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Biomedical subjects

M Berg

Publications and source records attributed to M Berg.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

Familial myoedema, muscular hypertrophy and stiffness.

A father and son with muscular hypertrophy, stiffness and myoedema are described. The local swelling after tapping the muscle was not accompanied by electrical activity. Histological and histochemical studies of muscle biopsy showed no abnormalities. Electron-microscopy showed multiple vacuoles to be due to T-tubule dilatation. Further studies are necessary to determine the significance of this finding in the pathogenesis of muscle sensitivity to mechanical irritation in this rare syndrome.

Adolescent↗

Evaluation of a questionnaire for facial skin complaints related to work at visual display units.

A questionnaire about facial skin problems was answered by 3745 office employees, with the aim of discovering whether VDU work causes skin disease. From this group, 809 randomly selected persons were examined and interviewed by a dermatologist. There was a relatively good correspondence (87%) between the results from the interviews and the questionnaires, but the questionnaire results corresponded to current status in only 46% of the cases. No important difference was seen between those who were informed and those who were not informed about the purpose of the investigation. There was a relatively wide variation in the correlation between 2 responses to the same questions. In conclusion, the self-administered questionnaire seems to give reasonably adequate answers regarding the occurrence of more clear-cut symptoms over a period of time, rather than answers regarding the presence of signs at a particular point in time. However, less marked changes might not be picked up particularly well.

Computer Systems↗

Facial skin complaints and work at visual display units. A histopathological study.

Facial punch biopsies from 83 patients with skin complaints with or without skin lesions and supposedly associated with work at visual display units (VDUs) were compared to biopsies from 51 subjects with no VDU exposure with or without skin lesions. Coded slides were assessed by three independent observers regarding hyperplasia of sebaceous glands, occurrence of telangiectases, intensity of inflammatory infiltrate, degree of hydropic degeneration of basal cells, occurrence of demodex folliculorum, number of mast cells and degree of degenerative changes in elastic fibers. No parameter was significantly more common in exposed subjects than in non-exposed persons with equivalent skin signs. The controls without skin lesions also showed various degrees of histologic changes. Hyperplasia of sebaceous glands was more common in men and in young persons. Degenerative changes in elastic fibers increased with age, but were also obvious in some persons under 35 years of age. In this study no characteristic histologic changes in facial skin were found in individuals with skin symptoms claimed to be associated with exposure to VDUs.

Adult↗

The enlarged middle cranial fossa approach for surgery of the temporal bone and of the cerebellopontine angle.

Due to the fact that the temporal bone has broad segments of bone anterior to and behind the internal auditory canal which are empty of functionally important structures, a broad exposure of the cerebellopontine angle may be obtained from above. This technique is adequate for the management of acoustic neurinomas up to 3 cm in diameter. A low postoperative morbidity and a high percentage of hearing preservation with total tumor removal were obtained in a series of 190 cases. This report underlines the advantages of the procedure and points to various other indications.

Cerebellopontine Angle↗

Shortwave ultraviolet radiation in operating rooms.

We have evaluated the effect of shortwave ultraviolet radiation on bacterial levels in an operating theatre, both in experimental conditions and during 20 hip operations. When compared with the use of sham blue light, there was a significant reduction in the number of bacteria. The reduced level was comparable with that suggested for ultraclean air ventilation systems.

Air Microbiology↗

Facial skin complaints and work at visual display units. Epidemiological, clinical and histopathological studies.

Only in Sweden is skin disease reputedly caused by working at visual display units (VDUs) a considerable problem. In the present work facial skin complaints in VDU-exposed persons have been studied by means of epidemiological, clinical and histopathological methods. The results can be summarized as follows. Half the patients referred for dermatological examination because of facial skin complaints they attributed to working at VDUs had rosacea. Most of them claimed that they had pronounced symptoms, but their skin lesions were mild. When they were followed up most of the patients reported improvement without pharmacological therapy in spite of continued VDU work. Individuals exposed to VDUs had significantly more self-reported skin complaints than a nonexposed control population of office employees, but no more visible signs. Skin tumours with malignant potential and unilateral facial skin signs were found in the same frequencies in both categories. Rosacea was the most common facial skin condition (10%) in the 809 randomly selected office employees (mean age 43 years) examined, and this condition as well as the occurrence of telangiectases (found in 57% of the examined population) was no more common among the exposed persons. The answers in the self-administered questionnaires (n = 3745), used when studying the office employees, corresponded poorly to skin status (only 46% correlated), but were reasonably accurate as regards the occurrence of more clear-cut symptoms, such as in atopic or seborrhoeic dermatitis. Patients with skin complaints they said were associated with VDUs had no characteristic histological changes in facial skin. Histological changes of varying degree were also common among the control subjects without skin complaints or exposure to VDUs. This is particularly true of the degree of degenerative change in elastic fibers, which increased with age. Rosacea was more common in women, and there was a strong association between rosacea and migraine, as well as between migraine and patients with symptoms thought to be related to work at VDUs. In contrast to previous assumptions, most subjects with rosacea in this study experienced no impairment due to exposure to sunlight. This work shows that people exposed to VDUs had subjective skin symptoms more often than a nonexposed control population. The design of the study does not permit an analysis of the cause of this phenomenon. The occurrence of skin signs in persons exposed to VDUs is, however, fortuitous from an epidemiological viewpoint.

Adult↗

An epidemiological study of rosacea.

In a non-selected population of 809 office employees (454 women and 355 men) 81 persons were diagnosed as having rosacea, giving a prevalence of 10% (women 14%, men 5%). The rosacea group was compared with the rest of the study population. Most of the cases were rather mild. The rosacea was of an erythematotelangiectatic type in 81% of the cases and of a papulopustular type in 19%. Unilateral lesions were found in 11 subjects (14%). Only 17% of those with rosacea were impaired by sunlight, whereas 26% improved. In the rosacea group, 27% were found to suffer from migraine and 42% from a tendency to flush, compared with 13% (p less than 0.001) and 16% (p less than 0.001) respectively in the comparison group. Flushing and the regulatory mechanism of the blood vessels thus seem to be of importance in the pathogenesis of rosacea. Individuals with good pigmentation ability showed a tendency to a decreased occurrence of rosacea. The frequency of eye complaints was the same in the two groups.

Adult↗

Epidemiological studies of the influence of sunlight on the skin.

We examined and interviewed 809 randomly selected individuals (56% women and 44% men, mean age 44 years) from 4 Swedish cities; 1.7% had the sun-reactive skin type I, 26.2% type II, 61.3% type III and 10.7% type IV. Some variations in the distribution of skin types were found between the cities. One hundred subjects (12.4%), mostly women (p less than 0.001), had a history of polymorphous light eruption. People with skin type IV had significantly fewer facial skin problems than the rest of the subjects (p less than 0.05). The majority of subjects with atopic eczema, acne vulgaris or seborrheic dermatitis experienced improvement after exposure to sunlight. Individuals with rosacea also experienced improvement more often than impairment from exposure to sunlight. Facial telangiectases occurred in 57% of the subjects, unilaterally in 8.5% of the cases. The occurrence of telangiectases increased with increasing age (p less than 0.001), increasing sunbathing (p less than 0.01) and poor pigmentation ability (p less than 0.05).

Adult↗

[Function-saving microsurgery in suboccipital removal of large acoustic neuromas].

Various successful approaches are available for acoustic neurinoma surgery, permitting total tumor removal and preservation of cranial nerve function. In smaller and medium sized tumors excellent results can be achieved with respect to facial and cochlear nerve function using the transtemporal approach. For larger tumors similar results can be achieved by the suboccipital approach. The results of 45 completely removed large acoustic neurinomas all operated upon via the suboccipito-lateral approach with microsurgical techniques and neurophysiological monitoring are presented. The average tumor size, excluding the portion within the internal auditory canal was 3 cm. Anatomical preservation of the VIIth cranial nerve was achieved in nearly all cases. Satisfactory to excellent facial nerve function was preserved in 70% of all cases. Initial hearing was preserved in 29%. However delayed postoperative hearing loss was encountered in 13%. Therefore definite hearing preservation was achieved in 16% of the cases. Intraoperative monitoring, especially of auditory evoked potentials, was very helpful in achieving these functional results.

Adult↗

Transtemporal planned partial resection of bilateral acoustic neurinomas.

In an attempt to overcome the complete auditory deprivation of young patients with bilateral acoustic nerve schwannomas (Morbus v. Recklinghausen) a planned partial resection of the tumour was carried out in 11 hearing ears. The cerebello-pontine angle was exposed by the enlarged middle fossa approach (Wigand et al., HNO 1985). A strip of tumour was left in contiguity to the facial and cochlear nerves. Hearing was initially preserved in all cases. Four of them, however, developed total deafness after 3-39 months. Recurrent tumour growth was checked by CT scans. During the observation time one resting tumour became invisible, five remained unchanged. Two grew larger. Three cases dropped out of the follow-up. With regard to the high value of preserved auditory function during the first decades of life the planned partial resection may be considered preferable for cases of bilateral acoustic neuromas.

Adolescent↗

Neonatal naltrexone treatment: effects on sexual and exploratory behavior in male and female rats.

The effect of neonatal naltrexone treatment (100 micrograms SC from day 1 to day 10) on copulatory and exploratory behavior in male and female rats was studied. In the female, neonatal naltrexone treatment enhanced copulatory (lordosis response) and exploratory behavior. An altered response to morphine was obtained; the effect of morphine on copulatory behavior was diminished while morphine's effect on exploratory activity was potentiated. The neonatal naltrexone treatment did not cause analogous effects in copulatory or exploratory behavior in the male rat. These data suggest that opioid mechanisms involved in the female copulatory and exploratory activity are established perinatally and can be influenced by early exposure to an opioid antagonist. It is concluded that there exist sex differences in this respect, both as to the sex-typical copulatory behavior and as to exploratory activity.

Animals↗

Skin problems in workers using visual display terminals. A study of 201 patients.

201 patients with skin problems caused in their own opinion by working with visual display terminals (VDTs) were referred and examined. 18% claimed that their condition improved overnight and 21% that it did so over the weekend. In 25 patients, the skin problems occurred mainly on the cheek turned towards the VDT. Half the patients had rosacea, but their subjective skin symptoms were generally more severe than those in ordinary cases of rosacea, i.e., severe pain, itching and burning. The rest of the patients mainly had common facial dermatoses such as seborrhoeic eczema, acne vulgaris and atopic dermatitis. The patients' skin types, judged by their response to ultraviolet light, did not differ from those of a control population. 18% had non-specific skin problems, e.g., itching and redness. This latter group of patients most closely resembles those cases previously described amongst VDT-workers. An attempt to correlate skin problems with VDTs' electrostatic field strength was unsuccessful because of difficulties in eliminating it. Of 52 electrostatic shields placed in front of patients' VDTs, 38 were defective and 9 were wrongly earthed. The prevalence of migraine-like headache was 40%, which is much higher than in a control population. There was no great use of cosmetics by the study population. When followed up after an average of 8 months, 2/3 of the patients had fewer skin complaints. The question of whether the prevalence of skin problems in general is higher amongst individuals using VDTs than in a control population is addressed in a current study.

Adult↗

Absence of mutagenic response to radiation from a video display terminal.

The standard Ames Salmonella test (TA 100) was used to detect the mutagenicity of radiation from a video display terminal. The Ames test is a sensitive assay that detects the ability of a chemical to damage deoxyribonucleic acid. It has also been employed to detect the mutagenicity of electromagnetic radiation. An extremely short distance (62 mm) from a video display terminal and an extremely high electrostatic field strength (250 kv/m) was employed. No mutagenic response was found in this test system.

Computer Systems↗