Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P Jacobs.
Template bleeding times were determined in 48 men and women under 50 years of age, and in 95 men and women over 50 years of age. There was no significant male/female difference in any age group, but there was a significant reduction in the bleeding time with increasing age in both men and women.
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A 35-year-old woman with post-splenectomy refractory immune thrombocytopenia presented with an acute abdominal emergency requiring laparotomy. Her platelet count was raised from 10 to 96 X 10(9)/l using a combination of high-dose methylprednisolone, plasma exchange against fresh-frozen plasma, infusion of gammaglobulin and a single mega-unit of platelets. The surgical procedure was uneventful, and with no further therapy the platelet count rose to a peak of 244 X 10(9)/l, but over the following 7 days fell back slowly to 10 X 10(9)/l, at which time the patient was discharged well.
In a pilot study, 21 consecutive and previously untreated adults with chronic granulocytic leukaemia received either busulphan (group 1: n = 11) or a combination of the epipodophyllotoxin VP16-213 with cytosine arabinoside and doxorubicin (group 2: n = 10). Using a standardised protocol, objective response, defined as a granulocyte count consistently less than 10 X 10(9)/1 with no clinical evidence of the disease, was achieved in 45 and 40% of the patients, respectively, and median survivals were 89 and 107 weeks (p greater than 0.05). Although there was no difference in morbidity, the study was discontinued because the combination chemotherapy was more complex to administer, was associated with greater patient inconvenience, and offered no advantage over single-agent therapy in managing the stable phase of chronic granulocytic leukaemia.
One hundred therapeutic plasmaphereses were carried out at biweekly intervals in seven patients, without morbidity or mortality, using the IBM 2997 blood fraction separator. In standardised procedures, 1.5 times the calculated plasma volume was replaced with an electrolyte solution containing 4% salt-free human albumin. Anticoagulation was achieved using a whole venous blood to acid-citrate dextrose ratio of 11 to 1. Median flow rates, plasma collection, and procedure times were respectively 40 ml/minute, 20 ml/minute, and 3 hours. Haemoglobin and total white cell counts were not significantly affected by the procedures. In contrast, platelet count, fibrinogen, immunoglobulin levels, total haemolytic complement, as well as C3 and C4 fractions fell, and the prothrombin and partial thromboplastin times were lengthened by the exchanges. All these measurements had returned to normal within 24 hours, apart from the fibrinogen, which took between 48 and 72 hours, and the immunoglobulin level, which required 35 days to return to baseline. In a further patient, more detailed studies (n = 13) were carried out to characterise the behaviour of antithrombin III and factor VIII. Both levels were markedly reduced immediately following the procedure and, like fibrinogen, had returned to normal within 48 hours. These data indicate that in an isovolemic plasmapheresis there was a transient but rapidly reversible effect on all the factors studied, with fibrinogen level, antithrombin III, and factor VIII returning more slowly to normal than the others, and immunoglobulin levels responding the slowest. None of these changes was associated with clinically significant haemostatic abnormalities.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
We have assessed the benefit of separate or combined alpha- and beta-receptor blockade in the treatment of 33 patients suffering from acute (less than 48 hr) myocardial infarction complicated by sustained (greater than 6 hr) systolic hypertension (systolic blood pressure greater than 150 mm Hg). Eight patients have been treated with metoprolol, 7 with phentolamine and 18 with labetalol. We evaluated the effects of these drugs on hemodynamics and arterial and mixed venous blood gases. The patients were divided into two groups on the basis of the pulmonary wedge pressure. The first group had a pressure greater than 15 mm Hg. It included 9 patients treated with labetalol (1.8 mg/min for 1 hr) and 7 others with phentolamine (0.6 mg/min for 1 hr). The wedge pressure in the second group was less than 13 mm Hg. Nine patients in this group had been treated with labetalol (2.1 mg/min for 1 hr) and 8 others with metoprolol (0.2 mg/kg in 15 min). Labetalol normalized the blood pressure in both groups within 1 hr as did phentolamine. Metoprolol did not significantly reduce either the systolic or the diastolic pressures. The high wedge pressures in the first group were reduced by both labetalol and phentolamine. The cardiac index was increased following phentolamine administration while it was reduced by labetalol. In the group with low wedge pressure, labetalol and metoprolol induced a slight but significant reduction in cardiac index but the pulmonary wedge pressures were significantly increased for metoprolol only. The rate-pressure product was very significantly decreased by labetalol and metoprolol but not by phentolamine. The emergency treatment of systemic hypertension occurring in the setting of acute myocardial infarction would thus appear to be best achieved by combined alpha- and beta-blockade rather than with either pure alpha- or pure beta-blockade. Phentolamine, however, would be a good drug in the presence of a reduced cardiac index.
An electrophysiological study of sinus node function, including measurements of resting heart rate, maximal corrected sinus node recovery time and sinoatrial conduction time, was performed in 30 patients, 12-79 years of age, without any clinical, electrocardiographic or electrophysiological evidence of sinus node disease. To analyse autonomic influences, variables were measured before and after sympathetic and parasympathetic blockade. No significant correlations were observed between age and electrophysiological measurements of sinus node function at the control study or after sympathetic blockade. In contrast, the electrophysiological parameters of intrinsic sinus node activity were correlated with age and showed a progressive lengthening of mean sinus cycle length, of maximal corrected sinus node recovery time and of sinoatrial conduction time. In addition, measurements after vagolysis suggest a progressive decrease of parasympathetic activity with increasing age. These data also indicate that the respective role of the two components of the autonomic nervous system vary with increasing age: parasympathetic activity predominates in younger subjects; sympathetic and parasympathetic tones are equilibrated in older subjects. The normal sinus node function represents an equilibrated system: in parallel with ageing of the intrinsic properties of the sinus node, parasympathetic activity decreases so that basal properties remain stable throughout life.
Radiographic abnormalities in bone are unusual during the stable phase of chronic granulocytic leukaemia (CGL). A rare situation is reported in which a patient developed three distinctive skeletal lesions simultaneously in different anatomical sites. Firstly, in both fibulae symmetrical punched out and permeative lesions were present throughout much of the shafts, being most prominent in the mid-diaphyseal regions. Secondly, the tibiae were slightly porotic and showed localized periosteal reactions, whereas in the fibulae there was extensive cloaking by a similar but much more intensive reaction. Thirdly, multiple osteosclerotic lesions were present in the pubic bones and in the proximal ends of the femora and humeri. Concurrently, fluctuant, culture negative swellings were present on the extremities. Histological examination of the material from the subcutaneous and lytic lesions showed only areas of fibrosis with islands of haematopoietic tissue, including scanty megakaryocytes. Bone marrow trephine biopsy showed the presence of myelofibrosis with islands of haematopoietic tissue typical of CGL without any evidence of blastic transformation.
The purpose of this historical research was to explore the evolution of the doctor-nurse relationship. Specifically, older nurses were interviewed regarding their nursing interactions with physicians approximately 50 years ago. A grounded theory approach was employed to analyse the data. Inherent to the difficulties nurses experienced was the dominant power position assumed by doctors in the health profession. The data give added insights into the development of this relationship. It was found that because nurses were educated primarily by doctors and because they were hired by doctors if they were considered to be 'good' nurses, a sex role stereotype of the nurse emerged. Historically these roles have influenced and continued to influence the nursing profession.
In a group of 50 patients we investigated the daily reproducibility of the resting heart rate (RHR), the maximal corrected sinus node recovery time (CSNRTM), the pacing rate at which the CSNRTM occurred (OP), and the sinoatrial conduction time (SACT) during basal state. The study population was divided into two groups according to the presence or absence (as evidenced during the initial electrophysiologic study) of sinus node disease: group I included 35 patients with normal sinus node function, and group II included 15 patients with sick sinus syndrome. The electrophysiologic study was repeated approximately at the same hour and under similar conditions after an interval of at least two days (mean: 3.2 days for group I and 4.7 days for group II). The results showed good reproducibility with the exception of RHR in group I which slightly but significantly decreased in the second electrophysiologic study. The daily variations of the sinus node parameters appeared to be of similar levels in the two groups except for the CSNRTM; this parameter showed wide variations in single values in both groups, more marked in group II than in group I. Furthermore, if the CSNRTM and/or SACT were normal, it was likely that they would remain normal whatever the electrophysiologic status of the patient. Inversely, the change of status from abnormal to normal CSNRTM or SACT was not uncommon in patients with electrophysiologic signs of sinus node disease.
The concentrations of tear lysozyme, lactoferrin, ceruloplasmin, IgA, and IgG have been estimated in patients with dry eyes at the same time as semiquantitative bacterial culture was performed of the conjunctivae and lids. Staphylococcal isolations were quantified and biotyped. There was no increased conjunctival colonisation by any particular biotype of Staphylococcus aureus or Staph. epidermidis, and similar numbers of conjunctivae were sterile as in controls (33%); neither were any pathogens such as pneumococci or haemophili isolated. We consider that the conjunctiva of the dry eye, without the lacrimal secretion components of lysozyme and lactoferrin, has an alternative protective antibacterial mechanism which is derived from serum proteins via chronically inflamed vessels.
In a retrospective analysis five of 104 patients with acute leukaemia undergoing cytotoxic chemotherapy developed abdominal signs requiring emergency surgical exploration. Two common features in these patients were the inclusion of cytosine arabinoside in their treatment regimen and a necrotizing lesion involving the terminal ileum, appendix, and right colon. Appendicectomy was performed in two and hemicolectomy in three. Of the patients receiving high-dose cytosine arabinoside one died in the immediate post-operative period and two after recovery from surgery but before marrow regeneration; the remaining two patients received conventional dose cytosine arabinoside, and both recovered. The inclusion of this agent is standard in modern treatment programmes, resulting in significant improvement in long-term disease-free survival, so that a greater awareness of this complication is necessary. Early surgery, utilizing modern support techniques, is recommended as feasible and appears to offer the only realistic chance of survival.
A 14-year-old boy with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic granulocytic leukaemia underwent morphologically distinctive blastic transformation on 3 separate occasions. The first was clearly lymphoblastic, the second was associated with meningeal leukaemia and was morphologically biphenotypic, expressing mixed myeloid and lymphoid features, while the third was characterised by extreme thrombocytosis and megakaryoblastic proliferation. The classical t(9:22) Philadelphia chromosome remained constant throughout the illness, but the additional cytogenetic changes that occurred with the first transformation were abolished with response to conventional therapy for lymphoblastic leukaemia. A total of 19 months of good-quality life was achieved, but on the third occasion, the boy died from intracranial haemorrhage before treatment could be initiated.
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Marginal cost is the additional cost incurred for an additional unit of output. The importance of healthcare organizations knowing marginal costs in a DRG environment will increase due to greater competition and falling occupancy and payment rates. A method for obtaining estimates of marginal cost by DRG has been developed. This method is relatively inexpensive to apply, requires information from general accounting records and Medicare logs, and uses linear regression analysis.
In 1981 eight small- and medium-sized hospitals in a rural area of New York State began voluntary participation in the Finger Lakes Hospital Experimental Payment (FLHEP) program. An annual maximum reimbursement formula was set for each hospital, which offered financial incentives to contain the growth in expenditures without penalty in subsequent years. In this analysis of the first three years of the program, we found that the growth in revenues and expenses in study group hospitals was reduced and chronic deficits were eliminated. The FLHEP model may have wider potential for ensuring solvency while controlling expenditures of hospitals in other rural areas of the United States.