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Biomedical subjects

J Cox

Publications and source records attributed to J Cox.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Devastating diarrhoea caused by azathioprine: management difficulty in inflammatory bowel disease.

Azathioprine toxicity complicated the management of four patients with inflammatory bowel disease. All patients received the drug as adjunctive therapy to steroids when responses to the latter were poor. After a variable sensitising period the patients developed severe diarrhoea and abdominal pain and this was believed at first to be a manifestation of their underlying diseases but rechallenge with azathioprine reproduced the problem. During three episodes described emergency admission to hospital and resuscitation with intravenous fluids was required. The cases illustrate the difficulty clinicians have in recognising drug induced effects which mimic the underlying disease. When a patient suspects a reaction to azathioprine we believe any rechallenge should only be undertaken in the controlled hospital environment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Gallbladder and bile duct stones: percutaneous therapy with primary MTBE dissolution and mechanical methods.

The authors describe percutaneous treatment of gallbladder or bile duct stones in 18 patients who were poor surgical candidates or in whom conventional therapy failed. Dissolution was performed in most cases with methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) because of its potent dissolution properties; other solvents used included monooctanoin or chelating solutions. Gallbladder stones were eliminated in 11 of 13 patients (six of seven with dissolution alone, four of four with dissolution and basket extraction, one with basket removal alone). In five patients with stones in the common bile duct (n = 3), cystic duct remnant (n = 1), and intrahepatic bile ducts (n = 1), stones were eliminated with dissolution alone in two and with dissolution plus basket extraction in one. In two patients percutaneous therapy failed due to complications (vagal hypotension with bile peritonitis and transient respiratory arrest) that occurred during catheter placement. Preliminary results suggest that MTBE is effective for dissolution of many gallbladder stones and some bile duct stones. Noncholesterol solvents and adjuvant mechanical maneuvers are valuable adjuncts to achieve complete stone elimination.

Bile Duct Diseases↗
PubMed1987

[Lipid myopathy: a heterogenic familial case].

A case is reported of lipid storage myopathy in a 24-year-old patient and her family. In the patient and an aunt, muscle biopsy disclosed intrafibrillar lipid depositions, and electron microscopy revealed lipid vesicles in the sarcolemma border. In the father, no lipid depositions were observed but electron microscopy showed alterations to mitochondria compatible with a mitochondrial myopathy. In the patient muscular biochemistry revealed a major reduction in NADH oxydase activity and in the aunt a diminished level of carnitin compatible with carnitin deficiency. The heterogeneity of these lipidic myopathies is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Biomass recycle as a means to improve the energy efficiency of CELSS algal culture systems.

Algal cultures can be very rapid and efficient means to generate biomass and regenerate the atmosphere for closed environmental life support systems. However, as in the case of most higher plants, a significant fraction of the biomass produced by most algae cannot be directly converted to a useful food product by standard food technology procedures. This waste biomass will serve as an energy drain on the overall system unless it can be efficiently recycled without a significant loss of its energy content. We report experiments in which cultures of the algae Scenedesmus obliquus were grown in the light and at the expense of an added carbon source, which either replaced or supplemented the actinic light. As part of these experiments we tested hydrolyzed waste biomass from these same algae to determine whether the algae themselves could be made part of the biological recycling process. Results indicate that hydrolyzed algal (and plant) biomass can serve as carbon and energy sources for the growth of these algae, suggesting that the efficiency of the closed system could be significantly improved using this recycling process.

Biomass↗
PubMed1987

Plasmodium chabaudi: a rodent malaria model for in-vivo and in-vitro cytoadherence of malaria parasites in the absence of knobs.

The ability of Plasmodium chabaudi infected erythrocytes to bind to endothelial cells in vivo and to various murine cell lines in vitro is described. A procedure for the selective recovery of a sequestering subpopulation of schizont-infected erythrocytes from hepatic sinusoids of BALB/c mice, using a combination of body perfusion, trypsin treatment and Percoll density centrifugation was developed. The serial subinoculation of such a subpopulation was used to select for a clone of parasites (strain AJJ) with considerably better cytoadherent characteristics than the parent line (strain AJ). In contrast, it was demonstrated that another clone (PC7), showed no cytoadherence in vivo or in vitro. This study shows that parasite induced alterations occurred on the surface of erythrocytes infected with late developmental stages of P. chabaudi. The antigenicity of these molecules in the infected mouse was demonstrated using immune serum and affinity chromatography. Cytoadherence and surface antigenic changes in P. chabaudi schizont-infected erythrocytes were demonstrated in the absence of the submembranous 'knobs' associated with cytoadherence in P. falciparum.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

The manpower crisis facing radiation oncology.

Data from several sources document that the number of radiation oncologists being trained is substantially above the number projected as recently as 1983. This paper addresses the manpower crisis facing radiation oncology and includes information on the supply of and need for specialists, as well as possible courses of action given current circumstances.

Internship and Residency↗
PubMed1986

Equine pericardial xenograft in orthotopic position: early results.

Glutaraldehyde-preserved pericardium was used to close the pericardial sac after open heart surgery in 100 patients. The indication for implantation of a xenologous pericardial patch was always the lack of autologous pericardium to close the pericardial sac without significant tension. This was mainly due to previous use of an autologous pericardial patch or implant of an extracardiac conduit for the repair of congenital cardiac disease (n = 82) and reoperation after primarily open pericardium (n = 10). In this series with a mean follow-up of 3.1 months (range 1 to 12 months) no infection of the xenologous equine pericardial implant and no mediastinitis occurred. Even in cases of early reoperation (n = 6) for bleeding or tamponade there was no patch infection (implants left in situ). At medium-term reoperation in 3 cases, after a mean interval of 115 days, adhesions between the epicardium and the xenologous equine pericardial patch were graded mean 1 (blunt adhesions) on a scale of six (minimum = 0, maximum = 5). In another series of re-dos for coronary bypass surgery with pericardium primarily left open, the mean grade of adhesions formed in the anterior epicardial space was 2.7 (severe). The histology of explanted equine pericardium showed no new vessels and no in-dwelling organization. Although the follow-up is relatively short, this material appears to offer a valid non-adherent substitute to separate the posterior sternal surface and the cardiac cavities. Its application improves the safety at resternotomy.

Adult↗