Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R S Ross

Publications and source records attributed to R S Ross.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Idiopathic familial myocardiopathy in three generations: a clinical and pathologic study.

A peculiar non-hypertrophic myocardiopathy is described which occurred in three and possibly five generations of a single family. Clinical features included systolic murmurs, electrocardiographic abnormalities, and sudden cardiac death with a paucity of symptoms of cardiac dysfunction. Pathological studies in three generations showed a striking similarity of cardiac findings including globular and dilated ventricles, endocardial fibroelastosis, and mitral valve thickening. Myocardium in two showed basophilic degeneration and fibrosis. A retrospective genealogic analysis and a prospective clinical evaluation of living family members suggested an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance with variable penetrance. The cause of this heritable myocardiopathy is presumably a mutant gene; the biochemical defect to which the mutant gene gives rise remains unknown.

Adolescent↗

E. Cowles Andrus.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Cardiology↗

Biofeedback heart rate training during exercise.

Eighteen healthy human subjects participated in weekly sessions of five 10-minute trials of walking on a treadmill at 2.5 mph and 6% grade. Eight experimental subjects received beat-to-beat heart rate biofeedback during the exercise and were instructed to try to lower their heart rates; ten control subjects did not receive feedback. By the end of 5 weeks (25 trials), the experimental group showed a significantly lower mean heart rate (96.8 vs. 108.6 bpm), systolic blood pressure (114.0 vs. 131.3 mmHg), and rate--pressure product (11.0 X 10(3) vs. 14.3 X 10(3) bpm-mmHg) during exercise than the control group. These differences were maintained after crossover of the feedback provision for five more weeks.

Adolescent↗

Effect of NLRB rulings on collective bargaining by hospital pharmacists.

The implications for hospital pharmacists of recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rulings are discussed. The history of hospital coverage under federal labor laws is reviewed, including the removal of the exemption of nonprofit hospitals from the Taft-Hartley Act in 1974. Also discussed is the ruling of the NLRB in the case of Mercy Hospitals of Sacramento wherein appropriate bargaining units of hospital workers were defined. Finally, the question of exclusive bargaining units for hospital pharmacists, as addressed in NLRB rulings in the Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and San Jose Hospital and Medical Center cases, is reviewed. Apparently, the NLRB did not rule in favor of exclusive hospital pharmacist units primarily because of an insufficient history of such units. Although there are inconsistencies in the NLRB's rulings in Mercy Hospitals and San Jose, it is unlikely that the policy expressed in these cases will be changed in the near future.

California↗

Ischemic heart disease: an overview.

The studies on natural history of ischemic heart disease are reviewed and the major predictors of mortality identified. The severity of the coronary atherosclerosis and the status of ventricular function are found to be more important predictors of survival than the clinical presentation. The objectives of therapy in patients with ischemic heart disease are (1) to improve the quality of life by reducing symptoms, (2) to improve ventricular function, and (3) to increase survival time. The results of surgical therapy are examined in relation to these three objectives. Symptomatic improvement is present in 85 to 95 percent of patients after surgery, but convincing evidence for improved ventricular function is lacking and controlled studies of natural history have failed to show that surgery increases survival time. Analysis of the mechanism of symptomatic improvement after surgery suggests that increased blood flow to the ischemic area as well as infarction of ischemic myocardium and the nonspecific effects of surgery may account for the improvement. The prevention of coronary atherosclerosis is viewed as an attainable long-term solution to the problem of ischemic heart disease.

Coronary Artery Bypass↗

The "angina-producing" myocardial segment: An approach to the interpretation of results of coronary bypass surgery.

The first 153 cases of saphenous vein aortocoronary bypass surgery performed at The Johns Hopkins Hospital were reviewed. Eighty-eight percent of the 140 late survivors reported significant symptomatic improvement. Seventy-one unselected patients consented to complete reevaluation at a mean interval of 6.1 months postoperatively. Vein bypass patency in this group was 66 percent. Eighty-two percent of these 71 patients had improved performance on electrocardiographic stress testing. There were no significant differences between hemodynamic status on pre- and postoperative studies regardless of the status of vein bypass patency. Repeat coronary angiography revealed a 30 percent incidence of new total occlusions of the intrinsic coronary circulation. Segmental wall motion on ventriculography was improved in 12 percent, unchanged in 50 percent and decreased in 38 percent of the segments analyzed. Localized electrocardiographic changes compatible with myocardial damage developed in the immediate postoperative period in 45 of these patients (63 percent); in 38 of the 45, these changes corresponded to new angiographic abnormalities. Physiologic mechanisms underlying symptomatic improvement were sought by identification of an "angina-producing" myocardial segment. In most instances, alleviation of angina could be related to either: (1) a patent bypass graft into an unchanged intrinsic coronary artery with presumed increased blood flow to the distal coronary segment, or (2) occlusion of the bypass graft and the corresponding coronary artery with probable infarction of previously ischemic myocardium. Current criteria for the selection of patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery are reviewed in the light of these findings. It is concluded that relief of disabling angina is the major indication for surgery. Prevention of myocardial infarction and improvement in left ventricular function are at present less reliable objectives.

Angina Pectoris↗

Acute effects of low doses of alcohol on left ventricular function by echocardiography.

The ultrasound method for measuring the dimensions of the left ventricle was utilized to study the effect of oral doses of alcohol on left ventricular function in normal volunteers. Systolic time intervals were also measured. Seven subjects received 0.7 g/kg of ethanol (group I) and six subjects recieved 1.15 g/kg (group II). The peak of blood alcohol levels in the two groups were 75 mg/100 ml and 138 mg/100 ml respectively. There was a 6% decrease in the fractional change in the minor axis of the left ventricle in group I patients which resulted in a decrease in ejection fraction (p greater than 0.05). In group II patients, there was a 3% decrease in the fractional change in the minor axis of the left ventricle, but the change of ejection fraction was not significant. Since there was no significant difference between the physiological effects observed in groups I and II, the two groups were combined. In the combined group, at 30 minutes after the ingestion of alchol, the heart rate was increased by 11%, the fractional change in the minor axis of the left ventricle decreased by 6%, the ejection fraction decreased by 4% (p greater than 0.01) and Vcf decreased by 5%. These data suggest that in normal subjects myocardial contractility is depressed following the ingestion of alcohol.

Administration, Oral↗

Aortic sinus of Valsalva aneurysms simulating primary right-sided valvular heart disease.

While acute regurgitation is the most common valvular lesion associated with aortic sinus of Valsalva aneurysms, this report describes the pathological findings in five patients in whom primary right-sided valve dysfunction was simulated by sinus of Valsalva aneurysms. In two patients aneurysms of the noncoronary sinus projected into the right atrium at the level of the tricuspid valve and caused tricuspid incomptence. In three patients aneurysms of the right sinus of Valsalva projected into the right ventricle immediately below the pulmonic valve and caused pulmonary outflow tract obstruction. In only one of these patients was the aneurysm perforated at necropsy. Although valvular dysfunction was evident clinically, in none was there a clinical suspicion of a sinus of Valsalva aneurysm. In addition to valvular dysfunction, two patients had conduction disturbances and two, right coronary arterial occlusions found to be the result of aneurysms. The risks of valve dysfunction, arrythmias, aneurysm rupture, and sudden death and the ability to correct this lesion surgically make it especially important to consider aortic sinus of Valsalva aneurysm as a cause of obscure right-sided valvular disease.

Adolescent↗