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Biomedical subjects

M Briggs

Publications and source records attributed to M Briggs.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Plasma lipids in women using progestogen-only oral contraceptives.

Using a strict protocol, in an attempt to avoid confounding factors, healthy women were assigned at random to a continuous daily dose of either 30 micrograms levonorgestrel or 350 micrograms norethisterone. Volunteers were either aged 40-45 years, or were less than 30 years and 8-12 weeks post partum. Blood plasma lipids and lipoproteins were measured on specimens collected in the fasting state before treatment, then every month during progestogen treatment. After 6 months there was a small increase in plasma triglycerides, especially in older women, and also in a non-lactating younger group. Changes in lipoprotein-cholesterol fractions were insignificant, though there were significant pretreatment differences between the various groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Precocious puberty in a 3-year-old girl associated with a parasellar ganglionic hamartoma.

Precocious puberty due to disorders of the nervous system is uncommon and may arise from neoplastic lesions situated in the pineal gland, hypothalamus, tuber cinereum, and midbrain. Most of these neoplasms maintain connections with or are attached to the central nervous system. Rarely, however, tumors lying free within the meninges may be associated with precocious puberty. A patient with this rare form of precocity who was found to have a parasellar ganglionic hamartoma is described in this report. Her post-operative course was marked by a reversal in her sexual precocity and a subsequent arrest in her accelerated growth rate.

Body Height↗
PubMed1981

A randomized study of metabolic effects of four low-estrogen oral contraceptives: I. Results after 6 cycles.

Healthy, non-smoking, normotensive, well-motivated young women were assigned at random to one of four different, commercial, low-estrogen, oral contraceptive products. Measurements of biochemical parameters were made on blood specimens collected from fasting subjects twice during the late pretreatment cycle, then again during each late treatment cycle for six months. All women assigned to one product (0.5mg NET + 35 microgram EE) dropped out of the study before the end of the fifth cycle, but discontinuations with the other three products were few. While numbers of subjects are small, the groups are closely matched and most metabolic differences are statistically significant. Products containing EDA and NET were associated with increases in serum total cholesterol and triglycerides, but decreases in HDL-cholesterol. In contrast, the LNG-containing preparation produced significantly less effect on these tests. A similar pattern was seen with a range of blood coagulation and fibrinolytic factors, Minimal alterations were seen with the LNG preparation, while those containing NET or EDA showed marked increases in factors I. VII, VIII, X and plasminogen, associated with a decrease in antithrombin III. It is suggested that differences in the metabolic impact of the various commercially available low-estrogen preparations, combined with effects on intermenstrual bleeding, allow a choice of the progestogen component most suitable for general use.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Bupivacaine infiltration after lumbar laminectomy. Local infiltration in the control of early postoperative lumbar laminectomy pain.

This is a report of a double-bind controlled trial to test the hypothesis that peroperative local infiltration of the wound of lumbar laminectomy with bupivacaine produces a significant reduction in postoperative back pain. No such effect was demonstrated when the linear analogue was used to record the patients' subjective response to pain. It is suggested that this treatment is not indicated as a routine method.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Extradural diamorphine in the control of pain following lumbar laminectomy.

Catheters were inserted into the extradural space under direct vision at the time of surgery for prolapsed intervertebral disc or lumbar canal stenosis. In the post-operative period, diamorphine (3 mg in 5 ml water) was injected through the catheter when patients requested analgesia. In only four of 49 patients was significant pain relief not achieved after extradural diamorphine injection. In four other patients it was not possible to use this method of analgesia throughout the two post-operative days as planned. As judged by the improved mobility and by grading on a linear analogue pain scale, the quality of analgesia achieved was better than after intramuscular papaveretum (10-20 mg) and extradural diamorphine was requested less frequently. There were no serious side-effects in the patients studied, although the technique was not used in patients over 55 years of age. Extradural diamorphine appeared to be less effective in two patients who had undergone re-explorations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Surgical mortality in an aneurysm population: effects of age, blood pressure and preoperative neurological state.

The mortality of 256 patients surgically treated for ruptured intracranial aneurysms was assessed with regard to age, systemic blood pressure on admission and preoperative neurological state. Increasing age, hypertension, and a poor neurological state (both singly and in combination) were found to influence surgical results dramatically. It is suggested that preoperative treatment of hypertension, and delay of operation in those patients aged over 50 years or hypertensive, as well as waiting for the neurological state to improve prior to operation, may lead to better results.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Measuring the duration of post traumatic amnesia.

A simple quantitative test is described for measuring the duration of post-traumatic amnesia. It was used in a study of 336 patients with closed head injury; and the results matched closely the independent estimates of experienced neurosurgeons. A systematic procedure of this kind is clinically useful in its sensitivity to fluctuations or deterioration in the patient's mental state. It could also be used with advantage in multi-centre research by providing a standard criterion for the assessment of post-traumatic amnesia.

Adolescent↗