Biomedical subjects
John Reilly
Publications and source records attributed to John Reilly.
The SERPINE2 gene is associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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Using computed tomographic scanning to advance understanding of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a syndrome that encompasses a variety of pathologies and underlying mechanisms. Progress in understanding mechanisms, testing therapies, and identifying contributing genetic factors will be facilitated by the availability of techniques to characterize patients with respect to the nature and extent of both parenchymal and airway diseases. This review discusses the applicability of computed tomographic scan analysis to this problem. The current state of the field is briefly reviewed and future directions for the field are proposed.
Limitations of barium enema performed as an adjunct to incomplete colonoscopy.
PURPOSE: Colonoscopy is believed to be inadequate in 4 to 24 percent of procedures. Barium enema often is utilized to complete the examination. In radiology literature, a successful barium enema in this setting requires only that the cecum has been reached. In this study, completion barium enema was assessed for both completeness and quality of proximal visualization. METHODS: The charts of 16,216 patients undergoing colonoscopy at Saint Vincent Health Center from July 1995 to July 2003 were reviewed to identify patients who underwent barium enema within six months of an incomplete colonoscopy. Incomplete colonoscopies were audited for history of previous abdominal/pelvic surgery, level of colon attained, and apparent reasons for failure. Corresponding barium enema reports were evaluated in a similar fashion. RESULTS: In 485 patients (2.9 percent), colonoscopy was incomplete. One hundred eighteen patients underwent barium enema after incomplete colonoscopy. In these patients, sharp angulation (42 percent) or redundancy/looping (31 percent) most often limited endoscopy. Among the barium enema studies, 91 (77 percent) were technically adequate. Twenty-seven studies were suboptimal (poor preparation/intolerance = 7, redundancy = 6, poor filling = 6, stricture/narrowing = 6, severe diverticulosis = 2). Two patients demonstrated additional polyps. There was no correlation between reasons for endoscopic failure and inadequacy of barium enema. Completeness of barium enema was not affected by previous pelvic surgery. Immediate barium enema was no less complete than a delayed study. CONCLUSIONS: The reliability of barium enema after incomplete colonoscopy is less than previously reported.
Safety and efficacy of median sternotomy versus video-assisted thoracic surgery for lung volume reduction surgery.
BACKGROUND: The National Emphysema Treatment Trial, a randomized trial comparing lung volume reduction surgery with medical therapy for severe emphysema, included randomized and nonrandomized comparisons of the median sternotomy and video-assisted thoracoscopic approaches for lung volume reduction surgery. METHODS: Lung volume reduction surgery was performed by median sternotomy only at 8 centers and video-assisted thoracoscopy only at 3 centers; 6 centers randomized the approach to lung volume reduction surgery. Mortality, morbidity, functional status, and costs were assessed. RESULTS: In the nonrandomized comparison, 359 patients received lung volume reduction surgery by median sternotomy, and 152 patients received lung volume reduction surgery by video-assisted thoracoscopy. The 90-day mortality was 5.9% for median sternotomy and 4.6% for video-assisted thoracoscopy (P =.67). Overall mortality was 0.08 deaths per person-year for median sternotomy and 0.10 deaths per person-year for video-assisted thoracoscopy (video-assisted thoracoscopy-median sternotomy risk ratio, 1.18; P =.42). Complication rates were low and not statistically different for the 2 approaches. The median hospital length of stay was longer for median sternotomy than for video-assisted thoracoscopy (10 vs 9 days; P =.01). By 30 days after surgery, 70.5% of median sternotomy patients and 80.9% of video-assisted thoracoscopy patients were living independently (P =.02). Functional outcomes were similar for median sternotomy and video-assisted thoracoscopy at 12 and 24 months. Costs for the operation and the associated hospital stay and costs in the 6 months after surgery were both less for video-assisted thoracoscopy than for median sternotomy (P <.01 in both cases). Similar results were noted for the randomized comparison. CONCLUSIONS: Morbidity and mortality were comparable after lung volume reduction surgery by video-assisted thoracoscopy or median sternotomy, as were functional results. The video-assisted thoracoscopic approach to lung volume reduction surgery allowed earlier recovery at a lower cost than median sternotomy.
Measurement of health-related quality of life in the national emphysema treatment trial.
PURPOSES: To evaluate two generic and two disease-specific measures of health-related quality of life (QOL) using prerandomization data from the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT). METHOD: The analyses used data collected from the 1,218 subjects who were randomized in the NETT. Patients completed evaluations before and after completion of the prerandomization phase of the NETT pulmonary rehabilitation program. Using data obtained prior to participation in the rehabilitation program, QOL measures were evaluated against physiologic and functional criteria using correlational analysis. The physiologic criteria included estimates of emphysema severity based on FEV(1) and measures of Pao(2) obtained with the subject at rest and breathing room air. Functional measures included the 6-min walk distance (6MWD), maximum work, and hospitalizations in the prior 3 months. RESULTS: Correlation coefficients between QOL measures ranged from -0.31 to 0.70. In comparison to normative samples, scores on general QOL measures were low, suggesting that the NETT participants were quite ill. All QOL measures were modestly but significantly correlated with FEV(1), maximum work, and 6MWD. Patients who had stayed overnight in a hospital in the prior 3 months reported lower QOL on average than those who had not been hospitalized. There were significant improvements for all QOL measures following the rehabilitation program, and improvements in QOL were correlated with improvements in 6MWD. COMMENT: The disease-specific and general QOL measures used in the NETT were correlated. Analyses suggested that these measures improved significantly following the rehabilitation phase of the NETT.
Impact of normal-phase gradient elution in chiral chromatography: a novel, robust, efficient and rapid chiral screening procedure.
Novel normal-phase gradient systems have been employed for fast high-throughput chiral analyses of Discovery compounds in our research laboratories in Eli Lilly and Company. In this report, we describe an automated screening approach based on gradient elution, in order to achieve accurate enantiomeric excess determinations, and chiral separations when needed, in the shortest possible timeframe. Baseline resolution of enantiomers has been obtained for over 85% of the samples so tested. For the remaining cases, complete enantioseparation by isocratic optimisation is generally achieved in a single shot. This technique has been proven to be robust and is now standard operating procedure at our analytical research laboratories.
Can prescription of sip-feed supplements increase energy intake in hospitalised older people with medical problems?
A blinded randomised controlled trial of prescribed oral sip-feed supplements compared with routine hospital practice was undertaken in acute admissions to a geriatric medicine department. Patients were eligible for inclusion if they were admitted from home, were not obese (BMI>75th percentile), had no swallowing difficulties and were not deemed to be in the terminal stage of illness. On admission they were stratified by nutritional status (BMI<5th, >5th to <25th, >25th to <75th percentile) and randomised. The intervention group received 120 ml oral sip-feed supplement prescribed three times per d in the medicine prescription chart (22.5 g protein, 2260 kJ (540 kcal) energy/d) distributed at medication rounds for the duration of hospital stay. The control group received routine hospital care. Outcomes were patient compliance with supplement, total energy intake and nursing staff views of the method. Patients were randomised to receive supplements (n 186 of total n 381). Half had full compliance and three-quarters at least moderate compliance. Total energy intake was significantly increased, on average, in the intervention group (P=0.001). The proportion of patients meeting estimated minimum energy requirements was significantly increased (P=0.023), but was still <50 % for the sample of patients in the intervention group. The present study suggests this method is acceptable to patients and staff and improves total energy intake. However, the amount prescribed did not ensure minimum energy requirements were met in all cases.
Long-term efficacy of dynamic graciloplasty for fecal incontinence.
PURPOSE: Patients with end-stage fecal incontinence in whom all standard medical and surgical treatment has failed or is not expected to be effective can be treated by dynamic graciloplasty. The aim of this study was to review the long-term efficacy data. METHODS: Success was defined as a greater than 50 percent decrease in the frequency of incontinent episodes. Measured physiologic parameters included enema retention time and the difference in resting and squeezing pressures with and without stimulation. Measured quality-of-life parameters included the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 Health Status Questionnaire, a Fecal Incontinence TyPE Specification, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, the "state" portion of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Visual Analog Scale, which were administered at baseline and through follow-up. Independent monitors collected data as part of a multicenter trial for patients who underwent dynamic graciloplasty from May 1993 to November 1999. RESULTS: There were 129 patients entered in the study, 115 of whom met eligibility criteria and were included in the efficacy outcome analysis. Twenty-seven patients entered the study with a preexisting functioning stoma; the remaining 88 patients did not have a functioning stoma at the time of enrollment. Success was achieved in 62 percent of nonstoma patients at 12 months; these results were sustained at 18-month and 24-month follow-up assessments (55 and 56 percent, respectively). The success rate in the stoma patients increased from 37.5 percent (9 of 24 patients) at 12 months to 62 percent (13 of 21 patients) at 18 months and was 43 percent at 24 months (9 of 21 patients), which reflects the increased number of patients whose stomas were closed. Although the measured physiologic continence parameters generally improved, these changes did not correlate with continence outcome. The group of patients (stoma and nonstoma) who underwent dynamic graciloplasty showed statistically significant improvements in quality of life as measured by Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 physical function (P = 0.006) and social functioning (P = 0.02) assessment. CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic graciloplasty was successful in the majority of patients with end-stage fecal incontinence. This result was usually achieved by 12 months after surgery in patients who did not have stomas and by 18 months in patients who had stomas at the time of dynamic graciloplasty surgery. These various improvements conferred by dynamic graciloplasty persisted during the two-year follow-up.