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Biomedical subjects

P Sullivan

Publications and source records attributed to P Sullivan.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy in an Irish family.

Victor and his associates coined the term oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy to describe a clinical syndrome characterised by dysphagia and ptosis. Subsequent authors have traced a large series in French Canadians to a single Quebec isolate and have emphasized that the condition is usually inherited as a dominant trait. In 1974 Fried reported two isolated cases in an Ashkenazi Jewish family of Hungarian extract in whom the condition was recessively inherited. In this paper we report an Irish family from North Cork with typical features of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy in whom the inheritance pattern is dominant with incomplete expression. In reporting such cases the ethnic and genetic heterogeneity of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy is highlighted. Case Report 1. A 68 year old farmer was admitted for investigation of recurrent chest infections. He complained of a 20 year history of progressive difficulty swallowing, productive cough and impaired vision. On examination he had a gaunt expressionless appearance with bilateral ptosis to mid pupillary level. Both right and left gag reflexes were noted to be reduced and sluggish, and on swallowing fluids were noted to regurgitate through his nostrils. Chest examination revealed the presence of bibasal coarse crepitations suggestive of aspiration. No further physical abnormalities were noted. On investigation, full blood count, urea, and electrolytes, liver function tests, sedimentation rate, thyroid function tests, muscle enzymes (PK, LDH) and electrocardiogram were normal. Chest radiograph confirmed aspiration. Tensilon test was negative. Oesophagoscopy outruled organic obstruction, and confirmed sluggish pharyngeal muscular activity. A clinical diagnosis of oculopharyngeal dystrophy was made on the basis of associated ptosis and dysphagia occurring in the presence of a supportive family history.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Comparative longitudinal study of 2 methods of scheduling maintenance visits: 4-year data.

116 subjects were recruited from a population of patients previously treated for adult periodontitis and maintained in periodontal health by means of periodic prophylaxes every 3-6 months. The subjects were divided into a control (C) and a test (T) group. A total of 33 patients in the T group and 47 in the C group completed the 4-year study. The C subjects were examined every 6 months and given a prophylaxis every 3 months. The patients in the T group were examined at similar intervals, but prophylaxes were administered according to the individualized scheme of Listgarten and Shiffter, on the basis of a differential microscopic count of subgingival bacterial morphotypes. Recurrent periodontitis was defined as an increase in probing depth of 3 mm or more from baseline measurements. Teeth so affected were sampled microbiologically when the diagnosis of recurrent disease was made and "exited" from the study for treatment. A control microbial sample was taken at the same time from a previously-defined pooled sample of non-affected surfaces with comparatively high, but stable probing depths. During a 4-year period, more than half of the subjects developed at least one recurrence of disease, and one-third of the subjects had 2 or more recurrences of periodontitis. Disease recurred on approximal surfaces 81% and on orovestibular surfaces 19% of the time. There were no significant differences in the rate of disease recurrence between the C and the T group, even though recall intervals in the T group at the 4-year examination averaged 19.4 months and an average of 30.6 months had elapsed since the previous prophylaxis. Both groups exhibited similar plaque index and gingival index scores, similar probing depth and attachment level measurements, and similar proportions of different bacterial morphotypes during the 4-year study. However, differences were noted between examinations for both groups with respect to most of these criteria. This study provides 4-year longitudinal data on the clinical and certain microbiological characteristics of a population of adult patients previously treated for moderate to advanced periodontitis, and subsequently placed on periodontal maintenance. The results indicate that some of these patients may remain in good periodontal health despite the lack of regular tri-monthly recall visits, and that microscopic monitoring of the subgingival microbiota may be of value in identifying these individuals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Clinical and microbiological characteristics of treated periodontitis patients on maintenance care.

A population of 98 adults previously treated for moderate to advanced adult periodontitis and currently maintained in a recall program for at least one year were recruited for this study. The ultimate purpose of the study is to determine whether the presence of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Bacteroides gingivalis, and Bacteroides intermedius in selected periodontal sites can predict the future clinical course of these patients, particularly with respect to disease recurrence. This report presents the clinical design of the study which allows comparisons between sites positive and negative for these species in infected patients, and between sites in infected patients and comparable sites in non-infected patients. In addition, some base line clinical and microbiological data for these patients are presented. The distribution of PII and GI scores tended to be highest for molars, with the remaining teeth having similar scores. Probing depth measurements were greater for mesio-distal than oro-vestibular recordings. A bilaterally symmetrical pattern of increasing probing depth was noted from the midline distally on mesio-distal as well as oro-vestibular surfaces. Sites positive for the target organisms listed above tended to have greater probing depths (mean: 4.14 +/- 0.1 mm) than non-infected sites in the same patients (mean: 3.76 +/- 0.1 mm) or comparable sites in non-infected patients (mean: 3.54 +/- 0.1 mm).

Actinobacillus↗
PubMed1988

Adrenocortical, beta-endorphin and behavioral responses to graded stressors in differentially reared rats.

Isolation rearing has long been suspected to alter hormonal and behavioral responses to stress. Two experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that isolates are more timid or fearful than socially reared rats when exposed to novel test environments. In both, isolate response to 3 graded stressors was compared to that of socially-reared rats. In the first experiment, animals were handled, shocked or not treated prior to testing to produce three levels of conditioned fear. They were then tested on four paradigms previously shown sensitive to conditioned fear: open field activity, emergence latency, auditory startle, and latency to accept food from the experimenter. In the second experiment, rats were given a 0-, 5- or 20-min forced swim, then sacrificed for analysis of plasma corticosterone and pituitary and hypothalamic beta-endorphin. It was found that isolates showed little evidence of enhanced behavioral timidity, although rearing effects were seen on all 4 behavioral measures. Plasma corticosterone levels increased in a graded fashion over the course of the forced swim, but there was no effect of rearing conditions. While there were no effects of rearing or stress on hypothalamic beta-endorphin, pituitary beta-endorphin content was lower in females than in males, and isolate males had lower pituitary endorphin than social males. In summary, these experiments provide no evidence that isolation rearing produces a primary, global increase in fearfulness, but identify several behavioral and hormonal differences associated with differential housing in rats.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Cyclic endometrial changes: US assessment with histologic correlation.

The ultrasonographic (US) appearance of the endometrium was evaluated in 80 patients, and the US diagnosis of endometrial stage was compared with that from same-day endometrial biopsy specimens. The US signs of proliferative endometrium included triple-line sign, hypoechoic function layer, and minimal or absent posterior acoustic enhancement. The signs of secretory endometrium included absent triple-line sign, hyperechoic functional layer, and strong posterior acoustic enhancement. When all of these US signs were clearly depicted in combination, the accuracy of diagnosis was 93% (30 patients). The accuracy of diagnosis for all patients in the study was 76% (73 patients). The relative distributions of each US sign in proliferative and secretory endometrium were compared. Despite complicating extrinsic factors such as uterine leiomyomas and intrinsic factors such as the transition period between endometrial phases, US staging of the endometrium is a useful diagnostic technique that allows serial examinations of the endometrium.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Noradrenergic hyperactivity in primary hypertension; central and peripheral markers of both behavioral pathogenesis and efficacy of sympatholytic and relaxation therapy.

The effects of clonidine or relaxation therapy were determined in two separate groups of patients with primary hypertension. Ten patients were treated with clonidine monotherapy for 3 months. There were concurrent reductions of blood pressure, plasma and CSF norepinephrine, all p less than 0.01. The changes of blood pressure and norepinephrine were correlated, p less than 0.05 and 0.01, respectively. Thirty patients received hygienic instructions, and 17 of them had relaxation training in addition. Relaxation lowered blood pressures, p less than 0.01, the reduction of blood pressure was related to baseline plasma norepinephrine, p less than 0.05, and greater in patients with "raised" plasma norepinephrine, p less than 0.02. Plasma norepinephrine was lowered after hygienic therapy, p less than 0.05, the change was not significant after relaxation training. Arterial pressure elevation appears to be related to raised plasma norepinephrine. This noradrenergic hyperactivity is a marker for blood pressure responsiveness to sympatholytic therapy with clonidine or relaxation techniques.

Adult↗