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Biomedical subjects

P A Byrne

Publications and source records attributed to P A Byrne.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Consciousness in congenitally decorticate children: developmental vegetative state as self-fulfilling prophecy.

According to traditional neurophysiological theory, consciousness requires neocortical functioning, and children born without cerebral hemispheres necessarily remain indefinitely in a developmental vegetative state. Four children between 5 and 17 years old are reported with congenital brain malformations involving total or near-total absence of cerebral cortex but who, nevertheless, possessed discriminative awareness: for example, distinguishing familiar from unfamiliar people and environments, social interaction, functional vision, orienting, musical preferences, appropriate affective responses, and associative learning. These abilities may reflect 'vertical' plasticity of brainstem and diencephalic structures. The relative rarity of manifest consciousness in congenitally decorticate children could be due largely to an inherent tendency of the label 'developmental vegetative state' to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Brain↗
PubMed1997

Does vasectomy predispose to osteoporosis?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether vasectomy, which causes immunological and histological changes to the testes and changes to the hypothalamo-pituitary axis, could influence bone mineral density (BMD) and predispose to osteoporosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From patients referred to the Bone Densitometry Clinic, the BMD of L1-L4 and of the hip was analysed in 25 vasectomized men and compared with that in age-matched controls, ensuring that both groups had no secondary causes which might predispose to osteoporosis. RESULTS: In the spine, the mean (standard deviation) BMD was 1.00 (0.19) g/cm2 for the vasectomized men and 0.96 (0.14) g/cm2 for the controls. In the hip (femoral neck and total, respectively) the means were 0.79 g/cm2 and 0.90 g/cm2 for the vasectomized men and 0.72 g/cm2 and 0.96 g/cm2 for the controls. None of the differences were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: This study does not support the hypothesis that vasectomy may be a risk factor for osteoporosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Iliopsoas bursitis-an unusual presentation of metastatic bone disease.

Diagnostic uncertainty concerning the nature of an enlarging inguinal mass in an elderly male with a short history of hip pain was resolved by a combination of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Subsequent investigations showed that the enlarged iliopsoas bursa, which contained a number of atypical cells, was an unusual presenting feature of a destructive metastatic lesion in the right hip.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Minocycline-related lupus.

Five cases of suspected drug-related lupus are described in young female patients who had been taking minocycline for several years. All were asymptomatic before starting treatment. After variable but prolonged periods of continuous therapy all abruptly developed arthralgia/arthritis and on testing were antinuclear factor positive. In four cases the symptoms and signs disappeared within a short time of stopping the drug, whereas in the remaining case the systemic nature of the illness required treatment with corticosteroids. Three patients who were rechallenged with minocycline quickly developed a recurrence of their joint symptoms. Resolution of the serological abnormalities noted in these patients occurred more slowly than the resolution of the clinical symptoms. We propose a direct relationship in these cases between minocycline therapy and the occurrence of a lupus-like syndrome.

Acne Vulgaris↗
PubMed1984

Rat Sertoli cells in culture undergo metabolic co-operation with each other and with fibroblasts.

Metabolic co-operation between Sertoli cells from adult rats was detected by adding one group of cells, which were the recipients, to a second group of cells, which had been labelled for 3 h with [3H]uridine and were the donors. Metabolic co-operation also was studied by co-culturing Sertoli cells, which were the donors, with human or Chinese hamster HGPRT- fibroblasts (recipients) in the presence of [3H]hypoxanthine. With both techniques the recipients in contact with donors had significantly more radioactive grains than did the recipients alone. In all cases the proportion of interactions that were positive for metabolic co-operation was greater than 80%.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Brain death--an opposing viewpoint.

Recent and proposed legislation to establish "brain-related" criteria of death has uniformly confounded irreversible cessation of total brain function with the death of the human person. Much of the confusion comes from widespread misunderstanding of how the word "death" is used and what it means. Cessation of total brain function, whether irreversible or not, is not necessarily linked to total destruction of the brain or to the death of the person. Further, to take vital organs or to otherwise treat people as though they were dead already on the basis of these recent criteria is morally unacceptable to most Orthodox Jews and Christians.

Brain↗
PubMed1978

On death.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Brain Death↗
PubMed1976

Clinical effects of myotonic dystrophy on pregnancy and the neonate.

The article describes pregnancies and labors of five women with myotonic muscular dystrophy and their four severely involved infants, and reviews the pertinent literature. Three of the four neonatal cases died by 3 weeks of age of respiratory failure or aspiration; the fourth infant is now 4 months old and has respiratory and swallowing difficulties. The symptoms of myotonic dystrophy worsen during pregnancy. A high rate of fetal loss occurs due to spontaneous abortion, prematurity, and neonatal involvement with the disease. Prolonged labor has been described as a consistent complication, but the evidence does not justify this conclusion. Although many neonates with myotonic dystrophy are asymptomatic, severely affected newborns have a recognizable disorder unrelated to the severity of the maternal disease. The most common clinical manifestations in the neonate are arthrogryposis involving predominantly the lower extremilies, generalized hypotonia and weakness, and pharyngeal weakness. Less constant features include polyhydramnios, facial diplegia, diaphragmatic paralysis, respiratory failure, decreased motility of the gastrointestinal tract, congenital cataracts, and electrocardiographic abnormalities.

Adult↗