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Biomedical subjects

N J Beeching

Publications and source records attributed to N J Beeching.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Phlebotomy in inoculation risk patients: a questionnaire survey of knowledge and practices of hospital doctors in Liverpool.

To assess the knowledge of hospital doctors about patients at increased risk of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis B virus, and the precautions they took during phlebotomy in such patients, an anonymous postal questionnaire was sent to all 307 hospital doctors working at two District General Hospitals in Liverpool, UK. Two hundred and thirty-eight (77.5%) of the questionnaires were returned. More than 90% of respondents considered a history of male homosexuality, intravenous drug abuse, prostitution or a child of a prostitute to indicate an inoculation risk. There was uncertainty about a previous prison sentence in the 1980s, residence in a home for the mentally handicapped, previous residence in the tropics and hospital treatment in the tropics. Thirty-eight percent of doctors would never enquire about sexual preference, 54.1% about a previous prison sentence and 15.7% about intravenous drug abuse in their clinical history. Although 97.4% of doctors would sometimes or always wear gloves during phlebotomy of an inoculation risk patient, 25.5% always resheathed the needle after phlebotomy and 20.8% would never take the sharps box to the patient. More effort is required to identify accurately inoculation risk patients and greater care is needed in phlebotomy techniques.

Blood Specimen Collection↗
PubMed1991

The platelet count as a simple measure to distinguish inflammatory bowel disease from infective diarrhoea.

A total of 212 adult patients with infective diarrhoea and 27 with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), admitted consecutively to an infectious disease unit, were studied in order to determine whether clinical features and laboratory measurements performed on admission identified cases of IBD. Long-standing diarrhoea, blood in the faeces, anaemia, leucocytosis, thrombocytosis, raised ESR and a reduced concentration of serum albumin were more common in patients with IBD (P less than 0.05). The most striking difference was in the platelet count with 59% patients with IBD and 1.6% patients with infective diarrhoea having platelet counts greater than 450 x 10(9)/l. A raised platelet count in a patient admitted to hospital with 'acute gastro-enteritis' suggests IBD.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Reactive arthritis complicating group G streptococcal septicaemia.

We describe a case of group G streptococcal septicaemia complicated by sterile polyarthritis and pericarditis. We suggest that this organism may cause a 'reactive arthritis' type of illness, and that this is in keeping with known properties of the organism. We note that our patient's clinical features fit the modified Jones criteria for the diagnosis of rheumatic fever.

Arthritis↗
PubMed1990

Acute gastroenteritis: the need to remember alternative diagnoses.

Five hundred and ninety-four patients were consecutively admitted to an infectious disease unit over a 2-year period with a referral diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis or food poisoning. In 175 (29%) patients, gastrointestinal symptoms were associated with a condition other than gastrointestinal infection. Non-infective gastrointestinal disease was present in 90 patients, systemic infection in 50 and systemic disease in 35. Four illustrative case histories are presented to emphasize the need for a high index of suspicion if diseases such as malaria, septicaemia or appendicitis are not to be missed.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1987

Cystic hydatid disease in Auckland, New Zealand, 1967-1982.

The development of anthelmintic chemotherapy has provoked re-evaluation of the management of hydatid disease. We reviewed the case records of 74 patients with 93 episodes admitted to hospitals in Auckland, New Zealand, between 1967 and 1982. Median stay was 29 d (range 1-172). 46 (62%) of the patients were male: 34 (45%) were European and 38 (51%) Maori. The median age was 39 years (range 14-85). The majority of patients presented with symptoms and signs related to local effects of the cyst. 57 (77%) patients had at least one operation and while 34 (60%) had a major surgical complication, only 3 died. At follow-up in 1984, 38 (67%) of the surgical patients and 10 of the 17 (65%) who were not operated on were alive. 9 mebendazole recipients were evaluated: 5 (55%) responded symptomatically, but only one was cured by mebendazole alone. One stopped mebendazole because of side-effects. 2 patients took albendazole: one was cured and one had a symptomatic response. Thus surgery is not always needed. The role of chemotherapy requires further evaluation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Comparative in-vitro activity of antibiotics incorporated in acrylic bone cement.

We compared the persistence of antibacterial activity around antibiotic-impregnated acrylic bone cement discs which were serially transferred on seeded agar plates. On plates inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, CMW1 discs containing 2.5% by dry weight of cephalothin, coumermycin or fusidic acid (as diethanolamine fusidate) produced zones of inhibition for four to eight weeks when transferred daily. In contrast, ceftriaxone, cotrimoxazole, rifampicin and vancomycin ceased to be inhibitory within a week. Discs made of 'Palacos-R with Garamycin,' which contains gentamicin 1.25%, had an intermediate duration of activity. When Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 was used as the test organism, ceftriaxone and 'Palacos-R with Garamycin' showed activity for almost three weeks, cephalothin and cotrimoxazole were briefly inhibitory and the remainder not at all. When discs were transferred each week instead of daily, the ranking of antibiotics was similar but antibacterial activity persisted for longer. A combination of gentamicin plus fusidic acid in CMW1 was active for a much shorter time than either fusidic acid alone or 'Palacos-R with Garamycin'. We conclude that coumermycin is a promising new agent for incorporation in acrylic cement.

Acrylates↗
PubMed1985

Streptococcus bovis bacteraemia requires rigorous exclusion of colonic neoplasia and endocarditis.

Twelve patients presented to the hospitals of the Auckland Hospital Board with bacteraemia caused by Streptococcus bovis in the years 1979-84. Ten had endocarditis, affecting homograft valves in two cases and the tricuspid valve in one case. Of nine patients who underwent investigation of the large bowel, only one did not have a colorectal tumour. Three had colonic adenocarcinoma and three had colorectal villous adenoma. Two, including a patient with acute hepatic failure from alcoholic cirrhosis, had colonic adenomata. Colonoscopy provided a tissue diagnosis of colorectal neoplasia despite negative radiological studies in three patients. Bacteraemia due to S. bovis should prompt rigorous investigation to exclude both endocarditis and tumours of the large bowel.

Adenocarcinoma↗