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Biomedical subjects

J M Flexner

Publications and source records attributed to J M Flexner.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Gastric varices secondary to splenic vein occlusion: radiographic diagnosis and clinical significance.

The radiographic appearance and clinical significance of gastric varices in the absence of esophageal varices and secondary to splenic vein occlusion were studied. Eighteen patients were evaluated through medical records, angiography, and barium studies of the stomach and esophagus. The presence of splenic vein occlusion was determined by arteriography in 18 patients and its etiology confirmed by surgery in 17 patients. This condition should be suspected in patients with chronic abdominal pain, weight loss, and iron deficiency anemia who show fundal polypoid filling defects or prominent gastric folds on an upper GI series.

Adult↗

Lithium and granulocytopenia during induction therapy of acute myelogenous leukemia.

Twenty-seven patients receiving a standard cytosine arabinoside and daunorubicin regimen as induction of reinduction therapy of acute myelogenous leukemia were randomly assigned to receive lithium carbonate, 300 mg t.i.d., or no lithium. Treatment groups were comparable with respect to age and baseline granulocyte counts. All patients developed granulocyte nadirs below 100/cu mm. By actuarial analysis, the median duration of granulocytopenia, less than 1000/cu mm, was 16.0 days in the lithium group and 24.6 days in the no-lithium group, p = 0.013. The median duration of granulocytes less than 500/cu mm also favored the lithium group but only approached statistical significance: 14.0 days versus 20.5 days, p = 0.054. Lithium levels between 0.5 and 1.0 meq/liter were easily maintained in 11 of 12 patients receiving lithium, 300 mg t.i.d., and toxicity directly attributable to lithium was not observed. Despite the shortened duration of neutropenia, the incidence of infections and the rate of remission were not affected.

Agranulocytosis↗

Anatomical substages of stage III Hodgkin's disease: implications for staging, therapy, and experimental design.

Twenty-three patients with pathologic stage III Hodgkin's disease were classified with respect to the presence or absence of symptoms (III-A, III-B), the presence or absence of splenic involvement (IIIS+, IIIS-) and anatomic substage--the extent of disease within the abdomen (III1, III2). Stage III1 disease included disease limited to the upper abdomen, i.e., spleen, splenic node, celiac node, and/or portal node. All other more extensive disease was classified as stage III2. Symptoms and splenic involvement did not predict either disease-free survival or survival. However, 5 year actuarial disease-free survival was significantly better in III1 patients as compared to III2 patients (77% vs. 13%, p less than .001). Eight of nine stage III2 patients receiving total nodal radiotherapy alone relapsed. When considered along the previous studies of anatomic substage, these findings suggest that patients in stage III1 and III2 should receive different therapeutic approaches. Analysis of therapeutic results in stage III patients must consider anatomic substage.

Abdomen↗

Haemoglobin Vanderbilt (alpha2beta289Ser leads to Arg): a new haemoglobin with high oxygen affinity and compensatory erythrocytosis.

Haemolysates of family members from three generations, all of whom had polycythaemia, were analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at pH 8.8. Two closely spaced major bands were observed, one of which corresponded to Hb A and the other to a new mutant designated Hb Vanderbilt. Whole blood from a heterozygote for Hb Vanderbilt was analysed for oxygen affinity which was found to be much higher than that of normal subjects. Haemoglobin Vanderbilt was separated from Hb A using anion exchange chromatography. Cation exchange chromatography yielded a variant beta chain from which a mutant peptide was identified with a structure corresponding to residues beta83--89 with a Ser leads to Arg replacement at position 89. The oxygen affinity of 'stripped' haemolysates from the heterozygote was found to be much less sensitive to added organic phosphates than haemolysates from normal subjects. In while blood, the decreased sensitivity to 2,3-diphosphoglycerate results in an increased oxygen affinity, thus explaining the clinical observations of tissue hypoxia and compensatory polycythaemia.

Aged↗

Ultrastructural study of acute lymphocytic leukemia: comparison with immunologic studies.

Leukemic cells from 29 cases of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), studied for T and B cell markers by the use of sheep erythrocyte rosetting and surface immunoglobulin determinations, were examined by electron microscopy. The majority of patients (76%) were found to have non-T, non-B neoplasms composed predominantly of relatively small, inactive-appearing cells with frequent nuclear folds. T cell cases (21%) were associated with mediastinal masses and were predominantly composed of large, active-appearing cells with nuclear irregularity and little rough endoplasmic reticulum. One case of B cell origin was not morphologically distinct from the non-T, non-B cell cases.

Adolescent↗

Malignant lymphoma of peripheral T-lymphocyte origin: immunologic, pathologic, and clinical features in six patients.

In a continuing study of patients with lymphoproliferative diseases, six adult patients were encountered with a distinctive malignant lymphoma of peripheral T-lymphocyte origin. Cell suspensions from lymph nodes of these patients contained a pleomorphic, cytologically atypical population of lymphocytes, of which an average 58% marked as T cells in the E-rosette test. The average percent of surface immunoglobulin-bearing B cells in these suspensions was 6%; they were of polyclonal distribution. Lymph node biopsies revealed a malignant lymphoma with certain characteristic features of the organization of the infiltrate, the morphology of the lymphoid cells, and the nature of non-lymphoid cellular elements. The average age of the patients was 67 years; they presented with generalized lymphadenopathy, anorexia, and significant loss of weight. Four patients hd lung and/or pleural involvement by lymphoma at presentation. The immunologic, pathologic, and clinical features of these patients serve to characterize this recently recognized malignant lymphoma further.

Adult↗

Ultrastructural study of Reed-Sternberg cells. Comparison with transformed lymphocytes and histiocytes.

The ultrastructural features of Reed-Sternberg cells from 17 patients with Hodgkin's disease were compared with those of histiocytes and transformed lymphocytes in both benign and malignant conditions. Transformed lymphocytes and Reed-Sternberg cells appeared to have similar features, including large nuclei with dispersed chromatin, large nucleoli, and great numbers of cytoplasmic polyribosomes. Histiocytes contained abundant cytoplasmic lysosomal granules and microfilaments. These results are indicative of the origin of Reed-Sternberg cells from lymphocytes.

B-Lymphocytes↗