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Jonathan Love

Publications and source records attributed to Jonathan Love.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

The role of ciprofloxacin in prolonging polyethylene biliary stent patency: a multicenter, double-blinded effectiveness study.

Plastic stents are the mainstay of the palliation of malignant jaundice but are complicated by recurrent obstruction. Previous trials have failed to demonstrate any improvement in patency with the use of antibiotics. Patients with malignant jaundice were randomized in a double-blind fashion, after polyethylene stent insertion, to receive ciprofloxacin or placebo. After successful stent decompression, there were 50 patients in the treatment arm and 44 in the placebo. There were 14 (33%) episodes of stent occlusion in the ciprofloxacin group versus 23 (49%) in placebo (chi(2) test, P=0.115). There was no significant difference in patency (log-rank test, P=0.17). There were significantly fewer episodes of cholangitis with ciprofloxacin: 10 (23%) versus 21 (42%) in the placebo (P=0.047). The ciprofloxacin group also demonstrated a significant improvement in the Social Function domain of the SF-36 Quality of Life Survey at 1 month (paired T test, P=0.03). The other domains of the SF-36 were not different, nor was survival (log rank, P=0.80). There is insufficient evidence to show that prophylactic ciprofloxacin can prolong plastic biliary stent patency. The observed trends suggest that ciprofloxacin significantly decreases the incidence of cholangitis and results in improvements in certain aspects of quality of life.

Adult↗

Endoscopic sphincterotomy by using pure-cut electrosurgical current and the risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis: a prospective randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that the use of pure-cut electrosurgical current for endoscopic sphincterotomy may reduce the risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis. The aim of this study was to determine whether pure-cut current reduces the risk of pancreatitis compared with blend current. METHODS: Patients were randomly assigned to undergo sphincterotomy over a non-conductive guidewire with 30 W/sec pure-cut current or 30 W/sec blend-2 current by a blinded endoscopist. Serum amylase and lipase levels were determined 1 day before and within 24 hours after ERCP. Post-ERCP pancreatitis was the primary outcome of interest. Secondary outcomes were as follows: severity of immediate bleeding, as graded by a 3-point scale from 1 (no bleeding) to 3 (injection or balloon tamponade therapy required to stop bleeding) and evidence of delayed bleeding 24 hours after ERCP. Analyses were performed in intention-to-treat fashion. RESULTS: A total of 246 patients were randomized (116 pure-cut current, 130 blend current). There were no differences in baseline characteristics between the groups. The overall frequency of post-ERCP pancreatitis was 6.9%, with no significant difference in frequency between treatment arms (pure cut, 7.8% vs. blend, 6.1%; p = 0.62). The difference in rates of pancreatitis between the two groups was 1.7%: 95% CI[-4.8%, 8.2%]. Six patients (2.4%) had delayed bleeding after ERCP, of which two required transfusion. There was a significant increase in minor bleeding episodes (grade 2) in the pure-cut group (p < 0.0001). Delayed episodes of bleeding were equal (n = 3) in each arm. CONCLUSIONS: The type of current used when performing endoscopic sphincterotomy does not appear to alter the risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis. The selection of electrosurgical current for biliary endoscopic sphincterotomy should be based on endoscopist preference.

Adult↗

Varying time delay Smith predictor process controller.

One of the perceived weaknesses of the classical Smith predictor is that the time delay is fixed. For systems with a varying time delay, underestimating or overestimating the time delay significantly degrades control quality. This paper presents theoretical and practical results of applying the Smith predictor with a varying time delay when the nature of the application allows the time delay to be practically computed in real time.

Journal Article↗