Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M J Egger

Publications and source records attributed to M J Egger.

43 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Sister chromatid exchange frequency in asbestos workers.

In vitro cytogenetic studies of amosite, chrysotile, and crocidolite asbestos have shown that these fibers may induce chromosome abnormalities and an elevated sister chromatid exchange (SCE) rate in mammalian cells. Twenty-five asbestos insulators (6 with radiographic asbestosis) were compared to 14 controls frequency matched for age and were found to have a marginally increased SCE rate in circulating lymphocytes with increasing years of exposure (P= 0.057). There was a significant association between SCE rate and smoking (P=0.002) after controlling for years of asbestos exposure and age. Smoking asbestos insulators had the highest SCE rate. Sister chromatid exchanges in chromosomes of group A, i.e., the group with the longest chromosomes, were significantly associated with asbestos exposure and cigarette smoking, with an interaction between the two.

Asbestos↗

A comparison of acid-elution techniques and alpha-fetoprotein levels for the detection of fetomaternal bleeding.

Practical and reliable methods to identify and/or quantitate fetal blood are becoming more important in the modern practice of obstetrics. In this study, two commercially available acid-elution techniques were compared with plasma -alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) by simultaneously testing samples of fetal blood mixed with adult blood in fixed ratios. Thirty-one samples representing a range of amounts of fetomaternal hemorrhage, from 0.024 to 48 ml, were analyzed. The acid-elution techniques were equally effective in detecting fetomaternal hemorrhage greater than 15 ml, but the bmc Reagent set was the most accurate for detection of small numbers of fetal erythrocytes. The accuracy of AFP was greater than that of either acid-elution technique, but its clinical usefulness is limited by the necessity for a prehemorrhage sample.

Female↗

Nocardial infections in the immunocompromised host: A detailed study in a defined population.

A retrospective, clinical, epidemiologic, and risk-factor analysis was performed on 21 recipients of cardiac allografts who had experienced nocardiosis since the inception of the cardiac transplantation program at Stanford University Medical Center in 1968. The lung was the primary and only detectable site of infection in 17 (81%) of 21 patients, and there were three cases of disseminated disease. Presenting symptoms were either nonspecific (dry cough and fever) or absent (in 40%). The time of onset of infection following transplantation was variable (range, 43-982 days), and there was no period of peak incidence. Epidemiologic and risk-factor analysis failed to identify a nosocomial point-source or specific parameters that predisposed a patient to nocardial infection. Nocardiosis was not associated with the onset of primary infection with cytomegalovirus following transplantation. However, an association between pulmonary nocardiosis and subsequent development of nontuberculous mycobacteriosis was established in five of the 21 patients. All patients with nocardiosis were treated primarily with sulfisoxazole (6-12 g per day) for a mean of 13.2 months. No deaths were attributable to nocardial infection, nor could acquisition of the infection be shown to affect overall survival. The results of the study support an aggressive approach to diagnosis of infections in the immunocompromised host and suggest that a favorable therapeutic outcome may be anticipated in such individuals who sustain nocardiosis if the diagnosis is made early in the course of the infection and if appropriate antimicrobial therapy is instituted.

Adolescent↗

Introduction to hyperthermia device evaluation.

From 10/81 to 1/87, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the U.S. Department of Public Health Services (PHS) contracted with four institutions to evaluate hyperthermia technology to be applied in the treatment of human malignancy. During the five year period 1981-1986, data were collected which now reside in a consensus database representing treatments of 792 separate sites or fields in a total of 573 patients. These patients were treated with one or more of 49 devices by the four institutions. Sixteen ultrasound (US) devices were evaluated in 195 sites. Nine magnetic induction (MI) devices were evaluated in 208 sites. Twenty radiative electromagnetic (EM) devices were evaluated in 488 sites. Four interstitial (IRF) devices were evaluated in 37 sites. Many sites were treated with multiple hyperthermia modalities. This first in a series of 13 reports describes the general objectives of the Contractors' Group, basic methods of device evaluation and brief details of the large variety of devices tested.

Electromagnetic Phenomena↗