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Biomedical subjects

J Schiffer

Publications and source records attributed to J Schiffer.

63 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1972

Anterior interbody fuson for cervical osteomyelitis. Reversal of quadriplegia after evacuation of epidural spinal abscess.

Interbody fusion for stabilization of the cervical spine after osteomyelitic destruction of the body of C5 vertebra is reported in a patient with quadriplegia and sphincter disturbances secondary to an epidural abscess. The successful union of the bone graft along with complete neurological recovery after anterior decompression and evacuation of the epidural mass seem to justify the procedure.

Abscess↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Sports and health, view-point of a sociologist].

The expression "health" covers a wide physical, psychic and social range. The phenomenon "sport", in its cultural form, has evolved historically and is constantly changing. In the today's sport movement, we can see differences in age, sex, and social status related to the type of sport practised, the frequency and the motivation as well as its form of organization. The main inducement for practising sport is by friends. At the end of the article, the author points out that it is problematic to misuse sport for pedagogic aims or aims of preventive medicine, because in such cases, sport runs the risk to lose its initial objective which, originally, had no definite goal other than the experience itself. Moreover, it is irrational to believe that sport alone can cure civilization diseases both in the physical as well as in the psychic and social range.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Alterations of cyclic AMP in cerebral ischemia.

Cyclic AMP levels were measured in brains of 21 cats after occlusion of a middle cerebral artery by a transorbital approach. Brain samples for determination of cAMP by a protein binding radioassay were obtained from the ischemic and contralateral temporal lobes before sacrifice, 1, 3, and 24 hours after occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery. At 1 hour, no difference between the 2 sides was observed; a mean of 17.4 pmoles/mg protein was observed from the side of the occlusion and 18.9 pmoles/mg protein from the contralateral side. At 3 hours, a mean value of 8.9 pmoles/mg protein on the ischemic side and a level of 21.7 pmoles/mg protein on the contralateral side were observed. At 24 hours, the cAMP level on the ischemic side remained below the nonischemic side; the values obtained were 13.7 pmoles/mg protein compared to 27.9 pmoles/mg protein compared to 27.9 pmoles/mg protein. These changes in cAMP as early as 3 hours after the onset of ischemia, when such a lesion is reversible, may indicate that in initial step in the alteration of cellular metabolism following ischemia is due to membrane perturbation and altered production of this second messenger.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical determinants of long-term survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme.

Repeated reports of more than ten years postoperative survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GM) have appeared in the literature over the last decades. Authors have tried to identify the clinical, therapeutic and histological features determining long-term survival. We present two patients in whom, after radical removal of the tumor followed by conventional radiation, there has been no recurrence for at least ten years. The young age of the patients and the radical surgical approach were in accordance with previous reports of long-term survival. Nevertheless, one tumor originated from the thalamus, a location considered to be of unfavorable prognosis. We therefore further discuss the value of clinical signs as determinants in the prognosis of GM.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Meningiomas after radiotherapy for tinea capitis--still no history.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: To review the clinical, radiological and histological findings of 19 patients with radiation-induced intracranial meningiomas treated at our neurosurgical department between 1981 and 1996. METHOD: The records of 18 patients with intracranial meningiomas who underwent low-dose radiation for tinea capitis in childhood, and of one patient irradiated for pituitary adenoma, were analyzed in respect of the previously reported features of postradiation meningiomas. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients with low-dose radiation-induced meningiomas was 58 years and the mean shortest onset latency was 48 years. The male to female ratio was 1.1:1. Forty-seven percent of patients presented with mental changes and/or focal neurological signs, 21% with signs of increased intracranial pressure and 26% with seizures. Calvarial location of the meningiomas was found in 54% of patients and in one patient the tumor arose from the skull base. Multiple tumors were present in 15% of patients and 29% of the meningiomas displayed malignant features on histological examination. A significantly lower meningioma recurrence rate was found in our series compared to the recurrence rate in the reported series of postradiation meningiomas. Five patients had a history of a second neoplasm other than meningioma. CONCLUSION: Our series of low-dose radiation-induced meningiomas represents one of the largest of its kind in the English literature. The patients did not differ substantially in sex ratio, tumor localization, multiplicity and histological features from the previously reported postradiation meningioma patients, except for the significantly lower tumor recurrence rate. It would seem that over the next years we will be further witnessing the deleterious effects of low-dose radiation administered in childhood.

Adult↗