Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Ortega.
Report of 6 cases of parachute left atrio-ventricular valve, combined with complex malformations in 4. Age ranged from 24 hours to 9 years, five of them being less than 3 months old. Four girsl and two boys. All were examined post-mortem and two had angiography and chateterization. This series was compared with those described in the world literature.
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A Chinese family with hemoglobin H in the propositus has been reinvestigated. Although the original propositus is now deceased, a sister has the same hematological manifestations. Her hemoglobin, like that of the deceased sister, contains hemoglobins A, H, and Bart's. In addition, however, two minor components have been detected. These minor components appear to have abnormal alpha-chains and are also present in the maternal grandmother, the mother, a maternal aunt, and three other siblings but only in about one-tenth the amount. One of the minor components may be the same as Hb-Thai (25). The father has the characteristics of classical alpha-thalassemia. These results are discussed in relation to current concepts of alpha-thalassemia as they relate to "silent" and "classical" alpha-thalassemia and to possible multiple alpha-chain loci.
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Five newly discovered endemic foci for paragonimiasis in Colombia are described for the first time. The disease was diagnosed in 24 people from the Embera Indian communities located at the Colombian Pacific Coast and investigated in 1993-98. We also describe the clinical, epidemiological and treatment response aspects. In these foci an Aroapyrgus sp. snail different from A. colombiensis was found to be the first intermediate host, and the crab Hypolobocera emberarum nsp. the second intermediate host.
We describe a 39-year-old woman who suffered rupture of the left auricula as a result of a non-penetrating chest wound received in a traffic accident. Rupture of the heart chambers after trauma is not infrequent, but survival is extremely rare. The patient was released from care and has suffered no subsequent complications.
A method to determine the optimal replacement time for dye affinity adsorbents used in protein purification processes that are subjected to severe regeneration conditions has been developed. To demonstrate the utility of the method, an experimental fixed-bed decay model was employed to determine the optimum number of cycles for the adsorbent replacement. This number is a function of the column regeneration frequency and of the capital and operation costs. The implications of the results on the design and operation of dye-ligand chromatographic processes are discussed.
The serological HLA types (A, B, C and D loci) were studied in five different Indian groups in Colombia. The range of polymorphism was not very restricted in these groups, but there was significant genetic heterogeneity among the five populations in all the HLA loci. The gene frequency data, when converted into a kinship matrix and a two-dimensional eigen vector plot, showed a closer affinity between Bari and Yuko Indians, while Guane, Tunebo and Paez Indians were not only genetically different from the former but also well-differentiated from each other. It seems therefore from this study that geographical proximity may play a greater role than linguistic similarities in the genetic affinities of Colombian Amerindians.
INTRODUCTION: The treatment in the acute phase of seizures and status epilepticus is a neurological emergency situation. Aggressive treatment and resuscitation maneuvers against the seizure may be required to avoid progression towards status epilepticus, with the high risk for the patients outcome this involves. DEVELOPMENT: The use of rectal diazepam has supposed a great advance in the management of acute seizures. Intravenous sodium valproate has become available in these last years to control seizures and status epilepticus. Given at 20 mg/kg as single dose and with maintenance rate of 1 mg/kg/hour by intravenous infusion in 19 paediatric patients (1 day-7 years) status epilepticus was controlled in 58%, with reduction of status in 26%. Tolerance was good and there was no evidence of important adverse effects. CONCLUSION: In view of our experience, we present a new protocol for the treatment of seizures and status epilepticus in childhood.
Development and maintenance of an effective regional trauma care system mandates on-going assessment of those at risk, patterns of injury and types of resources available. It is known that a significantly higher injury and traumatic death rates exists for children in a rural environment, and there is also evidence to support improved outcomes for children treated at verified trauma centers. While many still rely on practice-based statistics, we postulated that population-based statistics are much more reflective as to what is actually happening and provide crucial information on how improvements can be achieved. To test this theory, we reviewed all pediatric traumatic deaths for children 18 years old and younger from Jan. 1, 1990 to Dec. 31, 1998 at the Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center at West Virginia University, a rural pediatric trauma center. We compared this data to trauma mortality within the center's 13 county primary region from the Office of Vital Statistics. Our research revealed that mortality from pediatric trauma is higher in rural environments than in urban environments, and that population-based statistics more accurately reflect the true impact of what is actually happening in any given region. Age appears to be an important factor in determining which children are transferred to the trauma center and this may represent a critical factor in outcome.