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Biomedical subjects

J Schenk

Publications and source records attributed to J Schenk.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Fechtner syndrome. A rare differential Alport syndrome diagnosis].

In this article, we report on a family in which five examined members showed clinical signs of Fechtner syndrome, a condition which consists of hearing loss (49%), macro-thrombocytopenia (100%), leukocyte inclusion bodies (100%), eye anomalies (54.3%), and nephritis (38.7%). Hearing loss in Fechtner syndrome appears to be sensorineural with the higher frequencies primarily affected. One aim of the present report was to work out the clinical appearance of hearing loss compared to hearing loss in Alport's syndrome. The most striking difference between hearing loss in Fechtner syndrome and that in Alport's syndrome was that the vast majority of hearing disorders in the latter occur in male patients, which is not the case in Fechtner syndrome. Hearing loss in Fechtner syndrome develops from the second decade of life and progresses slowly with several episodes of sudden deafness.

Adolescent↗

[Late onset of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia with recurrent arterial thromboses and amputation].

HISTORY: An 80-year-old woman had been hospitalized in a psychiatric clinic where, on the 22nd day, she sustained a fracture of the neck of the left femur, which was treated by internal screw fixation. The postoperative course was at first without complication. But 9 days postoperatively her platelet count had fallen to 59,000/microliter. As heparin induced type II thrombocytopenia (HIT II) was suspected, the thrombosis prophylaxis with low-molecular heparin was replaced by sodium danaparoid (twice 750 units subcutaneously). Despite this, ischaemia of the right lower leg developed and required amputation. On the following day the left lower leg and foot also became ischemic, where upon she was admitted to the author's hospital (37 days after her admission to the psychiatric clinic). ADMISSION FINDINGS: The patient was in a reduced general condition (body-mass index 19.5 kg/m2). She was disoriented as to place and time. Her blood pressure was 140/80 mmHg, her pulse irregular with a ventricular rate of 100/min. The skin below the middle of the left lower leg was cold and livid and the pedal pulses were not palpable. LABORATORY TESTS: Haemoglobin content was 9.7 g/dl, the white cell count 9,200/microliter, and platelet count 54,000/microliter. Electrolytes and creatinine were within normal limits. TREATMENT AND COURSE: Thrombendarterectomy was performed once via the left groin under danaparoid anticoagulation. There was no re-occlusion and the patient was able to walk again.--It was ascertained subsequently, she had already been given ordinary heparin in the psychiatric clinic for 20 days. Her platelet count of around 70,000/microliter returned to normal even though heparin administration was continued. CONCLUSION: A reduction in platelet count by more than half during heparin treatment suggests heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, in which case heparin should be discontinued at once. In high-risk patients adequate treatment should be initiated with other anticoagulants even before the occurrence of thromboembolism.

Aged↗

Development of a novel, N-terminal-proBNP (NT-proBNP) assay with a low detection limit.

A novel, highly sensitive and specific N-Terminal-proBNP (NT-proBNP) assay based on a sandwich format has been developed. The assay time is below 2 hours and no extraction process is needed. The calibration curve covers a NT-proBNP concentration range from 0 pmol/L up to 600 pmol/L. The analytical detection limit of the assay was estimated to be 2.7 pmol/L (3 SD). The intra-assay coefficient of variation is 5.7% (at 50 pmol/L) and 6.1% (at 250 pmol/L), while the inter-assay CVs are 15.8% (15 pmol/L) and 8.2% (250 pmol/L). There is no significant interference by bilirubin (up to 900 mumol/L), haemoglobin (up to 10 g/L), rheumatoid factors (up to 975 IU/mL), triglycerides (up to 20.5 mmol/L), biotin (up to 50 micrograms/L), digoxin (up to 100 micrograms/L) and digitoxin (up to 200 micrograms/L). The analyte NT-proBNP is fully stable in whole blood over 3 days and in EDTA-plasma over 24 hours. This good stability of NT-proBNP compared to other less stable natriuretic peptides is a significant advantage and a main prerequisite for a routine diagnostic marker. Preliminary results of using this new assay in clinical studies for diagnosing and monitoring left ventricular dysfunction demonstrate that there is a significant gain in diagnostic validity.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Integrated cardiovascular function in the conscious streptozotocin-diabetic deoxycorticosterone-acetate-hypertensive rats.

Blood pressure, heart rate, and left ventricular function were measured in conscious diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to 5 weeks of deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) treatment which was started 1 week following intravenous injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (60 mg/kg) to induce diabetes mellitus. It was found that chronic administration of DOCA in nondiabetic animals caused an increase in blood pressure and functional parameters of left ventricle, and a decrease in heart rate and plasma insulin levels. Normotensive diabetic rats exhibited hyperglycemia, hypoinsulinemia, and a lower body weight as compared with control animals but did not show significant abnormalities in cardiovascular function. DOCA-hypertensive STZ-diabetic rats had similar hyperglycemia, milder hypoinsulinemia, and a significantly lower rate of left ventricular relaxation and systolic blood pressure compared with the nondiabetic DOCA-hypertensive animals. It is concluded that the addition of DOCA hypertension to intact 6-week STZ-diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats results in the occurrence of cardiac dysfunction.

Animals↗

The pathogenesis of DOCA-salt hypertension.

Deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) is an agent commonly used to induce hypertension in experimental animals. This form of hypertension is dependent on altered regulation of central pressor mechanisms including the brain renin-angiotensin system. Additionally, there are characteristic changes involving the cardiovascular system and baroreflex responses. This review will discuss aspects of the pathogenesis of DOCA hypertension and the effect of various antihypertensive agents on the development of this form of hypertension.

Animals↗

Measurement of cardiac left ventricular pressure in conscious rats using a fluid-filled catheter.

A fluid-filled catheter consisting of 100 cm of PE50 polyethylene tubing welded to 7 cm of PE10 polyethylene tubing (PE50/PE10) was constructed for the purpose of measuring the rate of left ventricular pressure development (+dP/dt) in conscious, freely moving rats. Prior to in vivo experiments, four PE50/PE10 catheters were randomly selected, and their natural frequencies and damping ratios were determined using a square wave impact. The mean (n = 4), natural frequency of these catheters was shown to be 35.0 +/- 5.5 Hz, and the mean damping ratio was 0.83 +/- 0.10. Natural frequency plotted against increasing PE50 tubing length was shown to have a slope of -0.44 Hz/cm with a correlation coefficient of 0.99. The effect of the 7-cm PE10 tubing segment on the catheter damping ratio was also demonstrated. One of the four PE50/PE10 type catheters exhibited a damping ratio of 0.74 +/- 0.09. When the 7-cm PE10 tube was removed, the damping ratio was reduced to 0.31 +/- 0.04. Left ventricular +dP/dt obtained in conscious rats with a PE50/PE10 catheter (n = 7; 6300 +/- 300 mmHg/sec) was significantly less than the +dP/dt obtained using a 100-cm PE50 catheter (n = 6; 9400 +/- 400 mmHg/sec). The results of this study make it clear that the PE50/PE10 catheter is suitable for the measurement of left ventricular +dP/dt in the conscious rat, and that catheter design has a profound influence on both the catheter natural frequency and damping ratio.

Animals↗

Application of the chromogenic reaction to conventional silver staining, the Ag-NOR staining and the silver-intensified immunogold technique.

The principle of the chromogenic reaction and the transformation of "black and white" histochemical staining results or immunohistochemical signals to coloured microscopic images is described. The chromogenic reaction was optimized and is, so far, possible with either cyan-blue or magenta-red reaction products. The application of the chromogenic reaction to conventional silver stain was optimal in the Lendrum staining resulting in red or blue stained reticulin fibres. The Ag-NOR staining of the nucleolus organizing region (NOR) could be transformed by the same reaction to coloured reaction products as well as the silver-intensified immunogold technique in immunocytochemistry.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗

The safety and usefulness of buspirone as an anxiolytic drug in elderly versus young patients.

Buspirone, the prototype of the new azaspirodecanedione series of antianxiety drugs, was studied in over 6,000 patients in an open, multicenter trial to confirm its safety and usefulness for anxiety in a typical medical practice setting. Non-psychotic patients with clinically manifest anxiety that required anxiolytic drug therapy were enrolled to receive four weeks of treatment with a fixed dose of buspirone (15 mg/day). Patient data were analyzed according to age: the elderly group comprised 605 patients aged 65 years or older, and the younger group included 5,969 patients less than 65 years old. Both the elderly and younger patients achieved similar relief of anxiety within four weeks based on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale and global assessments of improvement. Most patients (80%) in both groups reported no side effects. Further, the side effect profile in the elderly differed little from that in the younger patients. Overall, the data indicate that buspirone may be administered to patients aged 65 years or older without any special adjustment in dose, does not cause unusual adverse age-related phenomena, and relieves moderate-to-severe symptoms of anxiety in elderly patients.

Adult↗

[Attitude to the disease model and self-help groups as predictors of participation in after care and of therapeutic outcome in alcoholic patients].

The study was conducted to determine the predictive value of attitudes towards the goals derived from the disease model of alcoholism (life-long acceptance of alcoholic status and endorsement of abstinence) as well as towards self-help groups. The criteria to be predicted were the intention to participate and actual participation in self-help groups as well as four indicators of therapeutic success. Only in cross-sectional analysis were significant correlations found. Longitudinally, there were no relevant relationships between the attitudes expressed by the patients at the end of inpatient treatment (t1) and subsequent participation in self-help groups or indicators of therapeutic success (t2: follow-up, 9 month after discharge). The discrepancy between cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis can be attributed to the fact that attitudes become increasingly less stable with time. This indicates that it is only possible to a limited extent to predict from the attitudes expressed during inpatient treatment how patients will actually behave in daily life outside the clinic. The consequences of these findings for therapy are discussed.

Adult↗

Colour development of immunogold-labelled antibodies for light microscopy.

We describe an improvement of the immunogold technique, which is based on the colour development of silver-intensified immunogold signals. This method (referred to as the coloured-SIG technique) was found to be as sensitive as the silver-intensified immunogold method and more sensitive (in two of the three tested systems) than immunoenzymatic procedures, such as the peroxidase/antiperoxidase technique or the avidin-biotin system. The coloured SIG-method results in either a magenta-red or a cyan-blue final reaction product. Therefore, this new improvement of the immunogold technique should be useful in double-staining methods, immunoblot methods and conventional immunostaining methods.

Antibodies↗

Extraversion, neuroticism, and sexual behavior: interrelationships in a sample of young men.

In his theory on sexuality and personality Eysenck proposed a positive correlation between extraversion and intensified sexual behavior and between neuroticism and problems in sexual behavior. An earlier study with married persons did not show any of these correlations. It was hypothesized that this connection exists only for unmarried persons who are not engaged in long-lasting relationships, because in the latter the quality of the relationship determines the sexual interaction. Within a sample of young unmarried men there was a positive correlation between extraversion and items in which the person described earlier sexual activity with more persons and in higher frequency. No correlation was found with neuroticism. There were also slight correlations with other personality and social attitude scales. Because of the correlation with an acting-out personality scale, the findings were interpreted from a social-psychological perspective. In our culture the young male is expected to take the initiative in sexual interaction which the extraverted young male can realize better than one who is introverted.

Acting Out↗

The serum selenium concentration of patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Serum selenium concentration was determined in 49 patients with acute myocardial infarction within 4 hours after the beginning of the symptoms. The mean serum selenium concentration of the patients was significantly lower than that of healthy controls (55 +/- 15 micrograms/l vs. 78 +/- 11 micrograms/l). Among the 49 patients with acute myocardial infarction 20 (41%) had serum selenium concentration below the 95% percentile of the healthy control group. It is concluded that the low serum selenium concentration was present in these patients before the acute event and was not a consequence of the myocardial infarction. No relationship was found in this study between the serum selenium concentration and the severity of myocardial infarction if the number of coronary vessels occluded is taken as the criterion of severity. Serum selenium concentration was similar in patients with 1 or more coronary vessels occluded. Patients with anterior or posterior myocardial infarction had similar serum selenium concentrations. A positive correlation was observed between serum selenium concentration and total serum creatine kinase (CK) activity and serum myoglobin (MB). The serum selenium concentration correlated negatively with the ratio CK-MB/total CK activity, which can be interpreted as minor injury of mitochondria during infarction in patients with normal serum selenium concentration.

Aged↗

[The effect of alcohol withdrawal syndrome on the self concept of alcoholics in the Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI) at admission and in the course of therapy].

Looking through the items of the FPI the hypothesis was proposed that the FPI determines aspects of the alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome. Greater deviations from standard norms found on admission and greater changes during inpatient treatment can be attributed to the occurrence of withdrawal symptoms and their improvement. Alcoholics without withdrawal symptoms seem to describe themselves quite normally on personality dimensions.

Adult↗

Personality traits versus the quality of the marital relationship as the determinant of marital sexuality.

The question of whether personality traits or the relationship among marital partners is more significant for the importance of sexuality and satisfaction in sexual interaction was examined. It was demonstrated that only interaction variables were significant, satisfying sexual relationships existing only in happy marriages. Correspondence between the partners was quite good for "satisfaction in sexual interaction," but there was no correlation for the importance sexuality had for both partners. The comparison between the two sexes additionally showed that for women sexuality was less important and satisfying compared to men. This relationship held during various stages of the marital relationship.

Adult↗

Investigations on common bile duct stones.

Common bile duct stones from 59 consecutive patients who underwent cholecystectomy more than 1 year before radiological detection of choledocholithiasis (group I) and from 31 consecutive patients with choledocholithiasis and gallbladder in situ (group II) were subjected to chemical analysis and compared with the composition of gallbladder stones from the same population (two consecutive biopsy and autopsy series, n = 343). In contrast to cholecystolithiasis, inorganic calcium salts were infrequent in choledocholithiasis while calcium bilirubinate and fatty acid calcium salts played an important role in the composition of common bile duct stones. This is of particular importance in terms of litholysis. With respect to stone pathogenesis, clinical and radiological data were analyzed, as was hepatic bile lipid composition. There was no significant difference in the lithogenic index (percent cholesterol saturation) in cholecystectomized and in non-cholecystectomized patients with choledocholithiasis. The most important cause of stone recurrence in the common duct after surgery was incrustation of unabsorbed suture material, which was the case in 30.5% of group-I patients.

Calcium↗