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Biomedical subjects

P Lieberman

Publications and source records attributed to P Lieberman.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Thiazide-induced hyponatremia: an unusual neurologic course.

We have presented a case of thiazide-induced hyponatremia that followed an unusual course after the patient, suffering from extreme lethargy, was admitted with a serum sodium concentration of 104 mEq/L. Although the electrolyte imbalance was essentially corrected within 20 hours and there was clinical improvement, three days later the patient suddenly lost consciousness. She was comatose for more than a month, apparently from extrapontine myelinolysis. After a dramatic improvement, the patient was discharged with almost no neurologic deficit.

Acute Disease↗

The use of methacholine inhalation, methacholine skin testing, distilled water inhalation challenge and eosinophil counts in the evaluation of patients presenting with cough and/or nonwheezing dyspnea.

Twenty-four patients presenting with cough and/or nonwheezing dyspnea were evaluated with methacholine inhalation challenge (MC), distilled water inhalation challenge (DC), intracutaneous tests to varying concentrations of methacholine, total eosinophil counts (TEC), sinus and chest x-rays. We found a statistically significant difference (P less than .005) in the mean TEC in those patients with a positive MC test and those with a negative test. Hyperreactivity of the airways to methacholine in asthmatics is not found in the skin. Distilled water inhalation did not serve to substitute for MC as a test of hyperreactive airways. The TEC is an excellent screening test as a predictor of patients with cough or dyspnea who have hyperreactive airways.

Adolescent↗

Mediator release in local heat urticaria: protection with combined H1 and H2 antagonists.

Two patients with local heat urticaria were examined for evidence of histamine release and for changes in mast cell morphology after local heat challenge. Both patients demonstrated significant release of histamine into the draining venous blood in the challenged arm. Biopsy specimens revealed mucosal edema after 30 min, followed by a mononuclear, perivascular infiltrate by 6 hr, and increasing in intensity by 24 hr. Degranulated mast cells were observed by electron microscopy. Heat challenge was repeated after treatment with hydroxyzine, cimetidine, or a combination of both drugs. Neither hydroxyzine nor cimetidine alone affected the clinical response to challenge, but both drugs together completely abolished the clinical response. In addition, the combination of both drugs taken regularly completely prevented symptoms. This observation suggests that histamine is one of the major mediators of this disorder and that both H1 and H2 receptors are operative.

Adult↗

Phonetic speech perception deficits in dyslexia.

Adult developmental dyslexics showed deficits in the identification of the vowels of English when the sole acoustic cues were steady-state formant frequency patterns. Deficits in the identification of place of articulation of the English stop-consonants [b], [d] and [g] in syllable-initial position were also observed. The average consonantal error rate was 22%. These error rates are significantly different from those of nondyslexic control groups (p less than .01). No single deficit characterized the entire group of dyslexic subjects. The pattern of errors with respect to place of articulation also varied for different groups of subjects. Three dyslexics have high vowel error rates and low consonantal error rates. The data are consistent with the premise that dyslexic subjects may have different perceptual deficits rather than a general auditory deficit involving the rate at which they can process perceptual information. The clinical histories of the present subjects suggest genetic transmission of these speech perception deficits. The presence of genetic variation in the biological substrate relevant to the perception of human speech should be further explored.

Adolescent↗

Measures of the sentence intonation of read and spontaneous speech in American English.

The visual abstraction procedure used in previous studies of declination was tested using 12 subjects who each fit the F0 contours of 19 spoken short simple sentences with baselines. These baselines were found to be poorly replicated the fitters. An objective all-points least-squares best-fit procedure was tested on this corpus and on a set of sentences that had been produced in both spontaneous and read speech by six speakers. The all-points linear regression line was a better descriptor of the F0 contours than either baselines or toplines. Declination did not always occur in these simple declarative sentences; there was more variation present in the F0 contours of sentences that had been uttered during spontaneous speech; 35% of the spontaneous sentences did not show declination; 45% of these sentences better fit the breath-group model. Their F0 contours could be described by a level all-points linear regression line followed by a falling terminal segment.

Adult↗

The course of psychiatric disorder, III: Longitudinal principles.

The authors studied 28 patients hospitalized for functional psychiatric disorder in an attempt to explore systematically the course of psychiatric disorder. Data collected over the 2-year period following discharge suggested the existence of eight longitudinal principles for understanding the course of psychiatric disorder. These principles reflect identifiable phases and some of the factors involved in a patient's remaining in one phase or moving on to a new phase. The clinical and research implications of these principles are described.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Neuroectodermal tumor and monoclonal antibodies.

Antibody-producing clones were obtained by hybridization of spleen cells from mice immunized with whole cultured human tumor cells and mouse myeloma cells, P3UX59AG8. The tumor cells were derived from a peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor. One of the antibodies produced by these clones reacts with the original cell line, SK-PN-DW, and other more differentiated neuroectodermal tumors such as neuroblastomas and melanomas. The cell line SK-PN-DW contains antigenic determinants recognized by monoclonal antibodies raised against melanoma, neuroblastoma, and human fetal brain. These data indicate that this primitive neuroectodermal tumor is derived from the neuroectoderm.

Adolescent↗

The value of demonstration and role of the pharmacist in teaching the correct use of pressurized bronchodilators.

The use of an improper technique with metered-dose inhalers decreases the efficacy of the bronchodilators being administered. There is evidently a need for patients to watch a demonstration. Twenty-nine adult asthmatic patients from an allergy clinic were divided into three groups, each receiving a different form of instruction: an information sheet, personal instruction or a videotape presentation. Subsequently each patient was tested for correct use of the inhaler. There was no difference in mean scores for inhalation technique between the groups instructed in person and by videotape, but both were significantly better than the mean score of the group given only an information sheet. There was also no significant change in the scores at a follow-up test in the groups who saw the technique demonstrated. These results indicate the need for and value of the demonstration of proper technique with pressurized inhalers. A pharmacy-generated education system using videotape equipment or personal instruction by a pharmacist could readily solve the problem.

Adult↗

Lymphomatoid granulomatosis: an analysis of clinical and immunologic characteristics.

Six patients with lymphomatoid granulomatosis were studied. Two patients had eye involvement, a rare manifestation of this disease. Both had complete disappearance of disease in this area after radiation therapy. One patient presented with an autoimmune hemolytic anemia, which remitted completely with chemotherapy. The use of corticosteroids or chemotherapy was effective in bringing about a decrease in pulmonary infiltrates in all six patients, although the duration of response was limited. One patient did have a prolonged period of clinical remission, and died of an unrelated cause. Evidence of profound immunologic abnormalities was found in these patients by a variety of tests. The extensive immunologic dysfunction present in patients with lymphomatoid granulomatosis has not previously been described. Most strikingly, patients with lymphomatoid granulomatosis have a severe impairment in T-lymphocyte function, confirmed by their inability to react to common skin test antigens or dinitrochlorobenzene, decreased in vitro lymphocyte responsiveness to mitogens and antigens and changes in T-cell subset populations. This may account for the frequent development of malignant lymphomas in patients with this condition.

Aged↗

Primary gastric lymphoma. A review of 50 cases.

The records of 50 patients with localized primary gastric lymphoma were reviewed and clinical and prognostic factors characterized. Pathologic material was reclassified according to Rappaport's, Lukes-Collins, and Lennert's Kiel classifications. Factors with the greatest prognostic significance included initial stage as determined by surgery and pathology, absolute tumor size, degree of penetration through the stomach wall, and histologic grade of the lymphoma. After surgical resection for cure, the overall 5-year disease-free survival was 47%. For stage I disease, this was 78% vs 29% for stage II (P = 0.006). Patients with lymphomas less than 5 cm in diameter had 58% 5-year disease-free survival vs 32% for those with tumors greater than 10 cm (P = 0.06). Full-thickness penetration decreased 5-year survival from 75% to 38% (P = 0.06). Patients with histologically low-grade lymphomas had a better prognosis than those with high-grade lymphomas. The most significant correlation of histology to survival was seen with the Kiel classification with a 5-year survival of 39% for centroblastic polymorphous lymphoma vs 66% for LP immunocytoma. When lymphoma recurred it developed outside the abdomen in a majority of patients. The addition of abdominal radiation therapy to surgical resection made no significant impact on survival for either stage I or II disease.

Adult↗

Normal alpha 2-adrenergic responses in platelets from patients with asthma.

recent in vivo studies suggest that alpha-adrenergic responses are exaggerated in asthmatic subjects. We studied alpha 2-adrenergic responses in platelets from 12 healthy subjects and 10 patients with asthma who had taken no medication for at least 9 days prior to study except low-dose (less than 600 micrograms daily) beclomethasone diproprionate. Alpha 2-adrenergic inhibiton of prostaglandin E1-stimulated adenosine 3':5; cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) accumulation was normal in platelets from subjects with asthma. The time course of inhibition, the extent of inhibition, and the dose-response relationship did not differ between the groups. Results from allergic and nonallergic patients did not differ, and alpha 2-adrenergic responses were not correlated with age, sex, peak flow rated, or total eosinophil counts. Platelet alpha 2-adrenergic cAMP responses are normal in subjects with asthma.

Adrenergic alpha-Agonists↗

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in pregnancy.

A 20 week primigravida with intrauterine fetal death and the rare occurrence of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) in pregnancy is presented. Aprotinin has been used to overcome uterine inertia non-responsive to oxytocin stimulation. TTP was successfully treated with repeated plasmaphereses. The literature is briefly reviewed and the complexity and importance of the differential diagnosis specific to the pregnant patient is discussed.

Adult↗

Short-term release cues to stop-consonant place of articulation in child speech.

In recent work Blumstein and Stevens (J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 66, 1001-1017 (19179); 67, 648-662 (1980) have proposed that the short-term onset spectra at stop-consonant releases provide invariant cues for the perception of place of articulation, and that the salient acoustic characteristics of these cues can be characterized by a set of templates. The present study investigated the suitability of these templates for characterizing place of articulation in utterance-initial voiced stop consonants produced by two children 71-75 weeks old in spontaneous discourse. The overall correct categorization rate for the templates was 65%, with 70% correct categorizations for the bilabial template, 85% for the alveolar template, and 40% for the velar template. The results of a perceptual study in which listeners were asked to identify place of articulation for computer-edited 15-, 25-, 40-, and 135-ms samples of the initial parts of these utterances were compared with the results of the template matching study. Although listeners' identification of place of articulation was at well above chance level on even the 15-ms tokens, there was no correlation between the results of the template-matching study and the perceptual data. The perceptual data thus indicate that short-term onset cues exist in the spontaneous speech of children at an early stage of language development, however, these cues do not appear to be adequately characterized by the Blumstein-Stevens templates.

Alveolar Process↗