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Biomedical subjects

L D Farrell

Publications and source records attributed to L D Farrell.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap for breast reconstruction: long-term results.

A review was performed on 170 patients who underwent 173 consecutive latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap breast reconstructions between 1978 and 1989. The majority of the patients had modified radical mastectomies, and reconstruction was usually delayed for 3 to 18 months after mastectomy. Acceptable symmetry was obtained in the majority of patients without the need for surgery on the opposite breast. Perioperative and long-term complications are reviewed. Patients were followed for an average of 4.7 years after reconstruction. Ninety-four percent of patients demonstrated little or no change in the reconstructed breast after the first year. This method of reconstruction has met patient expectations with a minimum number of procedures and low morbidity.

Adult↗

Postoperative necrotizing fasciitis in children.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a rapidly progressive soft tissue infection, involving the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and superficial fascia. It is a rare but life-threatening complication in the postoperative patient. In the last 7 years, we have treated four children in whom necrotizing fasciitis developed after appendectomy for ruptured appendix, bilateral inguinal herniorrhaphy, or gastrostomy closure. These four patients and seven well-described children from the literature with necrotizing fasciitis following surgery form the basis of this review. The ages ranged from six days to 15 years (mean 4.5 years). There were eight boys and three girls. There were five clean, five clean-contaminated, and one contaminated surgical procedures. No patient had evidence of malignancy or diabetes. Two of our four patients had evidence of failure to thrive. Only one patient had an intraabdominal abscess. In ten, the infection started in the abdominal wall; in one, the infection started in the chest wall. In our four patients, three had neutropenia and fever, four had tachycardia, and two had wound crepitation and radiographic evidence of subcutaneous gas. Cultures of all ten wounds were positive for bacteria; six were positive for more than one organism. Blood culture results were positive in five of five patients who died and in only two of five patients who survived. All survivors had wide surgical debridement and were treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics. The mortality rate was 45% in the whole series.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

Cutaneous myiasis.

Although cutaneous myiasis remains uncommon in North America, any traveler to the tropics may return with this ailment. A history of travel to a tropical country, a persistent pruritic lesion resembling a boil but having a dark central punctum with seropurulent or serosanguineous drainage, and complaints of a crawling sensation in the area of the lesion should lead the physician to consider myiasis. Treatment is directed at prompt removal of the fly maggot by incision and extraction.

Adolescent↗

Immunoreactive met-enkephalin in the canine adrenal; response to acute hypovolemic stress.

Immunoreactive met-enkephalin was measured in the adrenal, kidney, liver, and intestine of the dog using radioimmunoassay. Adrenal tissue concentrations were 20 to 200-fold higher than the other tissues studied. In response to acute hypovolemic stress, the concentration of met-enkephalin in the adrenal vein of the dog increased 6-fold over basal peripheral arterial levels. These results suggest that the canine adrenal gland is a rich source of this opioid peptide and that the adrenal releases met-enkephalin in response to acute stress.

Adrenal Glands↗

Phleomycin-stimulated solubilization of deoxyribonucleic acid in Escherichia coli. II. Inhibition of solubilization by bacteriophage T4.

Phleomycin-stimulated solubilization of Escherichia coli DNA is inhibited by infecting the cells with mutants of bacteriophage T4 before treatment with the antibiotic, inhibition requiring phage-specified protein synthesis. Two different modes of inhibition can be differentiated by infecting with mutants which are defective in an early state (gene den A-; endonuclease II-independent inhibition) or a late stage (gene 46-; endonuclease II-dependent inhibition) of phage-directed degradation of host DNA. Endonuclease II-independent inhibition results from interference with phleomycin-induced release of host DNA from the cytoplasmic membrane. In the presence of endonuclease II, the host DNA is converted to fragments, with average molecular weights of 10(6) daltons, the further degradation of which is not promoted by continuous exposure of the cells to phleomycin.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗