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Biomedical subjects

K Andersen

Publications and source records attributed to K Andersen.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

The development of simple acoustic reaction time in normal children.

Normative data on the simple acoustic reaction time were obtained from 56 children without neurological or psychiatric symptoms aged between four and 14 years, and the results were compared with those for an adult reference group. Mean reaction times declined precipitously from 465 msec at age five to 190 msec at 15 years. The relationship between reaction time and age during childhood can be described by a linear equation in a log-log system. The adult level is achieved at 16 years.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1984

Sympathetic vasoconstrictor nerve function in alcoholic neuropathy.

The peripheral sympathetic vasomotor nerve function was investigated in 18 male chronic alcoholics admitted for intellectual impairment or polyneuropathy. By means of the local 133Xenon washout technique, the sympathetic veno-arteriolar axon-reflex was studied. This normally is responsible for a 50% decrease in tissue blood flow, when the ankle is lowered 40 cm below heart level in the supine individual. The patients with moderate to severe polyneuropathy, taken as a group, did not differ significantly from the group of patients with no or only mild polyneuropathy, although a lesser response was seen (18% and 48% decrease respectively). However, in three patients with moderate neuropathy, and in one patient with no signs of neuropathy, this veno-arteriolar reflex was absent, indicating dysfunction of the peripheral sympathetic adrenergic nerve fibres. The three patients also showed a lesser degree of arteriolar constriction during 45 degrees passive head-up tilt, although none developed symptoms of orthostatic hypotension. Anhidrosis of the feet was found in only three patients. This study lends support to the view that individual differences in the susceptibility to the deleterious effect of alcohol comprise not only the peripheral sensory and motor nerve fibres, but also the thin pseudomotor and vasomotor nerves.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Peripheral neuropathy, cerebral atrophy, and intellectual impairment in chronic alcoholics.

Peripheral neuropathy, cerebral atrophy, and intellectual impairment was investigated in 46 males with alcoholic nervous system damage. An overall correlation was found between peripheral neuropathy and cerebral atrophy and between several of the individual neurophysiological and neuroradiological variables examined. There was also a correlation between cerebral atrophy and intellectual impairment. The findings support the view that alcohol in itself is toxic to central and peripheral nervous tissues, although a dose-response dependence could not be established.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1984

Construction and use of a gene bank of Alcaligenes eutrophus in the analysis of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase genes.

A gene bank of the DNA from the hydrogen bacterium Alcaligenes eutrophus ATCC 17707 was constructed in the broad host range cosmid vector pVK102 and established in Escherichia coli. A triparental replica plating procedure was developed to allow rapid screening of large numbers of isolated E. coli gene bank clones for complementation of A. eutrophus mutants. This procedure was used to identify hybrid cosmids that complemented CO2 fixation-negative (Cfx-), H2 uptake-negative (Hup-), and auxotrophic A. eutrophus mutants. The average insert DNA size in these hybrid cosmids was 22 kilobases. Nine hybrid cosmids that complemented ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase-negative (RuBPCase-) mutants were characterized. They fell into two distinct groups with respect to their restriction patterns. Complementing subclones from the two groups contained no common restriction fragments, but hybridization experiments indicated a high degree of sequence homology. Restriction fragments corresponding to one of the subclones were absent in total DNA from a cured strain that had lost plasmid pAE7, indigenous to the wild type. It is concluded that functional CO2 fixation genes in the A. eutrophus ATCC 17707 chromosome are reiterated on plasmid pAE7.

Alcaligenes↗
PubMed1984

Increased left ventricular emptying at maximal exercise after reduction in afterload.

Twelve healthy men were studied by M mode echocardiography during exercise to investigate the effect of afterload reduction on left ventricular function at maximal exertion. They performed two maximal exercise bicycle tests 4 hr apart while in the semisupine position and were given 20 mg nifedipine sublingually 30 min before the second test. During the first test end-systolic dimension decreased (p less than .01) and fractional shortening increased from rest to peak exercise (p less than .01), while end-diastolic dimension did not change significantly. At maximal exercise systolic blood pressure was lower after nifedipine than in the preceding control test (202 +/- 10 [mean +/- SD] vs 212 +/- 14 mm Hg; p less than .01), while heart rate was not significantly changed (168 +/- 15 vs 162 +/- 13 beats/min). End-systolic dimension was lower (25.6 +/- 3.3 vs 28.8 +/- 4.2 mm; p less than .01) and fractional shortening higher (50.7 +/- 6.0% vs 45.3 +/- 7.0%; p less than .01) while end-diastolic dimension was unchanged (52.3 +/- 1.9 vs 52.4 +/- 2.6 mm). Our data indicate increased left ventricular emptying at maximal exercise after nifedipine, most probably due to reduction in afterload.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Effects of spontaneous respiration on left ventricular function assessed by echocardiography.

The effects of quiet respiration on assessment of left ventricular function by two-dimensional echocardiography were investigated in 12 healthy men. End-diastolic area in the parasternal short-axis view decreased with inspiration (from 17.3 +/- 2.1 [mean +/- SD] to 16.0 +/- 2.1 cm2, p less than .01), while end-systolic area did not change (from 7.6 +/- 1.4 to 7.7 +/- 1.5 cm2; NS). A fixed cursor that was located through the center of the left ventricular area at end-expiration made a tangential cut of the area at end-inspiration were smaller along the cursor than through the center of the short-axis area both at end-diastole (1.9 +/- 1.7 mm; p less than .01) and end-systole (3.8 +/- 4.0 mm; p less than .01). Our results suggest a need for standardization with regard to respiratory phases in assessment of left ventricular function by two-dimensional echocardiography and indicate the occurrence of inspiratory reduction of left ventricular stroke volume associated with decreased diastolic filling. Motion of the heart relative to the echo beam may play a part in the respiratory variations in left ventricular dimensions assessed by M mode echocardiography.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Instability of cadaver knees after transection of capsule and ligaments.

The importance of the medial collateral ligament and the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee in relation to valgus and varus instability was investigated. Mobility patterns were drawn from ten osteoligamentous knee preparations after successive transections of the structures. Cutting the entire collateral medial ligament caused only slight valgus instability, even when the knee was flexed. Further transection of the anterior cruciate ligament increased the instability considerably, but the knee remained stable in extension. The valgus instability after the transections was maximal at about 60 degrees of flexion.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed1984

Heparin-induced increase in serum levels of aminotranferases. A controlled clinical trial.

Sixty-four patients over the age of 40 years, undergoing elective surgery of at least one hour's duration, were randomized to treatment with either a thromboembolic deterrent ( TED ) stocking (Kendall Co.) or subcutaneous low-dose heparin 5 000 IU every 12 hours. Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (S-ALAT), aspartate aminotransferase (S-ASAT), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (S-gamma-GT) and alkaline phosphatase (S-ALP) were measured. S-ALAT increased significantly on the 5th and 10th postoperative day, from 27 +/- 2 (x +/- SE) to 40 +/- 4 (p less than 0.01) and 55 +/- 7 U/l (p less than 0.001), respectively, in the heparin group and was significantly higher in the heparin than in the TED group both on the 5th (p less than 0.01) and 10th (p less than 0.05) postoperative day. S-ASAT and S-gamma-GT increased significantly during heparin treatment, but did not differ significantly from the values of the TED group. No change in S-ALP was registered in either group. It is concluded that prophylactic treatment with low-dose heparin induces a significant increase in S-aminotransferase levels, especially in S-ALAT. The phenomenon has profound differential diagnostic implications in conditions such as pulmonary embolism and acute myocardial infarction.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Intramyocardial temperature following various cooling procedures.

In 12 dogs on cardiopulmonary bypass, the intramyocardial temperatures in the anterior and the posterior wall of the left ventricle and in the septum were measured with microthermoelectrodes when different cooling procedures were used during 60 min of anoxic cardiac arrest. External cooling with 4 degrees C glucose (5.5%) solution dripping into the pericardial sac did not lower the temperature in the septum or in the posterior wall. Packing the heart in slushed ice after injection of the same glucose solution into the coronary tree reduced the septum and posterior wall temperature to around 30 degrees C. This cooling procedure, in combination with general moderate hypothermia, lowered the temperature to about 20 degrees C in these parts of the heart. Only when combined with general hypothermia did local cooling achieve low temperatures in all regions of the myocardium.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Myocardial preservation during anoxic arrest. Chemical cardioplegia.

Two types of cardioplegic solution--the potassium arrest and the Bretschneider solution, both at 4 degrees C--were compared with regard to protective effect against ischemic damage during 60 min of anoxic cardiac arrest in the dog heart. Both solutions provided equally good protection, which was superior to that given by hypothermia alone.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Myocardial preservation during anoxic arrest. Premedication with propranolol, verapamil or methylprednisolone.

Anoxic cardiac arrest was studied for one hour in five groups of dogs. Groups I-III were given methylprednisolone (30 mg/kg b.w.) before aortic cross-clamping. Normothermia was used with electrically induced ventricular fibrillation in group I, and without such fibrillation in group II, while group III was studied in local hypothermia. Propranolol (10 micrograms/kg) was given to group IV and verapamil (0.2 mg/kg) to group V before the anoxic arrest in local hypothermia. Judged from the ability of the heart to take over the circulation after anoxic arrest, local cooling preceded by propranolol or verapamil gave working performance comparable with the pre-arrest values. In the cooled, steroid-pretreated hearts the work capacity was depressed to the same degree as in locally cooled hearts without steroid premedication. Methylprednisolone prevented ischemic contracture during normothermic arrest with induced fibrillation, but not in the absence of such fibrillation. As adjuvant to local cooling, pretreatment with metabolism-reducing drugs is favorable for cardiac performance after arrest. Steroid premedication should be considered when normothermic arrest with electrically induced ventricular fibrillation is planned.

Animals↗