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Biomedical subjects

K D Burman

Publications and source records attributed to K D Burman.

178 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

Klinefelter's syndrome: examination of thyroid function, and the TSH and PRL responses to thyrotropin-releasing hormone prior to and after testosterone administration.

Thyroid function and prolactin (PRL) responsiveness to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) were examined in 6 patients with Klinefelter's syndrome prior to and after therapy with testosterone. The thyroid function tests, including serum triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), thyroxine binding globulin (TBG), resin T3 uptake (RT3U), radioactive iodine uptake (RAIU), thyrotropin (TSH) stimulation and the TSH response to TRH were normal during both periods of study. Testosterone treatment had no significant effect on any of these parameters with the exception of the RT3U which increased. PRL response to TRH were significantly higher than those observed in normal men (P less than 0.05). Despite the fact that mean plasma PRL responses to TRH were decreased when the patients were restudied during testosterone therapy, they remained greater than those of normal men. Mean serum estradiol concentrations were normal and did not increase significantly during testosterone therapy. These studies suggest that: (1) thyroid function may be normal in patients with Klinefelter's syndrome more often than previously reported, and (2) patients with Klinefelter's syndrome may manifest PRL hyper-responsiveness to TRH that is decreased but not normalized during testosterone therapy. Because estradiol levels failed to increase despite a marked rise in testosterone, further studies are warranted to examine testosterone and estradiol clearance and conversion rates in patients with Klinefelter's syndrome.

Adolescent↗

Evaluation of a rapid and simple technique for the radioimmunoassay of triiodothyronine (T3).

This report compares T3 measurements obtained on the same serum samples by a resinstrip technique and by another existing radioimmunoassay method. The samples analyzed were obtained from a total of 90 subjects who were clinically categorized as hypothyroid, normal, hyperthyroid, or euthyroid while taking estrogen-containing compounds or while pregnant. The correlation coefficient for all 90 sera with these two different techniques was 0.94. All subjects who were clinically euthyroid (32) had a normal serum T3 concentration by the resin-strip technique. Similarly, 23 clinically hyperthyroid patients had elevated serum T3 concentrations and 15 of 17 clinically hypothyroid patients had decreased serum T3 levels.

Contraceptive Agents, Female↗

Immunogenicity of a unique region of the human thyrotropin receptor.

Clarifying the role of the TSH receptor protein in the autoimmune process may be the key to understanding the development of Graves' disease. In the present study we used a 16 amino acid peptide of the human TSH receptor (hTSHR) to immunize rabbits. A comparable, but theoretically less immunogenic, peptide was injected into other rabbits. The antibody response against these and other peptides, as well as against solubilized human thyroid membrane (TM) and guinea pig fat cell membrane (GPF) proteins, was tested using ELISA and Western blots. The GPF and TM binding pattern of rabbits' sera was compared to that of Graves' patients' sera. We have identified an area of antigenic cross-reactivity between GPF and TM; a 63 kD protein was present in both GPF and TM, and this protein uniformly bound IgG-s of the rabbits' postimmunization sera and one of eight Graves' patient's serum. We have shown that i) a theoretically immunogenic 16 amino acid peptide was indeed highly immunogenic in rabbits, ii) antibodies binding to GPF and TM were detected after immunization, and iii) the peak of thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin activity of sera was followed by a transient elevation of serum triiodothyronine levels. Further studies investigating the immunogenic epitopes of the hTSHR as well as characterizing the 63 kD protein are indicated.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Iodine treatment of iodine-induced thyrotoxicosis.

A 62-year-old female who had received prolonged iodine therapy for asthma presented with severe thyrotoxicosis and severe asthma. Her history, elevated serum thyroxine and triiodothyronine, low 131I uptake, and elevated intrathyroidal iodine content by fluorescent scan were most consistent wiht a diagnosis of iodine-induced thyrotoxicosis (IITT). The clinical course of her thyrotoxicosis was protracted, and in spite of its etiologic role in the precipitaton of thyrotoxicosos, iodine was therapeutically efficacious, although combined treatment with methimazole was required to ultimately restore euthyroidism. Therapy with lithium was also employed but appeared to be only transiently effective and combined no additional decrement in serum T4 than that seen with iodine alone. The case exemplifies the heterogeneity of what is considered "iodine-induced" thyrotoxicosis, the complexities inherent in establishing a diagnosis of IITT, and the use of other rapid acting pharmacologic agents in IITT when beta blockade is contraindicated by asthma.

Asthma↗

Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis: A cause of cataracts and tendon xanthoma.

Patients with cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis may present with adolescent-onset cataracts and tendon xanthomas, and can have progressive neurological, myocardial, pulmonary, and endocrine dysfunction leading to death. The disease is inherited as an autosomal recessive and results in increasing deposition of cholesterol and cholestanol in vital organ systems; the primary biochemical abnormality is a block in bile acid synthesis which is manifested by a diminished pool of chenodeoxycholic acid. Replacement therapy with chenodeoxycholic acid may reduce cholesterol and cholestanol production.

Achilles Tendon↗

Fine needle aspiration of thyroid nodules. Determinants of insufficiency rate and malignancy yield at thyroidectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate patient- and practice-specific determinants of the thyroid nodule fine needle aspiration (FNA) insufficiency rate and malignancy yield at a tertiary-care teaching hospital. STUDY DESIGN: All FNAs of thyroid nodules performed from August 1990 to October 1993 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Endocrinology Clinic were reviewed and the results analyzed for correlation with surgical outcome, scintiscanning result and operator experience. Provider-specific factors influencing the FNA insufficiency rate, surgical referral pattern and malignancy yield were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 504 aspirations in 422 patients with thyroid nodules were included in the analysis. The sensitivity of FNA for detecting malignancy was 80%, specificity was 73.2%, and accuracy was 75.2%. A significant negative correlation was found between recent aspirator experience and the insufficiency rate. Repeat aspiration of nodules previously yielding benign cytology increased the malignancy yield. Surgical excision of nodules with insufficient aspirations gave a low malignancy yield, and aspiration of nodules that were "hot" on scintiscanning rarely yielded false positive FNA results. CONCLUSION: Specific limitations of thyroid nodule FNA include a large number of aspirates containing insufficient cytologic material and a variable malignancy yield. Specific recommendations based on the findings in this report are: the establishment of uniform criteria for judging specimen adequacy, the performance of repeat aspiration on thyroid nodules with previously benign aspirates, the abandonment of scintiscanning in the routine management of thyroid nodules and a conservative approach to clinically indolent nodules repeatedly found to have scant cellularity on FNA. Based on these findings, an algorithm for the diagnostic evaluation of a solid thyroid nodule can be constructed.

Adolescent↗