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Biomedical subjects

R Faber

Publications and source records attributed to R Faber.

83 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Language dysfunction in schizophrenia.

Similarities between language disorders in aphasia and formal thought disorder in schizophrenia are explored in 24 schizophrenic, 5 manic and 5 depressed psychiatric in-patients, and 28 normal controls. Eight sub-tests from the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, a picture naming test and the Token test were administered. Schizophrenics with formal thought disorder showed significant abnormalities compared to all other groups, particularly on the Token Test and the repetition of phrases test. These deficits are suggestive of language comprehension and repetition dysfunctions in a substantial minority of rigorously defined schizophrenics.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Cognitive taska in the mental status examination.

We evaluated the reliability of 20 cognitive tasks as part of a clinical mental status examination. Twenty-five adult psychiatric inpatients were selected at random and inter viewed before three board-certified psychiatrists who, without any knowledge of each other's ratings, completed a form determining the presence or absence of abnormal responses. We found 19 of the 20 items to yield R values of greater than .50, with 14 of these having R values of .80 or better. All correlations were significant at the less than .01 level. We suggest that these cognitive tasks with demonstrated reliability be included in the standard mental status examination. As a group, the tasks are easily and rapidly administered and should provide more accurate clinical screening of patients suspected of cortical dysfunction. These tasks will enable clinicians to make more precise and cost-effective referrals for elaborate, time-consuming, and expensive neuropsychological testing.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Schizophrenia in a 47,XYY male.

A case of schizophrenia in a 47,XYY male diagnosed according to strict phenomenological criteria is presented. The authors suggest that the 47,XYY chromosome anomaly should be added to the list of possible causes of symptomatic schizophrenia, and express the hope that future investigations of the effects of an extra Y chromosome in brain function will yield clues as to the aetiology of idiopathic schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Accuracy of prenatal diagnoses in terminated pregnancies--a retrospective analysis of results and influences].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to analyse the accuracy of prenatal sonography in terminated pregnancies and the influence of factors like personnel and standard of technique and organisation on the quality of prenatal sonography for the detection of fetal anomalies. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The retrospective study includes 64 cases with termination of pregnancy from 1989 to 1997. We analyse prenatal sonographic and postnatal pathological findings of fetus, placenta and umbilical cord. Furthermore we compare two time periods (1989-93 and 1994-97) with different ultrasound conditions. RESULTS: In 36 cases (56%) the prenatal diagnosis was exact. In 7 cases (11%) autopsy could not confirm all findings (false positive), whereas autopsy detected additional anomalies in 18 cases (28%) (false negative). The diagnosis was not correct in 3 cases (5%), whereby 2 pregnancies were terminated without proved somatic and chromosomal anomalies. Compared to 1989-93 the rate of false-positive (12 vs. 5) as well as false-negative (9 vs. 3) diagnoses decreased significantly (p < 0.002) in cases with major anomalies (heart, central nervous system). CONCLUSION: We conclude that the improvement of the level of organisation, personnel and technical equipment has relevant impact on the accuracy of prenatal sonography. Autopsy as a method of quality control is absolutely necessary.

Abortion, Eugenic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Perinatal management of triplet pregnancies from 1997 to 2001].

BACKGROUND: Because of the trend for premature birth, multifetal pregnancies are at high risk for neonatal morbidity and mortality. This study presents our perinatal management scheme and the outcome of triplet pregnancies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1997 to 2001 we studied 31 triplet pregnancies. Their management consisted of cervical measurement at 20 weeks, admission from 25 weeks onwards, regular ultrasound examinations, intravenous tocolysis with preterm contractions or cervical shortening, promotion of fetal lung maturation, antibiotic therapy with evidence of vaginal infection, delivery by caesarean section ideally at 33 weeks. RESULTS: In the studied group 4 triplet pregnancies were monochorionic, 6 dichorionic, and 21 (68 %) trichorionic. 2/31 triplet pregnancies finalized in late abortions. Furthermore, a single and a double intrauterine death occured in two triplet pregnancies. 6 (21 %) of triplet pregnancies were delivered before the 30th week and 23 (79 %) after the 30th week of gestation (median gestational age 31.5 weeks, median birth weight 1545g). Neonates of trichorionic pregnancies in comparison to those of mono- and dichorionic pregnancies were delivered two to three weeks later and presented with significantly higher birth weights (1660 g vs. 1245 g vs. 1240 g; p = 0.001 and 0.0009, respectively). 13/84 (15.5 %) of the neonates showed growth retardation. In 4/84 (4.1 %) children brochopulmonary dysplasia or cerebral haemorrhage was observed. Only one child developed enterocolitis. 19 % (16/84) of neonates showed evidence of retinopathy. No intrauterine death occured after 28 weeks and no child died after delivery. CONCLUSION/DISCUSSION: With our well defined management of triplet pregnancies from 20 weeks onwards we reach similar gestational ages at delivery but remarkably lower neonatal complication rates compared to previous studies.

Cesarean Section↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Artificial amniotic fluid instillation in premature rupture of fetal membranes and extreme prematurity as alternative therapy].

We report two cases of premature rupture of membranes and oligohydramnios (gestational age: 23rd/24th week). In both pregnancies artificial instillation of amniotic fluid (AIF) was performed once a week. We hypothesize that fetal head compression with impaired cerebral perfusion due to oligohydramnios causes periventricular leukomalacia. Prolongation of gestation of 36/23 days without neurological lesion support this method. Surveillance of these pregnancies in a perinatal center has to include very early detection of chorioamnionitis. If not so, gained prolongation of pregnancy with a lower rate of cerebral damage becomes harmful due to infection. Clinical benefits and disadvantages of this technique have to be evaluated in a prospective randomized trial.

Amniotic Fluid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Diagnosis and therapy of hemodynamic disorders. A contribution to the management of pregnancies with threatened premature labor].

114 pregnant women (without multiple pregnancies) with premature labour were examined in a randomized prospective study. Pulsatility index (PI) in the uterine artery and fetal thoracic aorta was the parameter we used for the examination, the determination of which was done with doppler sonography at the time of hospital admission. Therapy with beta-sympathomimetics alone or additionally either Oxygen inhalation therapy or transcutaneous dorsal nerve stimulation were conducted and the pulsatility index was controlled at intervals of one and two weeks after initiation of the aforementioned therapy. The negative correlations which we determined between pulsatility index and prolongation of duration of pregnancy, gestational age at the time of delivery and birth weight were significant. This confirms the clinical importance of maternal perfusion already at the time of admission for the clinical end-results. Similarly significantly negative correlations between pulsatility index of uterine vessels, weight percentile of the corresponding newborns and antenatal CTG scores (Fischer) verify the close connections between the hemodynamic, nutritional and respiratory partial functions of the fetoplacento-maternal unit. The clinical results after normalization of an impaired perfusion were found to be improved significantly after a combined therapy with beta-sympathomimetics and transcutaneous dorsal nerve stimulation (TNS) as compared with beta-sympathomimetic therapy alone. These results justify the recommendation that doppler sonographic measurements of utero-placental perfusion can be used for the diagnostic and therapeutic concept in pregnancies with premature labour.

Cardiotocography↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Effect of maternal oxygen inhalation on uterine and fetal circulation in intrauterine retardation and its prognostic value].

In 15 cases of singleton pregnancies with a sonographically supported diagnosis of intra-uterine growth retardation, the effects of maternal oxygen inhalation on uterine and feto-placental circulation have been investigated. For this purpose, the resistance and pulsitility indices (RI and PI) were measured in uterine artery placental site and uterine artery non-placental site, in the umbilical artery, in the descending thoracic aorta and in the median cerebral artery immediately before and after a half-hour oxygen inhalation in each of these IUR pregnancies. The median PI of uterine artery placental site decreased from 0.90 to 0.82 after oxygen inhalation, that of uterine artery non-placental site dropped significantly from 1.26 to 0.75 (p less than 0.05). The number of pathological findings in uterine artery non-placental site was significantly reduced (p less than 0.01). The median RI of the umbilical artery showed a minor decrease. Pathological perfusion in the umbilical artery was not noticeably affected either. The pathological median RI of the descending thoracic aorta was clearly reduced from 1.0 to 0.93. The median RI of the median cerebral artery showed a significant increase from 0.78 to 0.84 (p less than 0.05). The number of pathological findings was reduced by 50%. Compared with only two vessel indices (uterine artery non-placental site, umbilical artery) prior to oxygen inhalation, there was a significant correlation of all vessel indices with subsequent birth weight after oxygen inhalation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Blood Flow Velocity↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Discriminant analytic model for prognostic assessment of pregnancies at risk for premature labor].

We examined 114 women with preterm labor using discriminance analysis to assess predictive values in terms of prolongation of gestational age and gestational age at the time of delivery. We used parameters like medical history, clinical features, infections, Doppler sonography and cardiotocography. Maternal temperature, cardiotocographic findings, premature rupture of membranes, number of abortions and pregnancy terminations and cervical dilatation at the time of admission contribute significantly to predict prolongation of pregnancy (< or = as well as > 7 days). Our results from this analysis showed sensitivity and specificity of 0.70 and 0.97 and positive and negative predictive values of 0.89 and 0.91, respectively. We observed significant differences concerning parameters like preterm rupture of membranes, cervical dilatation, pathological bacteria in the vagina and pathological Doppler values between subsequent preterm and term deliveries in pregnancies with a prolongation of > 7 days was. Upon reclassifying our results, we obtained sensitivity and specificity of 0.69 and 0.89 and positive and negative predictive values of 0.78 and 0.84, respectively. Early prognostic assessment of preterm labor can be made with discriminance analysis. The results inspire us to perform a prospective examination of the therapy plan that we have obtained.

Cardiotocography↗