Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Gordon

Publications and source records attributed to R Gordon.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

One hundred ten consecutive primary orthotopic liver transplants under FK 506 in adults.

An account is given of the 6- to 12-month survival, and causes of failure in 110 consecutive patients who underwent primary liver transplantation under treatment from the outset with FK 506 and steroids. The patient survival is 92.7%, and the first graft survival is 87.3%. At a very high frequency, the patients achieved good graft function, and they had a relatively low morbidity that was partially ascribable to minimal use and early discontinuance (in 60% of cases) of steroids. Renal dysfunction and other adverse findings were largely confined to patients with poor initial graft function and consequent apparent alteration of the kinetics of FK 506 elimination, causing functional overdosage. Results compare very favorably with our past record using conventional immunosuppression, and support the belief that FK 506 is a superior immunosuppressive agent which is suitable for chronic administration.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Diagnostic and interventional procedures for the biliary tract.

Various diagnostic imaging studies have been employed in the past year to evaluate the normal and abnormal biliary ductal system. Variations in the normal ductal drainage of the left lobe of the liver, in which the right lateral hepatic duct drained into the left hepatic duct, were studied because of the implications for the surgical resection of the left lobe. Choledochal cysts have been studied in adults using endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography to evaluate the abnormal junction between the common bile duct and pancreatic duct and the long dilated common channel. An ultrasound study indicated that children with choledochal cysts also may have intrahepatic duct dilatation. An increased incidence of malignancy has been noted in adults with choledochal cysts, and their appearance on ultrasound, CT, and cholangiography were described. Cystic fibrosis produces abnormalities of the biliary tree, extrahepatic strictures, and more interestingly, intrahepatic ductal dilatation and abnormal contour without strictures. The usefulness of the preoperative ultrasonographic evaluation of the biliary tract in Oriental cholangiohepatitis was stressed. Bile duct abnormalities in fascioliasis were also noted on CT scans. Patterns of abnormality in the CT appearance of the thickened, contrast-enhanced, extrahepatic bile ducts were elucidated. Focal concentric, focal excentric, diffuse concentric, and diffuse excentric ducts were seen with various forms of pancreatic disease, choledocholithiasis, and various forms of cholangitis. An enhanced, thick-walled duct indicates disease, but is a nonspecific finding. Chronic cholecystitis was found to produce false-positive cholescintigram results in patients with suspected acute cholecystitis, but only in those with severe degrees of chronic cholecystitis. The results of multicenter trials using extracorporeal biliary lithotripsy in the United States have been published. They are somewhat disappointing and do not confirm the original excellent results reported in Germany for treatment of gallbladder stones. Much interest has been focused on the use of expandable metallic stents for the treatment of benign and malignant biliary obstruction. Preliminary data suggest good patency rates for benign lesions. Patency rates for malignant lesions are similar to those of previously available plastic stents.

Biliary Tract Diseases↗
PubMed1991

Cholecystokinin cholescintigraphy: detection of abnormal gallbladder motor function in patients with chronic acalculous gallbladder disease.

CCK cholescintigrams were performed in 374 patients with recurrent postprandial right upper quadrant pain, biliary colic, and a normal gallbladder sonogram and/or cholecystogram. The results of these examinations were correlated with the patients' final medical/surgical diagnoses. Twenty-seven patients recruited as control volunteers without objective clinical evidence of biliary disease also underwent CCK cholescintigraphy to determine if the degree of gallbladder contraction post-CCK differs in symptomatic versus asymptomatic subjects. Decreased gallbladder motor function was identified (maximal gallbladder ejection fraction response to CCK less than 35%) in 94% of patients with histopathologically confirmed chronic acalculous cholecystitis or the cystic duct syndrome and in 88% of patients clinically believed to have chronic acalculous biliary disease. Decreased gallbladder motor function does not distinguish symptomatic from asymptomatic gallbladder disease.

Cholecystokinin↗
PubMed1990

Liver transplantation for polycystic liver disease.

Four female patients with severe complications of polycystic liver disease were treated with liver replacement; two patients were also given kidneys from their liver donors. All four of the patients were suffering from extreme fatigue. Three of the recipients have survived for 8, 11, and 60 months with normal liver function and present good health. The fourth patient recovered from a liver-kidney transplantation, but 5 months later, fulminant hepatic failure developed in this patient due to hepatitis B virus, and she died despite emergency hepatic retransplantation.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Orthotopic liver transplantation for alcoholic liver disease.

Alcohol abuse is the most common cause of end-stage liver disease in the United States, but many transplant centers are unwilling to accept alcoholic patients because of their supposed potential for recidivism, poor compliance with the required immunosuppression regimen and resulting failure of the allograft. There is also concern that alcohol-induced injury in other organs will preclude a good result. From July 1, 1982, to April 30, 1988, 73 patients received orthotopic liver transplants at the University of Pittsburgh for end-stage alcoholic liver disease. Fifty-two (71%) of these were alive at 25 +/- 9 mo (mean +/- S.D.) after transplantation, when a phone survey of these patients, their wives/husbands, and their physicians was performed to evaluate their subsequent use of alcohol, current medical condition and employment. Data obtained were compared with those for nonalcoholic patients selected as transplant controls. The recidivism rate has been 11.5%, with most patients drinking only socially. Fifty-four percent of the survivors are employed, 21% classify themselves as homemakers and only 11 (21%) are unable to work. Twenty-one patients died after transplantation; the most frequent cause of death was sepsis (43%), and intraoperative death was the next most common cause (28.6%). These data demonstrate that alcoholic patients can be transplanted successfully and achieve good health not significantly different from that of individuals transplanted for other causes. Thus orthotopic liver transplantation is a therapeutic option that should be considered for individuals with end-stage alcoholic liver disease who desire such therapy.

Alanine Transaminase↗
PubMed1990

Changes in language development among autistic and peer children in segregated and integrated preschool settings.

Five young children with autism enrolled in a segregated class, five other children with autism in an integrated class, and four normally developing peer children in the integrated class were compared for developmental changes in language ability as measured by the Preschool Language Scale before and after training. The results, based on Mann-Whitney U tests, showed that (a) all of the children as a group made better than normative progress in rate of language development, (b) the scores of the autistic children were significantly lower than the peers before and after treatment, and (c) there were no significant differences in changes in language ability between the autistic children in the segregated and integrated classes.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1990

Childbearing after liver transplantation.

Seventeen female patients who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation between June 1973 and June 1987 became pregnant 5 months to 11 years after transplantation. Immunosuppression was maintained with combinations of prednisone, cyclosporine, and azathioprine prior to and during pregnancy. One patient discontinued immunosuppression after knowledge of pregnancy, taking only azathioprine sporadically. Mean age at time of delivery was 26 years. Twelve patients had no alteration in liver function studies; 7 patients demonstrated mild or moderate enzyme elevations prior to delivery, with one case of rejection confirmed by percutaneous liver biopsy. Major problems related to pregnancy were hypertension, anemia, and hyperbilirubinemia. Twenty live births occurred (2 patients had 2 separate pregnancies, one patient had a set of twins); 13 were by cesarean section, 7 by vaginal delivery. Eleven of the 13 cesarean births were premature by gestational age. All vaginal births were term. Toxemia of pregnancy and early rupture of membranes were the principal indications for cesarean section. There were no congenital abnormalities or birth defects and all the children are surviving well. Fifteen of 16 children older than one year all have normal physical and mental development, with one child manifesting immature speech development. Four children are under one year, all with normal milestones thus far. Sixteen of the 17 mothers are alive from 2-18 years after transplantation; the only death was from a lymphoma, almost 4 years after transplantation and 2 1/2 years after delivery. This experience suggests that women undergoing liver transplantation can safely bear children despite an increased risk of premature cesarean births. The effect of chronic immunosuppression of female pediatric patients on their reproductive potential later in adulthood remains to be fully evaluated but the results so far are favorable.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Limitations in the CT diagnosis of acute diverticulitis: comparison of CT, contrast enema, and pathologic findings in 16 patients.

Pitfalls in CT diagnosis of acute diverticulitis were investigated in 16 patients with the disease who had misleading or equivocal CT features. The CT appearance was correlated with contrast enemas (13 cases) and with surgical assessment and pathologic evaluation of resected specimens (12 cases). Limitations in the CT diagnosis were related to (1) marked thickening of the colonic wall, between 1 and 3 cm in cross section simulating colonic neoplasm (all patients); (2) inability to visualize small amounts of fibropurulent exudate in the absence of pericolic inflammatory changes (eight patients); (3) failure to detect discrete intramural abscess (five patients). Resected surgical specimens available in 12 cases proved that colonic wall thickening was caused by muscular hypertrophy and various degrees of submucosal inflammation, edema, fibrosis, or focal organized inflammatory tissue. Contrast enema was useful in 10 out of 13 patients by excluding carcinoma of the colon and confirming the diagnosis of acute diverticulitis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1990

Ileocecal tuberculosis: CT and radiologic evaluation.

The CT and radiologic findings in 11 patients (five with AIDS and six without AIDS) with ileocecal tuberculosis are described. On CT scans, five cases showed mild circumferential wall thickening of the terminal ileum and cecum, thickening of the ileocecal valve, and a few regional nodes. One case presented as nonspecific small-bowel obstruction. In five patients a more characteristic CT appearance was detected: preferential thickening of the ileocecal valve and medial wall of the cecum, exophytic extension engulfing the terminal ileum, and massive lymphadenopathy with low-density areas consistent with caseation necrosis. Patients with AIDS had a more severe form of involvement than those who did not have AIDS. Barium studies showed ileocecal changes consistent with an inflammatory process. In conjunction with barium enema, CT is helpful in the initial evaluation of ileocecal tuberculosis, showing the location and extent of intestinal and mesenteric involvement in most cases. Characteristic CT findings are seen when the inflammatory process is severe.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1990

Lipid degeneration in a pheochromocytoma histologically mimicking an adrenal cortical tumor.

A recurrent adrenal pheochromocytoma is reported in an 18-year-old woman with a family history of multiple endocrine neoplasia type IIA. The tumor was noteworthy for the presence of numerous fine intracytoplasmic lipid droplets confirmed by fat stain. Immunohistochemical studies revealed cytoplasmic positivity for chromogranin and neuron-specific enolase typical of pheochromocytoma. Electron microscopy demonstrated dense-core neurosecretory granules, in addition to the cytoplasmic lipid vacuoles. The presence of lipid within an adrenal pheochromocytoma is rare and, to our knowledge, has been documented in only one previous case report in the literature.

Adolescent↗