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Biomedical subjects

M Fitzgerald

Publications and source records attributed to M Fitzgerald.

288 records · Page 16Linked to original sources
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Blood-borne infections in Dublin's opiate users.

BACKGROUND: Injecting drug users are at high risk of acquiring blood-borne infections. Ireland has had a harm reduction policy of methadone maintenance and needle exchange since 1992. AIM: To estimate prevalence of hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV infection and appropriate uptake of hepatitis B vaccine in methadone attendees and to make recommendations for a simple record-based surveillance system. METHOD: Retrospective study of 138 client records for evidence of laboratory tests or test results for blood-borne viruses and appropriate immunisation against hepatitis B. RESULTS: A total of 60% of clients had evidence of one or more laboratory tests in their notes. Of those tested for individual viruses, 5.1% were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen, 78.8% had antibodies to hepatitis C and 16.7% were HIV positive. Nearly two-thirds of clients had no evidence of vaccination or information on prior immunity in their records. CONCLUSIONS: A standardised written protocol for screening for blood-borne viruses and for immunisation against hepatitis B in methadone service attendees was clearly needed, and was subsequently introduced by the Eastern Region Health Authority.

HIV Infections↗
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Spontaneous and evoked activity of fetal primary afferents in vivo.

The first movements of the fetus are apparently random and spontaneous. Their onset coincides with the growth of dorsal root afferents into the spinal cord and it is possible that they are not simply a result of spontaneous motoneuron activity but are reflex responses to sensory stimulation. It is not clear what stimuli could normally evoke such reflexes because nothing is known of the properties of primary afferent neurons in the fetus. I have investigated this by making recordings from single dorsal root ganglion cells in fetal rats in vivo. The afferents have small, defined receptive fields and respond to mechanical stimulation of skin or muscle at intensities that might occur in utero. Many of them are also chemosensitive. Unlike postnatal afferents they display background activity which peaks at the same age as fetal movements. Repeated stimulation causes long-lasting increases of both background and evoked activity. Such sensory input is likely to have a considerable influence on fetal movements and on the development of spinal cord connections.

Animals↗
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Cord blood thyrotropin screening for congenital hypothyroidism. Three years' experience on the Island of Saint Lucia.

Cord blood thyrotropin (TSH) screening for congenital primary hypothyroidism has been in effect on the island of St. Lucia for the past three years. Umbilical cord blood samples are obtained on Guthrie filter paper and then transported 3,000 miles to Loyola University of Chicago and delivered to the Illinois State Metabolic Screening Laboratory. There TSH is measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). After three years, 1,789 newborns have been screened, and the mean value is 6.23 +/- 0.13 microIU per ml. This mean value is less than previously reported by us in 1986 (10.23 +/- 0.29 microIU per ml).13 It is concluded that this screening service continues to be possible far removed from the population under observation. No case of primary hypothyroidism has been detected. Our decreased mean TSH value is due to the new method currently used by the Illinois State Metabolic Screening Laboratory. Congenital hypothyroidism will not be missed provided internal controls are established and rigidly observed.

Congenital Hypothyroidism↗
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A clinical and histological evaluation of conservative pulpal therapy in human teeth.

Three intermediary base materials, a zinc oxide-eugenol (Cavitec) and two calcium hydroxide liners (Life and Dycal), were selected at random for use as a base beneath amalgam or composite restorations on humans following complete caries removal. Life and Dycal, selected at random, were also used as direct and indirect pulp capping agents as clinically indicated. Clinical evaluations of signs and symptoms were made before treatment and at one-week, six-month, and one-year intervals following treatment. Histological evaluations were performed on three complete caries removal teeth and 18 direct pulp capping teeth six months following treatment. No significant differences in clinical symptomatology resulted between the materials in the complete caries removal group or the indirect and direct pulp capping groups.

Adult↗
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Medium-term results of combined heart and lung transplantation for emphysema.

Between December 1983 and April 1989, 222 combined heart and lung transplant operations were performed for treatment of pulmonary vascular disease and parenchymal lung disease at Harefield Hospital. Seventeen of these patients had emphysema, and 11 of them were followed up for a minimum of 1 year. There were nine male and two female patients. Their mean age was 39 (range, 32 to 54) years. Seven had alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency. Six patients were receiving continuous oxygen therapy, and two patients were dependent on a ventilator. Postoperatively, the patients' lungs were ventilated for a median of 3 days (range, 24 hours to 2 weeks). Two patients subsequently required further periods of ventilation. Immunosuppression consisted of azathioprine and cyclosporine. Three patients also received low-dose oral steroids. There was one early death, which occurred on the second postoperative day. The remaining patients were followed up for 12 to 53 (mean, 22) months. One patient had cytomegalovirus pneumonitis 6 weeks postoperatively that responded to treatment. There was one late death at 14 months after reoperation for treatment of obliterative bronchiolitis. The overall survival was 91% at 1 year. All survivors achieved an excellent level of rehabilitation. It is concluded that the medium-term results of heart and lung transplantation for treatment of emphysema are good and that patients with alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency may undergo transplant procedures without substitution therapy.

Adult↗
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Heart-lung transplantation for cystic fibrosis and subsequent domino heart transplantation.

Between September 1984 and October 1988, 27 patients underwent combined heart-lung transplantation for treatment of end-stage respiratory disease caused by cystic fibrosis. The actuarial patient survival was 78% at 1 year and 72% at 2 years. Bacterial respiratory infections were common in the early postoperative period and necessitated vigorous medical therapy. The dose of cyclosporine required in these patients was higher than in conventional transplant recipients, and this contributed to an increased cost of postoperative care. Lung function was greatly improved after transplantation, and long-term survivors achieved an excellent quality of life. Lymphoproliferative disorders developed in two patients; these disorders regressed after a reduction in immunosuppression. Two patients required retransplantation: one because of obliterative bronchiolitis and the other because of recurrent respiratory infections associated with a moderate tracheal stenosis and severe deterioration in lung function. A modification of the technique used for heart-lung transplantation allowed 20 hearts from cystic fibrosis patients to be used for subsequent heart transplantation. Immediate heart function was satisfactory in all cases. The actuarial survival of the recipients of these domino heart transplants was 75% at 1 year. No coronary artery disease was present in the 12 patients who have undergone coronary angiography at 1 year.

Actuarial Analysis↗
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Factors influencing the development of hypertension after heart transplantation.

In this study we investigated the factors influencing the development of hypertension in 488 consecutive heart transplant recipients. The cumulative probability of hypertension (blood pressure persistently above 150/95 mm Hg) developing was 52% at 1 year, 67% at 2 years, 73% at 3 years, and 77% at 4 years after transplantation. The incidence was higher in patients receiving cyclosporine and azathioprine compared with those receiving prednisone and azathioprine immunosuppression. The dose of cyclosporine used did not appear to influence the development of hypertension. Intermittent steroid exposure did not increase the incidence in the cyclosporine group. Male transplant recipients and those older than 20 years appeared more prone to the development of hypertension. A family history of cardiovascular disease also increased the incidence. Preoperative and postoperative kidney dysfunction and transplantation because of ischemic heart disease did not appear to affect the incidence of hypertension. Donor characteristics, including the use of hearts from donors who weighed more than the recipients and from patients dying of spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage, did not appear to increase the incidence of hypertension after heart transplantation.

Adult↗
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Will ye no' come back?

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Education, Nursing, Continuing↗
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Concurrent clinical and metabolic derangements in the newborn rat: a late phase sepsis model.

Gram negative sepsis is a leading cause of human newborn morbidity and mortality. The clinical signs and glucose and lactate concentration during the late phase of newborn rat endotoxicosis has not been well characterized. In order to define a late phase model of sepsis, simultaneous clinical signs (loss of response to pain [RP] and/or righting reflex [RR]), and metabolic (glucose, lactate) concentrations were studied in the 10 day old Sprague-Dawley rat. The rats were fasted for four hours and then injected with either saline (control) or 0.1 mg per kg Salmonella enteritidis (LD90 @ 24) endotoxin intraperitoneally. Rats were then examined every 15 minutes beginning two hours post injection for the presence or absence of loss of RR and/or loss of RP. Central blood samples were collected for determination of glucose and lactate at the moment of loss of the predetermined clinical parameter. Metabolic parameters were also determined on saline treated controls time matched to the experimental groups. Rats were grouped as follows: GrI, (n = 10), saline three hours post injection; GrIII, (n = 10), saline five hours post injection; GrII, (n = 45), endotoxin at the moment of loss of RR; GrVI, (n = 14), endotoxin at 8.5 hrs post injection (termination of experiment, all with loss of RR); GrIV, (n = 11) endotoxin at loss of RP; and GrV, (n = 10) saline at 8.5 hr post injection.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
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The effect of pulpal fluid flow on tensile bond strength of a glass-ionomer cement: an in vivo and in vitro comparison.

Previous studies of the bonding capabilities of glass-ionomer cements have concentrated on the use of in vitro testing conditions. Since early moisture contamination appears to have adverse effects on the physical properties of glass-ionomer cements, and with the probability of pulpally derived dentinal fluid being present under in vivo conditions, the objective of this study was to compare in vivo tensile bond strength with in vitro tensile bond strength of a glass-ionomer cement to dentin utilizing the same teeth under similar test conditions. A glass-ionomer lining cement was placed on freshly exposed labial dentin of the maxillary incisor on 10 Rhesus monkeys. Immediately following placement, an orthodontic button was placed over the cement and left undisturbed for 1 hour. The teeth were then extracted and stored in 100% relative humidity for 23 hours. An Instron testing machine was used to register in kilograms the force required to cause tensile bond failure of the cement. Identical methodology was then used on the same teeth for in vitro testing. The concluding results indicate that a statistically significant difference (P < or = 0.05) exists between in vivo and in vitro tensile bond strengths of the glass-ionomer lining cement and that the bond failure was cohesive in character for all cases both in vivo and in vitro. These findings suggest that clinically, tensile bond strengths of glass-ionomer cements to cut dentin can be expected to be weaker in vital teeth than in devital teeth.

Animals↗