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Biomedical subjects

J Ortiz

Publications and source records attributed to J Ortiz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Total pelvic floor repair for the treatment of neuropathic fecal incontinence.

Long-term results of postanal repair are poor. Many patients with neuropathic incontinence have evidence of anterior pelvic floor weakness. A more comprehensive surgical repair has therefore been developed that involves postanal repair, anterior levatorplasty, and external sphincter plication. Primary total pelvic floor repair was performed in 22 women with neuropathic fecal incontinence. Fourteen patients who remained incontinent after conventional postanal repair underwent secondary anterior levatorplasty and external sphincter plication (two stages). Neither resting nor squeeze anal pressures were influenced by any of these procedures. However, pelvic floor descent at rest and straining was significantly decreased following primary total pelvic floor repair and secondary pelvic floor repair (p less than 0.05) but not by postanal repair. Complete continence for liquids, solids, and flatus was achieved in 41% of patients after primary total pelvic floor repair and in 14% after secondary anterior levatorplasty and external sphincter plication, but in only 4% after postanal repair. Only one patient after primary total pelvic floor repair and one after secondary anterior levatorplasty and external sphincter plication had persistent incontinence compared with 18 (38%) after postanal repair.

Anal Canal

Cation-induced aggregation and fusion of N-acyl-N-methyl-phosphatidylethanolamine vesicles.

Aggregation and fusion of unilamellar vesicles consisting of N-acyl-N-methylphosphatidylethanolamine were studied as a function of mono- and divalent cation concentrations. The aggregation reactions were irreversible processes, as demonstrated by changes in monovalent ion concentrations and by the addition of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to chelate divalent cations, suggesting the possibility of some cation-induced vesicle fusion. An increase in the NaCl ionic strength of the vesicle suspension solutions diminishes the threshold concentration for Li+ and K+ and increases that corresponding to Mn2+, Mg2+ and Ca2+. However NaCl concentrations above 300 mM yield smaller threshold values for the divalent cation-induced processes, probably due to the increased size of phospholipid vesicles as the ionic strength of the medium increases.

Cations

Post-Chernobyl accident radioactivity measurements in the Comunidad Autonoma de Valencia, Spain.

Increased atmospheric radioactivity after the accident in Chernobyl was first detected on air filters. Measurements were begun in Valencia on May 2, 1986, with the maximum activity being observed around May 3-4, 1986. As a consequence of this accident, annual campaigns of measurements on migrating birds (several species of aquatic birds and song-thrushes) were started. The data corresponding to the campaign immediately after the accident (1986/87) show a generalized contamination (approximately 50% of the measured specimens). Significant levels of 134Cs, 137Cs and 110Agm were found. It is important to note that 110Agm is only present in Aythya ferina. In the successive campaigns in 1988/89 and 1989/91 few samples were found to be contaminated and only 137Cs was identified. Strontium-90 was measured and identified in some specimens, mainly in their bones.

Accidents

Effects of monoamine uptake inhibitors on extracellular and platelet 5-hydroxytryptamine in rat blood: different effects of clomipramine and fluoxetine.

1. The concentration of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in rat platelet-free plasma increased significantly 30 min after a single i.p. injection (10 mg kg-1) of each of six inhibitors of the high-affinity 5-HT uptake (fluvoxamine, fluoxetine, alaproclate, paroxetine, sertraline and clomipramine). The increases ranged from 226% to 776% of control values. In contrast, imipramine, desipramine and femoxetine had no significant effect. The increase elicited by paroxetine was dependent on the dose (1, 5 and 10 mg kg-1) and returned to control values after 4 h. That observed after clomipramine was also transient and paralleled the plasma concentration of the drug (Spearman-rank correlation r = 0.43). 2. In vivo, the rat pulmonary vascular endothelium removed trace amounts (8.8 nmol in a bolus) of intravenously injected [14C]-5-HT. Paroxetine pretreatment (10 mg kg-1, 30 min before-hand) reduced this uptake by 73%. 3. Repeated fluoxetine treatments reduced rat whole blood 5-HT concentration (ca. -60% after daily 2 x 5 mg kg-1, i.p. during 14 days). However, plasma (extracellular) 5-HT was not increased. 4. Various repeated treatments with clomipramine (i.p. injections or osmotic minipumps, up to 30 mg kg-1 day-1), failed to decrease rat whole blood 5-HT concentrations. Platelet-free plasma 5-HT was also unchanged, even after treatments yielding plasma clomipramine levels 2.7 times higher than those that increased it acutely. 5. These results indicate that the extracellular pool of 5-HT in rat blood (measured in the platelet-free plasma) is physiologically under the control of high-affinity 5-HT uptake systems.The sustained 5-HT uptake inhibition does not result in an increase of 5-HT in platelet-free plasma, suggesting that adaptative mechanisms are triggered. The distinct long-term effects of the two antidepressants clomipramine and fluoxetine on rat whole blood 5-HT suggest a differential in vivo action on the rat 5-HT uptake.

Animals

[Gammagraphic findings in hepatic focal nodular hyperplasia].

Two cases, of focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) are presented which were detected by chance and in which the gammagraphic study was the only parameter which indicated the changes that occurred in the hyperplasia revealing a hypervascular mass, colloid capture and 99mTc-DISIDA retention in the later image. These liver masses are now seen more frequently given the wide use of echography and the gammagraphic studies could be useful in the orientation of their nature in a non aggressive manner.

Adult

Effects of the antidepressant drug tianeptine on plasma and platelet serotonin concentrations in the rat.

The antidepressant drug tianeptine increased rat plasma 5-hydroxyindoleacetic (5-HIAA) concentrations after single and repeated treatment for 14 days. This effect was not due to an increase in 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) synthesis, as measured by the accumulation of 5-hydroxytryptophan in plasma and brain. A concurrent decrease in platelet-free plasma 5-HT concentrations occurred after subchronic treatment. Tianeptine attenuated the large increase in 5-HT concentrations in platelet-free plasma elicited by the specific 5-HT uptake inhibitors citalopram and paroxetine. These data are compatible with the reported 5-HT uptake-enhancing activity of this antidepressant drug.

Animals

How reliable is measurement of the anorectal angle by videoproctography?

The anorectal angle can be determined either by constructing a straight line along the lower border of the rectum (Method A) or by using the central longitudinal axis of the lower rectum (Method B). We have used a computer program to derive the centroid of the rectum for Method B. The coefficients of variation for angles measured at rest, during maximum pelvic floor contraction, and during attempted defecation were 0.616, 0.351, and 0.358, respectively, compared with 0.993, 0.972, and 0.968 for Method B. The presence of a rectocele had no influence on the measurement of the anorectal angle in incontinence, but there was a significant difference in assessment of the angle between constipated patients (P less than 0.05) and controls (P less than 0.05). Posterior indentation of the rectum had no significant influence on measurement of the angle in any group. These data indicate that a computer-derived centroid is more reliable for measurement of angles, but a correction factor for anterior rectocele is needed in constipated patients and controls.

Anal Canal

[Therapeutic usefulness of antioxidant drugs in experimental intestinal reperfusion syndrome].

The intestinal reperfusion injury has been studied in Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200 g. Intestinal ischemia has been induced by clamping the Superior Mesenteric Artery (SMA) for 120 minutes. In order to parallel clinical situations, free radical scavengers (allopurinol [ALLO]) and superoxide-dismutase [SOD] were inoculated at a low perfusion rate through the femoral vein during the last 20 minutes of the ischemic period. Both drugs have decreased the mortality rate (from 70% in control group, to 40%) and the mean percentage of damaged intestine (30.89% vs. 23.84% and 24.70%). Histologically, ALLO was less effective than SOD (12.54 control; 8.40 SOD; 11.54 ALLO). The modification of glucose, SGOT, SGPT and LDH found in all the ischemic animals shows the hepatocellular injury induced by intestinal reperfusion.

Allopurinol

[Echocardiographic diagnosis of accessory leaflet of mitral valve].

The accessory mitral valve leaflet is a rare cardiac congenital anomaly usually associated to complex cardiac congenital malformations. It also represents a rare cause of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Its diagnosis has often been ignored by conventional diagnostic methods. This fact may represent a cause for relative surgical failure, when operations for cardiac complex anomalies are performed. Echodopplercardiography is the choice and more accurate method for its diagnosis. In our case, parasternal and apical long axis planes, allowed an unmistakable visualization of a parachute shape fibrous structure, with its concave surface turned up towards the aortic valve. Chordae tendinae proper to the anomalous accessory mitral valve tissue were connected to chordae or to papillary muscles of the mitral valve. A careful echodopplercardiographic study will allow us, not only to diagnose this malformation, as well as to differentiate it from other conditions like tumors, vegetations or other types of subaortic obstruction.

Child

Cardiac arrhythmias produced by bretylium in cats anesthetized with halothane.

Bretylium given by rapid intravenous injection into cats anesthetized solely with halothane precipitates severe and unusually long-lasting ventricular arrhythmias. They are observed 20-70 sec following doses of bretylium ranging from 0.8 mg/kg to 15 mg/kg and last for 60 sec to just over half an hour. Bretylium also manifests signs of sympathetic involvement since it raises blood pressure and heart rate just prior to the onset of arrhythmias. Propranolol pretreatment prevents bretylium arrhythmias. From these results and from those of other investigations, it is concluded that bretylium arrhythmias are mediated through the release of endogenous noradrenaline stored in adrenergic neurons of the heart. These results call attention to the arrhythmogenic potential of bretylium in the presence of halothane anesthesia.

Anesthesia