Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Saral

Publications and source records attributed to R Saral.

142 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Lymphocytic bronchitis associated with graft-versus-host disease in recipients of bone-marrow transplants.

Graft-versus-host disease, a complication of allogeneic bone-marrow transplantation, involves primarily the skin, liver and intestines, but may also be associated with pneumonia. To determine the relation of graft-versus-host disease with pneumonia, we evaluated the autopsies of 59 allogeneic and two autologous recipients and 74 control patients with various pulmonary diseases, who had not received a bone-marrow transplant. Lymphocytic bronchitis, characterized by lymphocyte-associated necrosis of the bronchial mucosa and often the submucosal glands, was present in 12 of 20 patients with Grade 2 or greater graft-versus-host disease but in only three of 39 with Grade 0 to 1 disease (P less than 0.0005). Onset of respiratory disease correlated with the time of onset of graft-versus-host disease. Patients with lymphocytic bronchitis had a higher incidence of bronchopneumonia and acute bronchitis of the lower respiratory tract. Lymphocytic bronchitis did not occur in the controls and appears to be a component of graft-versus-host disease that leads to bronchopneumonia, probably through destruction of the mucociliary apparatus.

Adolescent↗

Cytosine arabinoside induced gastrointestinal toxic alterations in sequential chemotherapeutic protocols: a clinical-pathologic study of 33 patients.

Sequential chemotherapeutic regimens, primarily used in the treatment of hematopoietic malignancies, and employing ara-C as a basic antineoplastic agent induce mucosal alterations in the entire gastrointestinal tract. These are characterized by surface and glandular epithelial atypia, immaturity, and necrosis. Glandular regeneration is characteristically delayed leading to a state of intestinal aproliferative cytopenia. Other toxic intestinal changes include telangiectasia of blood vessels and the formation of intramural hematomas. Intestinal infections develop frequently and are complicated by peritonitis, liver abscesses, pneumatosis cystoides in testinalis and sepsis. These intestinal lesions are accompanied by a predictable clinical syndrome which begins concomitantly with ara-C infusions and is characterized by diarrhea, ileus, abdominal pain, hematemesis and melena, severe hypokalemia, hypocalcemia and a protein-losing enteropathy. Additional toxic manifestations induced by ara-C include transient weight gains, fever elevations and severe bone marrow depression. The genesis of the intestinal lesions is linked to the three day dose schedule of ara-C infusions which insures both arrest of the cycling intestinal cells in the S-phase and a high cytotoxic index. The severity of these lesions is markedly augmented by prior treatment with ara-C and cyclophosphamide which causes synchronization and probable recruitment of intestinal stem cells, respectively.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

An approach to the control of massive hemorrhage in cyclophosphamide-induced cystitis by intravenous vasopressin: a case report.

Massive bleeding owing to cyclophosphamide-induced hemorrhagic cystitis was not affected by intravesical instillation of 4 per cent formalin or 1 per cent silver nitrate. After initiation of a continuous systemic infusion of vasopressin hematuria and transfusion requirements diminished markedly. Adverse reactions were mild. Intravenous vasopressin was a safe and effective means to control temporarily life-threatening hemorrhagic cystitis.

Adolescent↗

Cytogenetic evidence for recurrence of acute myelogenous leukemia after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in donor hematopoietic cells.

A 22-yr-old man with acute myelocytic leukemia received a bone marrow transplant from a genotypically HLA-identical female sibling after cyclophosphamide preparation. He remained in complete remission for 18 mo, when he developed a chloroma in the perineum. The chloroma was treated with local radiotherapy. The chloroma recurred 8 mo later and was treated with radiotherapy followed by combination chemotherapy. At 34 mo after transplant, marrow relapse and chloroma were documented. The first chloroma contained host cells by fluorescent Y-chromatin body analyses of interphase nuclei. All metaphase cells and karyotypes from peripheral blood and marrow samples showed no evidence of host cells from 3 wk after transplant through the time of marrow relapse. Data from autosomal and sex chromosome studies indicate that the marrow relapse occurred in cells of donor origin. A new consistent chromosome abnormality [45, X, -X, t(8;21) (q22; q22)] was observed in a majority of donor cells. The patient received a second bone marrow transplant from the same donor after preparation with busulfan and cyclophosphamide and attained a complete remission with full hematologic engraftment.

Adult↗

Characterization of an endonuclease associated with simian virus 40 virions.

An endonucleolytic activity associated with purified simian virus 40 (SV40) virions has been found. The enzyme is present in virions prepared from a number of different host lines. The enzyme is present in all early and late temperature-sensitive mutants examined. Some aspects of the endonucleolytic activity have been examined with SV40 deoxyribonucleic acid as substrate.

Animals↗

Bacterial contamination of bone marrow grafts intended for autologous and allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Incidence and clinical significance.

In a series of 100 bone marrow harvests, the incidence of bacterial contamination of the bone marrow graft was 17 percent. Ex vivo manipulation of some of the grafts prior to infusion may have caused additional bacterial contamination. All isolated bacteria were common skin flora, and no serious sequelae were observed in the patients receiving the culture-positive bone marrow grafts. Samples of harvested bone marrows purposely contaminated with an isolate of Staphylococcus epidermidis demonstrated a bactericidal property that was maximal early after bone marrow collection. Bone marrow collection and ex vivo manipulation may result in considerable bacterial contamination. Procedures must be developed to assure that marrow collection and processing do not result in clinically significant contamination.

Bacteria↗

Cytomegalovirus infections in bone marrow transplant recipients given intensive cytoreductive therapy.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections were studied in 785 bone marrow transplant recipients given intensive cytoreductive therapy. CMV excretion occurred in 24%, viremia in 9%, seroconversion in 40%, and overall active infection in 47%. CMV disease was much less common. Retinitis, enteritis, and pneumonitis occurred in only one, five (less than 1%), and 55 (7%) of the patients, respectively. Allograft recipients were more likely to develop CMV disease than were autograft patients (P = .0001) despite comparable rates of active CMV infection. CMV disease was rare after primary infection in both autograft and allograft recipients (0 and 1%, respectively). In contrast, CMV disease occurred in 16% of seropositive allograft recipients. Among allograft recipients, risk factors for CMV pneumonitis were seropositivity, age greater than 10 years, and acute graft-vs.-host disease, while the use of cyclosporine as prophylaxis against graft-vs.-host disease was protective. Although active infection rates did not decrease, the rates of CMV pneumonitis in allograft recipients during successive years declined significantly (P less than .001).

Adolescent↗

Candida and Aspergillus infections in immunocompromised patients: an overview.

Infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in granulocytopenic patients. With the increasing use of aggressive chemotherapy causing prolonged granulocytopenia in patients with cancer, the risk of disseminated fungal infection has increased. Although Candida and Aspergillus species are known to be the most common fungal pathogens responsible for disseminated infection, diagnosis of such infection may be difficult. The use of empiric amphotericin B for presumed disseminated candida infection may reduce morbidity caused by this fungal pathogen; moreover, amphotericin B remains the agent of choice for established candida infection, although fluconazole shows promise. The addition of flucytosine may enhance the efficacy of amphotericin B against Candida. Aspergillus infection is more difficult to treat. Early recognition of invasive aspergillosis and use of high-dose amphotericin B (1.0-1.5 mg/[kg.d]) alone or in combination with flucytosine may reduce associated mortality. More active, less toxic antifungal agents are needed to improve the efficacy of treatment and prophylaxis of disseminated fungal infection.

Agranulocytosis↗

Parenteral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and carbenicillin as empiric therapy for neutropenic patients with cancer.

A combination of parenteral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and carbenicillin (TMP-SMZ-C) was compared with a gentamicin and carbenicillin combination (G-C) as empiric therapy for the febrile neutropenic patient with cancer in a prospective double-blind trial. Target plasma levels of TMP were achieved easily. When all trials were considered, TMP-SMZ-C was more effective (P less than or equal to 0.045) than G-C. When only proven infections were considered, the two regimens were equally effective. Adverse effects of both regimens were similar. Experience with infections due to individual organisms, particularly Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, was limited. General recommendations for use of TMP-SMZ-C in this patient population cannot be made until more comprehensive studies are done.

Agranulocytosis↗

HLA-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes are an early immune response and important defense mechanism in cytomegalovirus infections.

Eighty-eight bone marrow transplant recipients were studied for development of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections and associated cytotoxic lymphocyte responses. Sixty-one patients developed CMV infection that was diagnosed by virus isolation (18 patients), fourfold rises in serum antibodies (13), or both (30). Interstitial pneumonitis developed in 27 patients. Among patients tested during infection, HLA-restricted, CMV-specific cytotoxic T cell responses occurred in 25 patients, and non-restricted, non-T cell cytotoxic responses, or responses of undetermined cell type, occurred in 10 patients. Levels of CMV-specific cytotoxicity in infected and uninfected patients were compared in two ways. Eighty-nine percent of patients (32 of 36) with cytotoxicity greater than or equal to 15% lysis (50:1 effector-to-target-cell ratio) and 100% of patients (21 of 21) with sequential increases in cytotoxicity of greater than or equal to 15% lysis were infected. The median time of occurrence of CMV-specific cytotoxic responses preceded the median onset of viral shedding by 1.4 weeks, or rises in titers of serum antibody by 1.7 weeks, and of interstitial pneumonitis by 2.5 weeks. Immune competence, as demonstrated by survival from infection, was always associated with a CMV-specific cytotoxic response. The HLA-restricted cytotoxic T cell response appears to be important as an early host-defense mechanism and an early diagnostic evidence of infection.

Adolescent↗

Leukemic iris infiltration.

Three patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and leukemic infiltration of the iris are presented. The clinical features, diagnostic techniques, and treatment of this condition are described.

Acute Disease↗