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Biomedical subjects

L Knudsen

Publications and source records attributed to L Knudsen.

116 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Early complications in patients previously treated with corticosteroids.

A retrospective analysis is presented is presented of 205 major operations performed over a 10-year period on 95 previously steroid-treated patients with Crohn's disease (C.D.) or ulcerative colitis (U.C.). All patients had been treated both in the medical and in the surgical gastroenterological department. The incidence of early postoperative complications was high, but there was nothing to suggest a relationship between the complications and the intensity of the preoperative steroid therapy. However, mortality rate, duration of hospital convalescence as well as incidence of complications were found to be significantly lower in those patients who had undergone elective in preference to emergency surgery. The fear of an increased complication rate following intensive steroid treatment of patients with acute C.D. or U.C. is, in our opinion, unfounded.

Acute Disease↗

Ultrasound-guided cardiac blood sampling of the rabbit fetus.

The object of the study was to determine whether cardiac sampling of the rabbit fetus could be successfully accomplished with minimal procedure-related loss. Pregnant rabbit dams were randomized to undergo ultrasound-guided fetal cardiac sampling in either the left or right uterine horn at 27 days of gestation; cesarean delivery was performed the following day. Liveborn pups from unsampled uterine horns underwent cardiac puncture immediately after birth. Fetal hematologic parameters were then compared to neonatal parameters. The acute fetal mortality from the sampled uterine horns was similar to that of the unsampled horns (3.6 vs. 4.5%). Fetal hematologic values were significantly higher than neonatal values with the exception of the reticulocyte count. This rabbit model offers a new approach for the evaluation of novel treatment modalities for hemolytic disease of the human fetus.

Animals↗

Multiple sclerosis: the impact on family and social life.

In a cross-sectional study of 117 randomly selected patients (52 men, 65 women) with definite multiple sclerosis, it was found that 76 percent were married or cohabitant, 8 percent divorced. Social contacts remained unchanged for 70 percent, but outgoing social contacts were reduced for 45 percent. Ninety-five percent lived in own house or flat and 70 percent received disablement pension. More than half of the patients (56.4 percent) were dependent on help from close relatives, most frequently spouse. The need for help, the risk of divorce, loss of contact with relatives, difficulty in going out, need for structural changes in home and need for pension became greater with increasing physical handicap. No significant differences between gender were found. It is concluded that patients and relatives are under increased social strain, when multiple sclerosis progresses to a moderate handicap (Kurtzke Disability Rating Scale, 3-5).

Adult↗