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Biomedical subjects

J Ritter

Publications and source records attributed to J Ritter.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Redesigned nursing practice: a case management model for critical care.

Changes within the health care system necessitate changes in nursing practice. Given the financial environment and the need to balance the cost/quality equation, case management will become increasingly important and has the potential to become the predominant care delivery system of the 1990s. This transition represents a tremendous opportunity for nursing. The CCM role offers many potential advantages and benefits for individual nurses and the profession as a whole. Nurses practicing as case managers have the opportunity to function in a highly professional, independent manner with a great deal of interdisciplinary collaboration. In addition to the challenges and satisfactions of the work itself, the nurse case manager may also enjoy a higher salary and more scheduling control and flexibility. The broader advantages of case management include its benefits to patients and institutions and its fit with current trends in the health care environment. Nurse case managers manage hospital systems to produce optimal clinical outcomes for patients in the shortest time using as few resources as possible. This approach to care delivery places nurses in a position to demonstrate the tremendous contribution they can make to achieving the institution's goal of delivering high-quality, cost-effective care. Thus, case management fits extremely well with current trends in health care financing and outcome measurement. The model described in this article illustrates one approach to implementing these important concepts in a critical care setting.

Clinical Protocols↗
PubMed1992

Treatment results of three consecutive German childhood AML trials: BFM-78, -83, and -87. AML-BFM-Group.

Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) represents a heterogenous group of leukemias in adults as well as in children. The BFM group initiated 3 consecutive studies on the treatment of this disease. Between December 1978 and April 1991, 543 children under the age of 17 years entered the 3 consecutive multicenter studies, AML-BFM-78 (n = 151), AML-BFM-83 (n = 182), and the still ongoing study AML-BFM-87 (n = 210). The treatment strategy of BFM-78 consisted of an eight week induction/-consolidation regimen employing 7 different drugs together with cranial irradiation, followed by continuous maintenance for two years. The main alteration in the second study BFM-83 was the addition of an intensive 8-day ADE induction course (cytosine arabinoside, daunorubicin, etoposide). In the ongoing trial BFM-87 two courses of HD-ARA-C and etoposide are given after consolidation. CR rates were 80% in trials I and II, and 78% in trial III. The probability of a 4.5-year event-free survival was 35%, SD 4% in study I; 49%, SD 4% in study II, and 45%, SD 4% in study III. The probability of a 4.5-year event-free interval (EFI) was increased from 45%, SD 5% in study I to 61%, SD 4% in study II, it is in the same range in study III (58%, SD 5%). Seven of 10 children which underwent bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in 1. CR are still in first CR after a maximum follow-up time of 3.5 yrs. In summary, the addition of HD-ARA-C together with etoposide given after induction/consolidation treatment did not further reduce the incidence of relapses in childhood AML. So far, the results of study BFM-87 are in the same range than those of study BFM-83.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Urinary excretion of the enantiomers of ifosfamide and its inactive metabolites in children.

The precondition for the antineoplastic effect of ifosfamide (ifo) is the oxidation of the oxazaphosphorine ring system, which contains a chiral centre at the phosphorous atom. This "ring oxidation" leads to the formation of alkylating mustard via several steps. A second metabolic pathway produces the cytostatically inactive metabolites 2- and 3-dechloroethyl-ifosfamide (2-d- and 3-d-ifo). The urinary excretion of the optical isomers of unmetabolised ifo and of 2- and 3-d-ifo, which represents the amount of ifo that has not been activated, was investigated by capillary gas chromatography for 18 treatment cycles in 14 children on various therapeutic schedules. The total cumulative excretion in 12 completely sampled cycles ranged from 27% to 50% of the ifo dose. Between 14% and 34% of the dose could be detected as ifo; 9% to 29%, as 3-d-ifo; and 2% to 8%, as 2-d-ifo. At 24 h after the end of therapy, excretion was nearly complete. Without exception, slightly more R-ifo (53%-61%) than S-ifo was excreted. S-2-d-ifo (50%-73%) was the main 2-d-metabolite. S-3-d-ifo (deriving from R-ifo) predominated in 6 of 14 children and R-3-d-ifo, in 8. Enantiomer-specific excretion increased after the end of infusion (up to 73% for R-ifo and 27% for S-ifo). We demonstrated stereospecific metabolism of ifo in children, with two different patterns of side-chain oxidation being observed. There was no evidence of important stereospecific ring oxidation in most children. A benefit should not be expected from the therapeutic application of pure enantiomers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Plasma viraemia as a marker of viral replication in HIV-infected individuals.

Two hundred and twenty-eight blood samples from 154 HIV-seropositive subjects were investigated for the presence of HIV in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and plasma (without prior ultracentrifugation or filtration), using normal PBMC as the target for replication. HIV was recovered from PBMC and plasma in 80.5 and 19.5% of the patients, respectively. Plasma viraemia was significantly associated with clinical manifestations of HIV infection, indicating that HIV replication increased as disease progressed. This was confirmed by the statistically significant correlations between plasma viraemia and low CD4 cell counts (P less than 0.01) and low anti-p24 antibody titers (P less than 0.01). On patient follow-up, detection of HIV in plasma was transient. p24 antigenaemia was only detected in 13.6% of cases and was also associated with advanced clinical stages of the disease. When HIV RNA detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was compared with plasma viraemia, HIV RNA was detected in plasma in all symptomatic cases and in 53.8% (seven out of 13) of asymptomatic patients [Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stages II and III], confirming that PCR was far more sensitive than plasma culture. These results indicate that cell-free virus production is associated with the clinical stage of HIV infection and may serve as a marker for disease progression. Detection of HIV RNA by PCR appears to be the most sensitive method to detect viraemia.

AIDS-Related Complex↗
PubMed1991

Local control and survival from the Cooperative Osteosarcoma Study Group studies of the German Society of Pediatric Oncology and the Vienna Bone Tumor Registry.

The use of aggressive chemotherapy undoubtedly has brought about a dramatic increase in the cure rate of osteosarcoma. The authors' investigations have increased the authors' knowledge of chemotherapy for osteosarcoma, the differential efficacy of currently used agents, and the pronounced schedule dependency and relative route independency of their efficiency. The authors were able to confirm the prognostic significance of tumor response after preoperative chemotherapy. Preoperative chemotherapy in itself has facilitated and promoted limb-salvage surgery. Also, more patients can be cured today by use of aggressive thoracic surgery in case of primary or secondary pulmonary metastases. The authors' efforts to steadily increase metastasis-free survival rates by intensifying chemotherapy in this series of studies, however, have been only moderately successful. Still, chemotherapy-related acute toxicity is considerable and increases with aggressiveness of treatment, and the manifestations of late toxicity may continue to increase with follow-up time. Future trials should be targeted toward exploration of the minimum indispensable amount of toxic treatment yielding comparable or even better results than those currently attainable.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Work redesign in high-intensity environments. ProACT for critical care.

Hospitals are becoming immense intensive care units despite a continuing shortage of critical care nurses. While there has been widespread application of work redesign concepts in nursing during the last several years, few projects involving critical care have been reported. The authors describe a comprehensive restructuring initiative in the critical care setting and focus on the administrative implications of this work.

Budgets↗
PubMed1991

[Diagnostic validity of imaging methods in the detection and observation of the progress of cases of invasive aspergillosis of the blood vessels of the lung].

Chest radiographs and thoracic computed tomograms (CT) of 21 patients with oncologic disease and vasoinvasive pulmonary aspergillosis (PA) were assessed and compared. CT findings were interpreted by comparison with histologic lung specimens of 28 lethal cases of PA. The analysis showed that in the early stages of infection findings suggestive of PA were only found in 29% of cases (n = 6) on conventional radiographs, whilst CT suggested the presence of PA in all cases (n = 21). In advanced stages, conventional radiographs suggested the presence of PA in 38% of cases (n = 8), which was not significantly different from that value for early disease. The comparison of CT with histopathologic findings allows their objective interpretation; such studies provide an improvement in both detection rate and characterization of CT changes in PA.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

[Colposcopy of the vulva].

A detailed colposcopy study of the cervix, vagina and vulva was conducted in 365 women referred for genital human papillomavirus (HPV) lesions, abnormal cervico-vaginal smear or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Valvuloscopic abnormalities, all biopsied, were found in 144 women, i.e. 40% of the population studied. Five types of vulvoscopic abnormalities are described: diffuse acidophilia (55% of abnormalities), acidophilic maculae (17%), micropapillae (20%), papulae (4%) and leucoparakeratosis (4%). Histological examination of the biopsy specimens obtained from 144 women with abnormal vulvoscopy showed 55 typical flat condylomas (38%), 50 probable flat condylomas (35%) and no signs of condyloma in 38 cases (27%). It also revealed the presence of four vulvar intraepithelial neoplasias (VIN) stages 2-3, all of them associated with typical or probable condyloma. Comparison between the 144 abnormal vulvoscopies and a series of 14 normal vulvoscopies made it possible to establish a significant correlation between the presence of valvuloscopic abnormalities and the finding of histological signs of typical or probable flat condyloma. The vulvoscopic images of subclinical vulvar HPV infection, but apart from papulae and, to a lesser extent, leucoparakeratosis, correlations between vulvoscopic and histological images were imprecise.

Acetates↗
PubMed1991

Comparison of HIV detection by virus isolation in lymphocyte cultures and molecular amplification of HIV DNA and RNA by PCR in offspring of seropositive mothers.

An early and accurate diagnosis of HIV infection is needed in the offspring of seropositive mothers. To this end, we have used two techniques for the direct detection of HIV in 12 newborns tested within 2 weeks after birth and 12 children. HIV isolation was carried out in lymphocyte cocultures and compared with detection of DNA and RNA sequences by molecular amplification using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In lymphocyte cocultures, HIV was isolated in 8 of 24 cases (33%), including 3 newborns, 3 symptomatic children, and 2 asymptomatic ones. HIV DNA was detected by PCR in twice as many cases, i.e., in 16/24 cases (66%), including 7/12 newborns, 4/4 symptomatic children, and 5/8 asymptomatic ones, 2 of whom became seronegative, HIV RNA was detected in 10 of 16 cases (60%) with detectable HIV DNA, including all of the cases who had a positive HIV isolation. Only children with clinical or biological signs of HIV infection were positive for HIV RNA. Furthermore, signs of HIV infection appeared within 6 months in three of the four newborns who were positive for HIV RNA at birth. These results indicate that HIV DNA detection by PCR is far more sensitive than HIV isolation in culture for the early diagnosis of HIV infection in offspring of seropositive mothers. HIV RNA detection appears to be a useful prognostic marker since it does correlate with disease progression and may serve as a clue for HIV replication in vivo.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1990

Effect of intraarterial versus intravenous cisplatin in addition to systemic doxorubicin, high-dose methotrexate, and ifosfamide on histologic tumor response in osteosarcoma (study COSS-86).

In osteosarcoma, intraarterial (IA) administration of systemic treatment has been advocated to improve local tumor response preparing for, or even obviating, definitive surgery. Because data from the literature did not unequivocally support the local superiority of IA infusion, a comparative study was started in 1986. Preoperative chemotherapy consisted of 45 mg/m2 of doxorubicin on days 1 and 2; 12 g/m2 of high-dose methotrexate on days 15 and 22; and 3 g/m2 of ifosfamide on days 29, 30, 50, and 51 followed on days 31 and 52 by intravenous (IV) versus IA tourniquet infusion of cisplatin (DDP). A strict randomization of patients was not feasible. A balanced distribution of risk factors was strived for by stratifying and allocating the appropriate patients centrally. The infusion time was prolonged from 1 to 5 hours in the IV group, and the DDP dose was reduced from 150 to 120 mg/m2 in both arms when intolerable ototoxicity became apparent. A multivariate analysis was performed to exclude a bias on the response rates from risk factor distribution and from modifications of DDP infusion time and dosage. The overall fraction of histologic good responders (greater than 90% necrosis) was not found to be different after IA versus IV treatment (34/50 [68%] vs. 41/59 [69%]). Intraarterial instead of IV use of DDP within an aggressive systemic treatment does not seem to improve the local tumor response.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Identification of two risk groups in childhood acute myelogenous leukemia after therapy intensification in study AML-BFM-83 as compared with study AML-BFM-78. AML-BFM Study Group.

The main difference between the two cooperative studies on therapy of childhood acute myelogenous leukemia AML-BFM-78 and AML-BFM-83 was the addition of an 8-day ADE (cytosine arabinoside, daunorubicin, etoposide) induction treatment in the second study. Due to this intensification, the relapse rate, but not the rate of induction failures, was reduced. The probability of a 6-year event-free survival increased from 38%, SD 4%, in study AML-BFM-78 to 49%, SD 4%, in study AML-BFM-83, P = .08. The improvement of the 6-year event-free interval (EFI) was significant in the second study (61%, SD 4%, versus 47%, SD 5%, P less than .05); it was restricted to the FAB types M1 through M4 (EFI: 67%, SD 5%, versus 45%, SD 5%, P less than .01). The difference in EFI seen in FAB M5 was not statistically significant (EFI: 40%, SD 10%, versus 63%, SD 11%, NS). According to the results of the second study, two different risk groups (low and high) could be identified by combinations of predominantly pretherapeutic parameters. The low risk group, comprising 37% of the patients who achieved complete remission, included the FAB types with granulocytic differentiation and specific additional features: FAB M1 with Auer rods, FAB M2 with white blood cell count of less than 20,000/microL, FAB M3 all patients, and FAB M4 with eosinophilia. The 6-year Kaplan-Meier estimation of EFI is 91%, SD 4%, compared with 42%, SD 6% in the high risk group. In future studies based on the AML-BFM-83 treatment, bone marrow transplantation in first remission should be mandatory only for children of the high risk group.

Adolescent↗