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Biomedical subjects

L J Heffner

Publications and source records attributed to L J Heffner.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Management of isoimmunized pregnancy by use of intravascular techniques.

Twenty-two patients who had 23 pregnancies complicated by isoimmunization were managed by the use of intravascular methods on an outpatient basis. Nine patients underwent 30 percutaneous fetal blood sampling procedures to determine fetal blood type or hematocrit, without complication. Thirteen patients underwent 45 intrauterine fetal transfusions via the umbilical vessels and 16 intraperitoneal fetal transfusions. The overall survival rate in this series was 85.7%. Survival among fetuses that were hydropic at initial evaluation was 83.3%. The procedure-related perinatal mortality rate for intravascular intrauterine transfusions was 2.2%. Knowledge of fetal blood type and hematocrit allowed treatment individualized to the specific needs of each patient. In particular, the ability to transfuse blood directly into the vascular system of the hydropic fetus proved to be lifesaving in those patients.

Blood Grouping and Crossmatching↗
PubMed1988

Early amniocentesis for prenatal cytogenetic evaluation.

Early amniocentesis at 11-14 weeks gestation was evaluated in 100 consecutive patients to see how this technique compares with later amniocentesis. There were no complications as a consequence of the procedure or related pregnancy losses of chromosomally normal fetuses. Samples obtained from three (3%) patients showed insufficient cell growth; two of these patients elected a repeat procedure, which yielded a normal karyotype in each case. There were five abnormal karyotypes, one of which was a culture artifact; in the latter case, repeat amniocentesis at 15 weeks yielded a normal result. Of the 95 pregnancies with normal karyotypes, 94 were progressing normally at follow-up, and one patient elected pregnancy termination because of maternal indications. It appears that early amniocentesis may be an attractive alternative to traditional amniocentesis, in that it provides results at an earlier gestational age and may avoid certain disadvantages of chorionic villus sampling.

Amniocentesis↗
PubMed1986

Electrophoretic analyses of secreted human endometrial proteins: identification and characterization of luteal phase prolactin.

Endometrial protein synthesis and secretion throughout the menstrual cycle was studied by slab gel electrophoretic analysis of [35S]methionine incorporation into protein during short term culture of human endometrial tissue. A minimum of five protein bands that fluctuate during the menstrual cycle were identified on one-dimensional gels. Those with mol wt of 28K, 35K, 51K, and 59K decreased in the luteal phase, whereas a broad 25K band was induced in the luteal phase. This broad band was identified as two species of glycosylated PRL by antihuman PRL immunostaining and [3H]glucosamine incorporation.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Primary management of postpartum vulvovaginal hematomas by angiographic embolization.

Three cases of large postpartum vulvovaginal hematomas are reported. After conservative measures including incision and drainage, ligation of bleeding sites, vaginal packing and replacement of volume and coagulation factors failed to control the bleeding in each, pelvic angiography was performed. Brisk arterial bleeding demonstrated on arteriography was controlled by Gelfoam embolization in all three cases. Intra- or postpartum hematologic evaluation revealed a previously undiagnosed coagulation disorder in each patient. The authors suggest that angiography be considered before hypogastric artery ligation whenever possible in patients with large postpartum hematomas and that all such patients be evaluated for coagulopathy.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

The role of calcium in maintaining motility in mouse spermatozoa.

Maintenance of mouse sperm motility requires exogenous Ca+2 in most, but not all, samples of epididymal spermatozoa. In these samples, the loss of motility with time is the same in Tris/NaCl buffer containing 1.7 mM Ca+2 (medium TNC) as it is in complete culture medium used for in vitro fertilization (medium CM) over the first 2 hours; spermatozoa in medium TNC lose motility at more rapid rate thereafter. The cation specificity for maintenance of motility is unusual in that both Sr+2 and Mg+2 substitute for Ca+2, with Mg+2 being the more effective. In the absence of Ca+2, these samples of mouse epididymal spermatozoa in Tris/NaCl buffer (medium TN) lose motility in about 30 minutes. If Ca+2 is added after incubation in TN for 15 minutes, motility is maintained as well as it is in medium TNC. If Ca+2 is added at 30 minutes, motility is partially restored. But if Ca+2 is added after 60 minutes, there is no restoration of motility. Spermatozoa suspended in medium TNC lose motility rapidly on addition of EGTA in excess of the Ca+2 present. Attempts to show uptake of Ca+2 by spectrophotometric assay, by effects of Ca+2 on oxidative metabolism, and by electron probe X-ray microanalysis were unsuccessful; motility is not maintained by entry of Ca+2 into the cells. Our results are consistent with a Ca+2 site on the plasma membrane and suggest that these sites function as oligomers of ordered subunits whose structure requires Ca+2. In the absence of Ca+2, the ability to form the oligomer is lost with time, possibly due to an irreversible conformational change.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Effects of neonatal ovariectomy upon 3H-estradiol uptake by target tissues of androgen-sterilized female rats.

Tissue distributions of radioactivity were studied at 2, 4 and 6 h after intravenous injection of 3H-estradiol-17 beta (48.6 ng/100 g b.w.) in 4 groups of 10 or 11 adult female rats with the following neonatal treatments: Control = sham ovariectomy (ovx) on day 1, oil injection on day 5 (n = 10); ovx = ovx on day 1, oil on day 5 (n = 11); TP = sham ovx on day 1, 30 micrograms testosterone propionate (TP) on day 5 (n = 10); ovx-TP = ovx on day 1, 30 micrograms TP on day 5 (n = 11). Neonatal TP treatment significantly hastened vaginal opening in all animals. After ovariectomy, vaginal opening occurred in 20/22 rats regardless of hormonal treatment; ovariectomy did not significantly affect the time of vaginal opening in these 20 animals. All ovariectomized animals had diestrous vaginal smears after puberty, all controls cycled normally and all of the TP group used for the uptake part were in persistent vaginal estrus (sequence of vaginal smears with 70% or more containing no leukocytes) confirmed by ovarian histology to be anovulatory (11/13 injected). 72 h prior to radioisotope injection, intact females in the above groups were ovariectomized and the neonatally ovariectomized were sham operated. Tissue radioactivity was extracted from the anterior, middle and posterior hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, cerebrum, anterior pituitary, uterus and plasma. Neonatal ovariectomy raised 3H-estradiol concentrations in all tissues, except hippocampus and anterior pituitary, suggesting an increase in nonspecifically bound hormone. Neonatal TP decreased 3H-estradiol concentrations in the anterior and middle hypothalamus and uterus only, in both the intact and ovariectomized group, demonstrating a selective effect of neonatal TP upon subsequent development of estrogen binding capacities of target tissues that is independent of the ovaries.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

3H-Estradiol uptake and retention by target tissues of light-sterilized female rats.

Tissue distribution of radioactivity was studied at 2, 4 and 6 h after intravenous injection of 3H-estradiol-17beta (41.7 ng/100 g b.w.) in 12 light-sterilized and 11 control female rats ovariectomized 72 h prior to injection. Female rats were light-sterilized by exposure to continuous illumination for 82 days and, based on the duration of continuous vaginal cornification and the absence of corpora lutea at post-mortem histological examination of the ovaries, were anovulatory for at least 30 days prior to injection. Control rats were housed under conditions similar to the experimentals except that they were exposed to alternating lighting (14 h light:10 h dark). They remained ovulatory throughout the experiment. Uterine 3H-estradiol uptake and retention were significantly depressed in the light-sterilized group. There were no significant differences in 3H-estradiol uptake or retention as a result of light-sterilization in any of the other tissues studied, including anterior, middle, and posterior hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, cerebrum, anterior pituitary and plasma. The failure to detecta reduction in neural 3H-estradiol uptake demonstrates that the anovulatory state can exist without a concomitant reduction in the hypothalamic estrogen binding capacity. The possibility is discussed that the decreased target tissue binding noted in various types of anovulatory animals is the result, not the cause, of altered ovarian function.

Amygdala↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Secretion of the vasoactive peptides, endothelin, and parathyroid hormone-related peptide, by decidual explants from pregnancies complicated by intrauterine growth restriction.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether in vitro secretion of two vasoactive peptides, endothelin and parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP), is different in decidua from pregnancies complicated by intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) than in normal pregnancies. METHODS: In ten IUGR and nine gestational age-matched control pregnancies, decidua was collected at delivery and explants cultured for 24 hours. Endothelin and PTHrP concentrations in the conditioned medium were determined. Lactate dehydrogenase release into the medium was measured at 4 and 24 hours in a separate group of four IUGR and three control decidua. RESULTS: Endothelin and PTHrP secretion by the decidua of the IUGR pregnancies were markedly lower than those in controls (endothelin 51 +/- 11 versus 105 +/- 16 pg/100 mg tissue/24 hours, P = .01; PTHrP 164 +/- 17 versus 641 +/- 209 ng/100 mg tissue/24 hours, P = .02). Lactate dehydrogenase release into the medium was not different between the IUGR and control decidua. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the known effects of endothelin and PTHrP on vascular smooth muscle, it was originally anticipated that more endothelin and less PTHrP would be secreted by the IUGR decidua than the control. The finding that both peptides decreased could not be explained by route of delivery or global tissue dysfunction. Investigation of potential mediators of decidual ET and PTHrP will be necessary to determine why these hormones are both decreased in pregnancies complicated by IUGR.

Decidua↗