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Biomedical subjects

P Mills

Publications and source records attributed to P Mills.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

[Characteristic transient times measured by backscattered laser light in blood suspension flow (author's transl)].

An optical method is proposed for studying rouleaux formation and red blood cells (RBC) orientation. Both relations, first between m, the mean number of RBCs per rouleau and reflectivity, and second between the oriented RBCs fraction and the variation of the isotropic reflectivity are proposed. Our experimental data about aggregation relaxation time and orientation relaxation time are discussed and compared to viscometric results.

Blood Flow Velocity↗

Noninvasive assessment of pulmonary hypertension from right ventricular isovolumic contraction time.

In order to assess a noninvasive method of predicting pulmonary arterial pressure in adults, right ventricular systolic time intervals were determined with echocardiography simultaneously with pulmonary arterial end-diastolic pressure measurements. Right ventricular isovolumic contraction time was measured from echographic recordings of the tricuspid and pulmonary valves. Although this interval was found to increase as pulmonary arterial pressure increased, the method cannot be used to predict quantitatively the level of pulmonary arterial pressure in adults. However, an echocardiographically determined right ventricular contraction time of less than 25 ms suggests a normal pulmonary arterial pressure. In patients with pulmonary parenchymal diseases, echograms of the tricuspid and pulmonary valves are only rarely of such quality as to permit accurate delineation of the valvular events required for these measurements.

Adolescent↗

Non-invasive diagnosis of subpulmonary outflow tract obstruction.

We have studied the echocardiographic and phonocardiographic findings in 18 patients with obstruction to ventricular outflow at subpulmonary valve level. The aetiology was congenital in 13 patients, a result of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in three, and infiltration of the right ventricular outflow tract by glycogen or lymphoma in the remaining two. Abnormal systolic motion of the pulmonary valve, fluttering, and early or midsystolic closure were seen in 16 of 17 patients in whom the cusps were visualised. Normal pulmonary valve motion was found in one patient with coexisting pulmonary valve stenosis. In congenital infundibular stenosis the delay of the pulmonary component of the second heart sound (P2) was related to the severity of the obstruction. A pulmonary ejection sound, defined as a high-frequency sound occurring at the moment of full pulmonary valve opening, was absent except in the patient with coexisting pulmonary valve stenosis. In hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with obstruction to the right ventricular outflow, the ejection systolic murmur was softer with inspiration, a finding that contrasts with the respiratory variation seen with fixed obstruction. Recognition of these abnormalities should allow an accurate non-invasive diagnosis to be made and permit assessment of severity when P2 can be recorded.

Adolescent↗

[Characteristic rheograms of pathological bloods. Application to dynamic pharmacology (author's transl)].

The viscosity of normal and pathological blood samples is determined using a Couette viscometer (5.10-2s-1 less than or equal to shear rate less than to equal to 125 s-1). In different pathological cases, the rheograms show an abnormal behaviour. The viscosity curves exhibits a break between 0.1 and 1 s-1. This work shows the results obtained in the case of a patient suffering from Raynaud's disease. During therapy with lysine acetylsalycilate one observed the gradual shift of the breack to low shaer values, then, the return to a normal rheogram. In the same time, acroyanosis has completely disappeared, recovering normal nail growth.

Aged↗

[Maximum rate of sedimentation of a suspension placed in a viscosimeter with coaxial cylinders. Application to a number of pathological blood samples (author's transl)].

Erythrocyte sedimentation of normal and pathological human bloods at varying controlled shear rates has been measured. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was found to reach a maximum at a characteristic shear rate gamma c [gamma c less than .1 s-1 for normal bloods; gamma c greater than .1 s-1 for pathological bloods]. Records of viscosity versus shear rate exhibit a break near gamma c. Examples show that ESR is well correlated with viscometric data.

Blood Sedimentation↗

The diagnosis of a non-stenotic bicuspid aortic valve.

Follow-up of a group of subjects in whom an aortic ejection sound was the only abnormal finding revealed a bicuspid aortic valve at necropsy or operation in 6 cases. High speed echophonocardiographic studies in 15 subjects with aortic stenosis and known to have bicuspid valves, showed the ejection sound to be exactly synchronous with final halting of the opening aortic valve cusps. Echocardiographic visualisation of the aortic valve from the apex, looking up the left ventricular outflow tract, showed valve echoes during systole indicating abnormal cusp configuration. This proved a more sensitive indicator of a bicuspid aortic valve than the finding of an eccentric aortic valve closure line. These findings were used to evaluate 37 subjects with the auscultatory finding of an isolated aortic ejection sound and the diagnosis of a non-stenotic bicuspid aortic valve was confirmed in 30. The usual cause of misdiagnosis was a sound associated with late tricuspid valve closure. The auscultatory finding of an aortic ejection sound, in the absence of other signs of aortic stenosis, indicates a non-stenotic, bicuspid aortic valve. Confirmation of aortic valvar origin of the sound can be provided by a simultaneous echophonocardiogram.

Aortic Valve↗

The natural history of a non-stenotic bicuspid aortic valve.

Forty-one patients in whom the diagnosis of a non-stenotic bicuspid aortic valve had been established by noninvasive techniques were followed up for a mean of 10.9 years. During this period, 2 patients required aortic valve replacement because of the development of calcific aortic valve stenosis at the ages of 52 and 64 and 5 others developed evidence of mild aortic valve stenosis. The appearance of calcium in a bicuspid aortic valve suggests the possibility of subsequent calcific aortic stenosis, and patients with this feature should be carefully followed up. Bacterial endocarditis on the aortic valve occurred in 3 patients, one of whom developed severe aortic regurgitation and subsequently died. Patients with a bicuspid aortic valve are at definite risk from bacterial endocarditis and should receive appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis. In 26/41 (63%) patients there was no clinical change during the follow-up period, including 7 of the patients over the age of 50.

Adolescent↗

Long-term prognosis of mitral-valve prolapse.

We examined the natural history of mitral-valve prolapse in 53 patients who had had a midsystolic click or late systolic murmur (or both) documented phonocardiographically a mean of 13.7 years earlier. Thirty-eight patients were alive without serious complications, and seven had died of unrelated causes. In two patients prolapse was implicated in the cause of death. Other complications were ventricular fibrillation in one patient and bacterial endocarditis in three. Progressive mitral regurgitation developed in five patients, requiring valve replacement in two. These complications occurred in a total of eight patients (15 per cent), and were significantly (P = 0.15) associated with a late systolic murmur rather than an isolated midsystolic click. Thus it appears that the diagnosis of mitral-valve prolapse should not be regarded as ominous; however, patients in whom this diagnosis is associated with a late systolic murmur should be followed carefully.

Adolescent↗

Reduction in peripheral blood K cells and activated T cells in primary biliary cirrhosis.

Lymphocyte subpopulations were measured in the peripheral blood of 13 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), 13 with chronic active hepatitis (CAH), and 16 age- and sex-matched normal subjects. A significant, relative and absolute, reduction in activated T cells and K cells, compared with that in normal subjects, was found in PBC but not in CAH. The reduction in K cells observed in PBC was found to be accompanied by a parallel decrease in lymphocyte-mediated antibody-dependent cytotoxicity.

Adult↗

Echocardiographic findings in left ventricular to right atrial shunts.

The echocardiographic abnormalities of tricuspid valve motion in 2 patients with left ventricular to right atrial shunts are described. In both patients the abnormal anatomy was defined at surgery, in one patient the shunt being above the tricuspid valve leaflets (supravalvar) and in the other patient through the septal leaflet (intravalvar). Different patterns of tricuspid valve systolic fluttering were seen in these two cases and the possible reasons for this are discussed. After surgical closure of the defects the systolic fluttering of the tricuspid valve was no longer observed. Echocardiography appears to be useful in detecting the presence of left ventricular to right atrial shunts which otherwise may be difficult to diagnose.

Adult↗

Infants' home environments: a comparison of high-risk families and families from the general population.

Home environments of 30 infants at high-risk for developmental retardation were compared with those of 30 infants from the general population (matched for age, sex, and parity) by means of the Home Observation Measurement of the Environment. Fifteen high-risk infants attended a day-care intervention program; 15 did not. The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment showed significant differences (ps less than .001) between the high-risk groups and the general population, favoring the general population, on all factors (maternal-warmth, absence of restriction and punishment, organization of the environment, appropriate toys, maternal involvement, and opportunities for variety) but none between the two high-risk groups.

Child Day Care Centers↗