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Biomedical subjects

K Helweg-Larsen

Publications and source records attributed to K Helweg-Larsen.

69 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

The value of the medico-legal examination in sexual offences.

A review is presented of medico-legal examinations performed on two series of rape and attempted rape in 1975 and 1980 with a total of 74 victims. Judicial outcome was known in 93% of the cases and is compared with the results of the medico-legal examinations. Between the two series, public discussions and pressure from feminist movements concerning the procedure in rape cases together with modifications of civil penal code resulted in alterations of police practice. Eighteen percent of known offenders in 1975 and 42% in 1980 were charged, 50% and 90%, respectively, of these were convicted. A correlation between the judicial outcome and the results of the medico-legal examination was not found in all cases. The importance of psychological guidance to the victim at the medico-legal examination is stressed.

Adolescent↗

A statistical analysis of the seasonality in sudden infant death syndrome.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) has a characteristic peak incidence in the winter months and a peak incidence at the age of two to four months. The present study examines whether the seasonality is related to the time of birth-the time of death or both. The data for the study relates to 116 cases of SIDS, representing 95% of all registered cases of SIDS in eastern Denmark in a three-year period 1981 to 1983. They were all autopsied at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen and evaluated by the same people. The framework of the analysis is a multiplicative Poisson-model with three sets of parameters describing the effects of the age of the infant, the time of death and the time of birth. The analysis proved the seasonality related alone to the time of death. An identical analysis was performed for 123 infants who in the period 1973-83 in eastern Denmark died from infectious diseases. In these cases no significant effect of the month of birth or the month of death was shown.

Age Factors↗

Endogenous alcohol production by intestinal fermentation in sudden infant death.

In some cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) the intestinal flora was found to be dominated by Candida albicans. Microbiologic investigations of the various organs showed the occasional presence of different Candida species, but not in the form of massive growth as in sepsis. There is no basis to assume that the activity of yeasts, first of all of Candida albicans, is a contributory factor in the occurrence of SIDS. Candida albicans was shown to produce alcohol from glucose at a rate of maximally 1 mg of alcohol per gram of intestinal content per hour. It is concluded that the intestinal production of alcohol in vivo from cases showing a Candida albicans dominated intestinal flora will not be able to surpass the normal alcohol metabolizing capacity of the liver. Thus, measurable concentrations of alcohol in the blood from such cases cannot be expected.

Candida albicans↗

Precision of histological grading of malignancy.

The precision of a grading system based upon average score of 8 items for histological evaluation of malignancy of epidermoid carcinomas of the larynx was studied by letting 6 pathologists examine biopsies from 22 new cases. Exploratory statistical tools as well as a statistical framework (variance component models) for separating and evaluating the noise components are suggested. The order of magnitude of the resulting overall measurement uncertainty allowed discrimination between patients, though if a patient is graded by only one pathologist, only results as the extremes of the scale of malignancy should be trusted as possible therapeutical guidance. Based upon an analysis of the basic structure of the grading system the single noise components making up the measurement uncertainty were determined. Of greatest importance was noice created by disagreement between the pathologists in their ranking of the patients on the scale of malignancy. Furthermore the pathologist used the individual items differently, and certain items seemed to conform little to the scoring system. An attempt to minimize these two last components was performed; however neither calibration of the pathologists nor omission of the deviating items improved the precision significantly.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗

Studies on lymphoid cells of adenoid tissue in relation to clinical findings.

Adenoid tissue was obtained at operation in 27 children admitted for adenoidectomy and in 6 controls. The occurrence of cells with cytoplasmic immunoglobulin was studied by immunofluorescence of tissue sections, and localization, number of cells and class of immunoglobulin were determined. No differences were found between patients and controls. Mononuclear leucocytes isolated from adenoid tissue and from blood were compared. In the patients, the proportions of B lymphocytes were higher in the tissue than in the blood, in particular IgG-, IgM- and IgD-carrying cells. Stimulation in vitro with polyclonal activators induced less thymidine incorporation in adenoid cells than in blood cells. Stimulation with heat-killed Haemophilus influenzae induced a high response inadenoid cells from 7/20 patients with negative nasopharyngeal culture for H. influenzae, whereas all 7 patients who harboured H. influenzae in the nasopharynx were low responders.

Adenoidectomy↗

Lymphocytes of adenoid tissue.

Adenoid tissue was obtained at operation from 27 children admitted for adenoidectomy and from 6 controls. The occurrence of cells with cytoplasmic immunoglobulin was studied semiquantitatively by immunofluorescence microscopy of tissue sections, by which localization, number of cells and class of immunoglobulin were determined. No differences were found between patients and controls. Cells isolated from adenoid tissue were compared with mononuclear leukocytes obtained from the blood. More B lymphocytes were found in the tissue, in particular IgM-carrying cells. This was more pronounced in the patient group. Cells were stimulated in culture with polyclonal activators and microbial antigens. The response of adenoid lymphocytes to Haemophilus influenzae (HI) was high in 7/27 patients; all patients in whom throat culture was positive for HI were low responders.

Adenoidectomy↗

Mitotic activity and delay in fixation of tumour tissue. The influence of delay in fixation on mitotic activity of a human osteogenic sarcoma grown in athymic nude mice.

The purpose of the present investigation was to study the effect of delay in fixation on the mitotic activity in tumour tissue. A human osteogenic sarcoma, especially suitable for counting of mitoses, grown in athymic nude mice, was fixed with varying delay and the mitotic, prophase, metaphase and ana-telophase indices were determined. An almost exponential decline of the mitotic index was observed with a reduction to 49.4% and 15.0% after respectively 60 and 180 minutes. The proportional incidence of prophases, metaphases and ana-telophases changed so that a relative accummulation of advanced phases occured during the 180 minutes of observation. It is concluded that delay in fixation of a magnitude, which is not uncommon in routine surgical pathology, may allow the majority of mitoses to terminate, resulting in unreliable assessments of mitotic activity.

Adult↗

Clinical relevance of histological grading of cancer of the larynx.

Primary biopsies from 52 patients with cancer of the larynx were examined by two pathologists working independently. The malignancy of each case was graded twice with an interval of 1--1 1/2 month according to a histological scoring system elaborated by Jacobsson. The reproducibility of the system was found poor for individual prognostic purposes and no connection between histological grade and clinical course was demonstrated.

Adult↗

Injuries due to deliberate violence in areas of Denmark. III. Lesions. The Copenhagen Study Group.

As part of a transcultural investigation of violent behavior in Denmark and South America, the lesions from accidents involving deliberate violence registered in three Danish emergency wards during a 1-year period were studied. A quantity of 2211 lesions were diagnosed in 1316 patients (953 male and 363 female patients). Sixty-five percent of the lesions were in the head/neck region, 13% in truncus, 18% in the upper extremities and 5% in the lower extremities. The most frequent diagnosis was an open wound in the head/neck region. Adding contusions and fractures in the same region this amounted to more than half of the total number of lesions. In the upper extremities 62% of the lesions were contusions or open wounds. Serious lesions of internal arteries were few, however always caused by sharp instruments (knives). Serious lesions due to firearms were not recorded/reported. Strangulation had been used against 1.1% of the victims, the male/female ratio being 1:6. The main part of the lesions were of minor severity when assessed on the basis of the scores in the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). The lesions were, however, more serious compared to other recent studies, and it appeared that the female victims had fewer but more serious lesions than the male victims. The need for treatment and hospitalization was in the range of other recent studies.

Adult↗

Injuries due to deliberate violence in areas of Denmark. IV. Alcohol intoxication in victims of violence. The Copenhagen Study Group.

A material of 1316 victims of deliberate violence was collected prospectively during a one year period in three Danish emergency wards covering a provincial/rural area and two metropolitan areas. The frequency of alcohol intoxication was determined. Forty-one percent of the patients were intoxicated. The highest frequency was found in male victims, in the provincial/rural area, in restaurants or their vicinity, in the age group 35-49, during evenings and nights and in May. It is difficult to indicate specific preventive measures. However, a more restrictive attitude is suggested with regard to serving alcohol to intoxicated persons in restaurants.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗

The frequency of a disease-causing point mutation in the gene coding for medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase in sudden infant death syndrome.

A number of rare inherited metabolic disorders are known to lead to death in infancy. Deficiency of medium-chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase has, on clinical grounds, been related particularly to sudden infant death syndrome. The contribution of this disorder to the etiology of sudden infant death syndrome is still a matter of controversy. The present study investigated 120 well-defined cases of sudden infant death syndrome in order to detect the frequency of the most common disease-causing point mutation in the gene coding for medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (G985) compared with the frequency in the general population. A highly specific polymerase chain reaction assay was applied on dried blood spots. No over-representation of homo- or heterozygosity for G985 appears to exist in such a strictly defined population, for which reason it may be more relevant to look at a broader spectrum of clinical presentations of inherited metabolic disorders and examine a wider range of sudden death in infancy.

Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase↗