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Biomedical subjects

R C Smith

Publications and source records attributed to R C Smith.

At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources

Effects of dopamine agonists in tardive dyskinesia.

The authors used a combined behavioral and neuroendocrinological strategy to investigate the relevance of abnormalities in the brain dopaminergic systems to the pathophysiology of tardive dyskinesia by assessing the effects of apomorphine, a directly acting dopamine agonist, and d-amphetamine, an indirectly acting dopamine agonist, in patients with tardive dyskinesia. Administration of I.V. d-amphetamine increased dyskinetic movements in most patients with tardive dyskinesia, a finding consistent with the dopaminergic hypothesis. Contrary to predictions based on animal models, apomorphine did not increase dyskinetic movements in these patients but instead substantially reduced dyskinesia in some patients. Patients with tardive dyskinesia did not have a greater drop in serum prolactin or a greater rise in serum growth hormone after apomorphine than normal or chronic schizophrenic subjects without tardive dyskinesia.

Administration, Oral↗

Cholinergic influences in tardive dyskinesia.

The authors conducted placebo-controlled double-blind studies of physostigmine, choline, and deanol in 12 patients with tardive dyskinesia. Physostigmine and choline both had a positive therapeutic effect on tardive dyskinesia, but the authors note that interpretation of these results is not entirely clear because they found that the sedation effect of physostigmine may nonspecifically reduce the intensity of tardive dyskinesia symptoms. Deanol was not found to be effective in this group of patients; the authors suggest that this drug should not be assumed to be generally effective unless effectiveness is verified by a large placebo-controlled double-blind study.

Acetylcholine↗

Electrophysiological (H-reflex) studies of patients with tardive dyskinesia.

The authors studied the H-reflex recovery curves of 31 schizophrenic patients with tardive dyskinesia in response to acute administrations of apomorphine, amphetamine, or physostigmine and compared them with curves of chronic schizophrenic patients without tardive dyskinesia and normal volunteers. Their most unexpected finding was the absence of an H-reflex in 9 of the 31 patients with tardive dyskinesia. They also found a relationship between severity of tardive dyskinesia and the value of the facilitatory peak Hchi: patients with more severe tardive dyskinesia symptoms had significantly higher values for Hchi.

Amphetamine↗

"Practical suggestions on facila plastic surgery--how I do it". External marking in rhinoplasty planning.

Photographs, drawings, and examination at consultation have value in rhiniplastic planning. However, the surgeon is not operating on photographs, drawings, or an alert sitting or standing patient; he is operating on a nose with what was forward now facing upward. We find it most helpful to plan and mark almost the entire procedure on the external nose and surrounding structures just before the patient is put supine and sedated or anesthetized. In primary rhinoplasty, it is possible to mark essentially all skeletal anatomy within 1 mm tolerances by palpation, pushing the tip up and back, observing the changes from the outside, and looking at the inside. We believe that the anatomy and planned changes can and should be depicted by appropriate marks put on the skin. There mere act of drawing in the procedure forces us to think it through from beginning to end, a most worthwhile endeavor. Moreover, we learned very shortly after we began forcing ourselves to quantitate the anatomy and proposed changes, that we ran into fewer and fewer surprises as we worked. Photographs taken of the markings become by far the best "operative note" we can have. Comparison of these with the patient or his photographs showing the result allow us to make accurate judgments about long term effects of each surgical maneuver. Much that seemed mysterious before is found to be quite scientifically explainable. We do not propose in this short report to show how we mark every nose. Rather we shall show with drawings and a few examples how we go about marking a nose. The reader may use the suggested marking techniques or may evolve his own. The important thing is that he work out a system meaningful to him. It will be noted that we have used differing techniques for depicting similar concepts from case to case. In other words, we have not settled immutably on one system because we are still searching for the best.

Female↗

Recording projection of nasal landmarks in rhinoplasty.

Because of difficulties in making accurate measurements from before and after photographs, we have devised measuring techniques not dependent upon exact reduplication of photographic circumstances before, during, and after surgery. Measuring devices contacting the head of the patient in specified ways are described. They allow simple and exact reduplication so that measurements made at different times can be compared. Lengths of nose and of columella and actual projection of brow, nasofrontal angle, rhinion, supratip region, the tip itself, and of the columella-labial junction can be measured. Tip rotation, cephalic or caudal, can be determined and quantitated. The devices and techniques for using them are described. We believe that employment of the suggested measuring techniques will allow better reporting of rhinoplastic methods and results should significantly increase our understanding of this complex surgical procedure.

Anthropometry↗

Conservative face lift surgery.

Face lift surgery almost always is elective; and, because its purpose is to diminish aging problems, it most often is done in those who are aged. Local and general risks, therefore, should be minimized. Wide undermining dictates flaps dissected more deeply and wounds closed well short of the limits of stretch of skin. Less radical undermining described here produces much smaller total wounds, lessens hazards of hematoma, considerably shortens operative and anesthetic times, reduces risks to nerves and ducts, and allows snugger closures. Details of operative technique, including platysma plication, are demonstrated. Short- and long-term results are shown. They indicate improvement sufficient to justify expanded use of the suggested techniques, particularly in view of diminished morbidity and risks to the general condition of those in the older age group.

Aged↗

Concurrent psychotherapy and behavior therapy. Treatment of psychoneurotic outpatients.

The feasibility and effects of treating psychoneurotic outpatients with concomitant but separate treatment programs of psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy and behavior therapy was investigated in three cases, utilizing detailed clinical observations and questionnaire responses. The two treatment regimens appeared to have synergistic effects, and anticipated difficulties, such as a split therapeutic alliance, symptom substitution, or preciptious withdrawal from psychotherapy after symptom removal, did not occur. Although there was no evidence of symptom substitution after the behavioral removal of the "target symptom," both clinical observations and questionnaire responses indicated that successful behavior therapy had many unanticipated effects on the patient's nontarget behaviors and cognitions.

Adult↗

Assessment of portasystemic shunt patency by estimation of D-xylose excretion.

The D-xylose excretion test appears to be a useful method of monitoring shunt patency after a portasystemic venous anastomsis for portal hypertension. A 5-hour urinary excretion greater than 6 g appears an acceptable indicator that the shunt is patent. A second criterion of patency is an increase of 4 g or more over the result of preoperative tests. If the excretion rate falls in the postoperative period or remains less than 4-2 g/5 h, the anastomosis may be assumed to be occluded.

Adolescent↗

Effects of chlorpromazine on avoidance and escape responding in humans.

The effects of chlorpromazine on shock avoidance and escape responding were determined using four human subjects lever pressing on a modified free operant avoidance schedule. Doses of chlorpromazine ranging from 50 to 100 mg and shock levels ranging from 0.35 to 3.0 mA were used. In general, the results showed that chlorpromazine suppressed avoidance responding at doses which did not suppress escape responding.

Adult↗

The hand sandwich: adjacent flaps from opposing body surfaces.

An anteriorly-based lateral chest flap gives volar coverage to the opposite denuded hand, while a flap from the adjacent inner arm gives dorsal coverage. While transferring the flaps, the donor sites are joined together to form a temporary chest-arm adhesion, which is separated later with skin grafting.

Adult↗

Effect of removal of the root tip on the development of enhanced rb absorption by corn roots.

Samples of primary root tissue of corn (Zea mays L.) were aged either in CaSO(4) solution or in humid air, after which they were immersed for 10 minutes in a solution containing 0.1 mm(86)RbCl. Aging in solution, but not in humid air, enhanced the subsequent rate of Rb(+) absorption. Excision of roots before aging was followed by greater enhancement than when exicision followed aging. The time course of aging of 1-cm segments from different portions of the root showed decreasing response with increasing distance from the root cap. The aging response of apical segments (5-15 mm from the root cap) could be detected within 10 minutes and usually reached a maximum within 2 hours. Rb(+) absorption by apical segments (5-15 mm) aged without the tip (0-5 mm) was more than double that by apical segments whose tips were left attached until the end of the aging period. When apical segments without the tip were aged for 2 hours in the CaSO(4) solution in which seedlings had previously been grown for 24 hours, the rate of absorption was only 63% of samples aged in fresh solution. When apical segments were aged for 2 hours in fresh solution containing excised tips floating free in the solution, the rate of Rb(+) absorption was 20% less than in samples aged in solution containing no excised tips. The data presented in this study are interpreted to indicate that a water-soluble metabolite, originating in the root tip and translocated basipetally, inhibits Rb accumulation.

Journal Article↗

M-plasty techniques.

Conventional closure of surgical defects in skin may cause unsightly protrusions (dog ears). Fusiform excisions with angles of 30 degrees or less reduce protrusion but may require excision of larger volumes and lengths of healthy skin and subcutaneous tissue than may be desirable. M-plasties reduce these requirements while still allowing use of 30 degrees angles at maximum. Applications and technical details are described and illustrated.

Dermatologic Surgical Procedures↗