. We studied criterion validity by comparing the paper and computerized versions. RESULTS: All patients completed the computerized version without undue difficulty. Criterion validity, based on aggregated subscale scores, was excellent: Pain, ICC = 0.89, Stiffness, ICC = 0.87, Physical Function, ICC = 0.95. CONCLUSION: The computerized version of WOMAC VA3.0 is a valid alternative to the paper version.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Catchment areas in general practice and their relation to size and quality of practice and deprivation: a descriptive study in one London borough.

OBJECTIVE: To relate the sizes of general practice catchment areas in one London borough to list size, deprivation payments, medical staffing, and locally and nationally recognised measures of quality. DESIGN: Study of general practice catchment area maps. SETTING: London borough of Lambeth. SUBJECTS: 60 out of the 71 general practices in Lambeth. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Practice catchment area size with corrections for numbers of doctors and patients. RESULTS: Catchment area size varied greatly between practices, showing an almost 150-fold difference between the largest and smallest practices. This size differential was even more marked when the size of the catchment area was corrected for the number of general practitioners in the practice, where a 300-fold difference was found. Substantial differences existed between practices in each of the four locally assigned quality bands. The weakest practices had catchment areas three times as large as those of the strongest practices. When corrected for medical staffing, the difference was eight times as great. A calculated measure of patient dispersion showed that the practice population of the strongest practices was four times as densely clustered as that of the weakest practices, whose patients were more widely geographically dispersed. CONCLUSIONS: Large variations exist in the size of catchment areas of inner city practices even when corrected for numbers of doctors and patients. These differences are associated with variations in quality of care.

Catchment Area, Health↗
PubMed1996

Excess males in preterm birth: interactions with gestational age, race, and multiple birth.

OBJECTIVE: To confirm an excess of males among preterm births and study its interaction with other risk factors to better understand its potential etiologic significance. METHODS: Fetal gender was analyzed in 1,781,960 white and 103,329 black singleton births, and in 37,429 white twin births using vital statistics data from the six New England states for 1977-1988. RESULTS: A 7.2% excess of males was found among white singleton preterm births. There was only a 2.8% excess among comparable blacks, a highly significant difference between the races (P < .001). The effect was roughly constant for 20-37 weeks' gestation. Being married increased the effect for white, but not black, women, and was also found among white fetal deaths. Among white twins, male excess in preterm births occurred only in 20-33 week's gestations. CONCLUSIONS: Male fetal gender is associated with singleton preterm birth, an effect most evident in white women, particularly if married. Among preterm white twins, there is also a male excess, limited to gestations under 34 weeks. The excess of males in selected groups suggests the existence of a mechanism of preterm birth influenced by fetal gender. Preterm births in blacks and in twin gestations greater than 33 weeks may be more often due to alternative mechanisms that are independent of fetal gender.

Female↗
PubMed1996

Chromosome abnormalities in primary endometrioid ovarian carcinoma.

Specific and recurrent chromosome abnormalities may occur in regions of the genome that are involved in the conversion of normal cells to those with tumorigenic potential. Ovarian cancer is the primary cause of death among patients with gynecologic malignancies. We performed cytogenetic analysis in a subgroup of epithelial ovarian tumors, the endometrioid tumors, which are histologically indistinguishable from endometrial carcinoma of the uterus. We studied 10 endometrioid tumors to determine the degree of cytogenetic similarity between these two carcinomas. Six of 10 endometrioid tumors showed a near-triploid modal number, and one had a tetraploid modal number. Eight of the 10 contained structural chromosome abnormalities, of which the most frequent were 1p-- (5 tumors), 6q-- (4 tumors), 19q+ (4 tumors), and chromosome 3 rearrangements (4 tumors). These cytogenetic results resemble those reported for papillary ovarian tumors and differ from those of endometrial carcinoma of the uterus. We conclude that despite the histologic similarities between the endometrioid and endometrial carcinomas, the genetic abnormalities in the genesis of these tumors differ significantly.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1996

Fine adjustments in thyroxine replacement and its effect on bone metabolism.

We studied 10 postmenopausal women with Hashimoto's hypothyroidism treated with varying doses of L-thyroxine replacement. Each patient received incremental doses of L-thyroxine sufficient to achieve subclinical hypothyroidism, euthyroidism, and subclinical hyperthyroidism as determined by normal total serum thyroxine levels (80-160 micrograms/L) and serum TSH concentrations greater than 3.5, 0.3-3.5, and less than 0.3 mU/L, respectively. Metabolic parameters of bone turnover (including serum bone Gla-protein, serum alkaline phosphatase, serum procollagen 1, and serum carboxytelopeptide) were assessed once steady state was achieved, and measurements were compared to 10 healthy controls matched for age and years since the menopause. Our findings suggest that overzealous thyroxine replacement producing subclinical hyperthyroidism may result in an increase in bone turnover as reflected by elevated serum carboxytelopeptide concentrations.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Rapid genetic diagnosis at 7-9 weeks gestation: diagnosis of sex, single gene defects and DNA fingerprint from coelomic samples.

Prenatal diagnosis (chorionic villus sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis) is performed at a relatively late stage of pregnancy (11-18 weeks). Such tests have significant disadvantages including increased risk of miscarriage and delay before results are known. Earlier prenatal diagnosis (< 11 weeks) has been discontinued because of the risk of fetal abnormalities. Recently fetal cells have been recovered from the coelomic cavity at 7-12 weeks gestation (coelocentesis). This study has established that highly sensitive fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can provide rapid (4-5 h), reliable and accurate multiple genetic diagnoses (sexing and single-gene diagnosis) from coelomic cells. As prenatal diagnosis has a significant risk of contamination, we have also shown that coelomic cells can be simultaneously DNA fingerprinted to determine that contamination has not occurred. This earlier method of prenatal diagnosis would be very valuable, as it may overcome some problems of later conventional prenatal diagnosis and allow reassurance/treatment to be undertaken at a much earlier stage. Successful application of these techniques may supersede alternative methods of prenatal diagnosis. Although these techniques appear very promising, extensive clinical trials must be undertaken to determine safety of coelocentesis, diagnostic reliability and accuracy in a clinical setting.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi genes encoding homologues of DNA-binding protein HU and ribosomal protein S20.

Linear DNA with covalently closed ends is the predominant form of DNA in the spirochaete Borrelia burgdorferi. All bacteria examined to date have small DNA-binding proteins related to the Escherichia coli IHF and HU proteins that appear to play roles in DNA compaction and replication, but such proteins had not been isolated from bacteria with linear genomes. We found a single gene in B. burgdorferi (named hbb) whose product (named Hbb) complements the defects for gamma DNA packaging found in E. coli strains mutant in the genes for IHF and HU. The sequence of the predicted B. burgdorferi protein is similar to those of HU and IHF-like proteins in other bacteria. The gene appears to be in an operon with the order rpsT-hbb-orfH, where the rpsT gene is a homologue of the E. coli gene encoding ribosomal protein S20 and the orfH gene encodes a protein of unknown function. This operon is located upstream of the previously identified B. burgdorferi rho homologue.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1996

Ultrasound-guided parathyroid aspiration to diagnose parathyroid adenomas.

AIM: To ascertain the accuracy of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration and parathyroid hormone assay in the identification of parathyroid adenomas. DESIGN: Case study. SETTING: Tertiary referral clinic. PATIENTS: 12 subjects, consisting of 10 female and two male patients, with documented primary hyperaparathyroidism. INTERVENTION: Ultrasonography of the parathyroid glands was performed using an Acuson XP 128 machine with a linear array 7.5 MHz multihertz probe. Following accurate localization of the parathyroid lesion, fine needle aspiration was performed using a 23 gauge needle, and parathyroid hormone assay was performed on the aspirate. Preoperative localization was compared with intra-operative findings. RESULTS: Ultrasound examination detected 10 out of a possible 12 parathyroid adenomas (83% sensitivity), while ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration only confirmed nine out of the 12 adenomas (75% sensitivity). CONCLUSIONS: While ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration may be simple and with minimal morbidity, it does not appear to provide any advantage over ultrasound examination alone for the localization of parathyroid adenomas. It has a potential role in defining the nature of ultrasonically localized nodules.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1996

Pharmacological treatment for antisocial personality disorder alcoholics: a preliminary study.

A short time ago, we reported that a subgroup of hospitalized alcoholic men with comorbid antisocial personality disorder (ASP) seemed to benefit significantly from antidepressant medication at the end of a 6-month period in a double-blind, random assignment, placebo-controlled study. In a reanalysis of those data, we divided the ASP alcoholic group (n = 29) into those who did (n = 15) and who did not (n = 14) also satisfy DSM-III-R criteria for an additional current mood and/or anxiety disorder and then compared the 6-month outcomes of these two smaller subgroups. Despite the small ns, the results for most drinking outcome measures indicated: (1) that ASP alcoholics with a current mood/anxiety disorder improved significantly more with pharmacological treatment, relative to placebo; and (2) that ASP alcoholics with no current mood/anxiety disorder failed to respond differentially to pharmacological treatment over the 6-month period. These findings suggest a possibly useful and inexpensive approach to the long-term management of a very difficult-to-treat subgroup of men substance abusers.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Persistent hepatitis and enterocolitis in germfree mice infected with Helicobacter hepaticus.

Helicobacter hepaticus has been associated with naturally occurring hepatitis in certain inbred strains of mice, and in A/JCr mice it has been linked to the development of hepatic adenomas and adenocarcinomas. H. hepaticus was orally inoculated into 30 axenic, outbred female mice, and the mice were studied longitudinally to fulfill Koch's postulates and to ascertain the pathogenic potential of the organism under defined germfree conditions. Ten cage contact mice were also housed in the same germfree isolator to study transmission patterns, and 10 germfree mice were maintained in separate isolators as controls. Mice serially euthanized from 3 weeks through 24 months postinoculation (p.i.) were surveyed by culture and PCR for H. hepaticus in liver and intestinal tissues. Tissues were analyzed for histopathological changes, and sera were assayed for the presence of immunoglobulin G antibody to H. hepaticus and changes in the liver enzyme alanine aminotransferase. Inoculated mice and cage contact mice were persistently infected with H. hepaticus as identified by culture and PCR, in both the intestine and, less frequently, the liver, for the duration of the 2-year study. Animals developed persistent chronic hepatitis, and in some animals enterocolitis was noted. Hepatocellular carcinoma was diagnosed in one H. hepaticus-infected mouse. The level of H. hepaticus serum antibody was highest in experimentally infected mice at 12 to 18 months p.i.; this corresponded in general to the time interval when the highest levels of alanine aminotransferase were recorded. Although cage contact mice became persistently infected with H. hepaticus, lesions were less severe and the levels of serological biomarkers utilized in the study were lower. The H. hepaticus-infected mouse will provide an ideal model to study putative bacterial virulence determinants and how they interact with the host to induce chronic inflammation and tumorigenesis.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

The micro-laserbot: an alternative method for frameless stereotactic localization.

An alternative method for frameless stereotactic localization which combines an articulating arm for spatial positioning with a three-dimensional laser beam localization technique will be presented. The moveable segments of the arm are counterbalanced, and allow it to smoothly glide to a given position. Micro-brakes in the arm joints permit rigid spatial fixation. The proximal end of the micro-laserbot attaches to the operating room table and the distal end, with the laser localizer apparatus, can be either free or attached to the operating microscope around the objective lens assembly. When attached to the surgical microscope, the laser light beams projected on the brain surface are seen while viewing the surgical field through the operating microscope. When used in this mode, the standard surgical microscope is converted into a stereotactic positional device, and the lasers guide the surgeon during the surgical dissection. Intersection of the laser beams indicate the spatial position of targets and volumes which are referenced and seen on the multi-modality computer imaging system. When not attached to the microscope, various other instruments can be affixed to the distal end of the micro-laserbot for stereotactic referencing.

Equipment Design↗
PubMed1996

Genetics.

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Genetic Diseases, Inborn↗