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Biomedical subjects

S C Achuff

Publications and source records attributed to S C Achuff.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Double-masked randomized trial comparing alternate combinations of intraoperative anesthesia and postoperative analgesia in abdominal aortic surgery.

BACKGROUND: Improvement in patient outcome and reduced use of medical resources may result from using epidural anesthesia and analgesia as compared with general anesthesia and intravenous opioids, although the relative importance of intraoperative versus postoperative technique has not been studied. This prospective, double-masked, randomized clinical trial was designed to compare alternate combinations of intraoperative anesthesia and postoperative analgesia with respect to postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing surgery of the abdominal aorta. METHODS: One hundred sixty-eight patients undergoing surgery of the abdominal aorta were randomly assigned to receive either thoracic epidural anesthesia combined with a light general anesthesia or general anesthesia alone intraoperatively and either intravenous or epidural patient-controlled analgesia postoperatively (four treatment groups). Patient-controlled analgesia was continued for at least 72 h. Protocols were used to standardize perioperative medical management and to preserve masking intraoperatively and postoperatively. A uniform surveillance strategy was used for the identification of prospectively defined postoperative complications. Outcome evaluation included postoperative hospital length of stay, direct medical costs, selected postoperative morbidities, and postoperative recovery milestones. RESULTS: Length of stay and direct medical costs for patients surviving to discharge were similar among the four treatment groups. Postoperative outcomes were similar among the four treatment groups with respect to death, myocardial infarction, myocardial ischemia, reoperation, pneumonia, and renal failure. Epidural patient-controlled analgesia was associated with a significantly shorter time to extubation (P = 0.002). Times to intensive care unit discharge, ward admission, first bowel sounds, first flatus, tolerating clear liquids, tolerating regular diet, and independent ambulation were similar among the four treatment groups. Postoperative pain scores were also similar among the four treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing surgery of the abdominal aorta, thoracic epidural anesthesia combined with a light general anesthesia and followed by either intravenous or epidural patient-controlled analgesia, offers no major advantage or disadvantage when compared with general anesthesia alone followed by either intravenous or epidural patient-controlled analgesia.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Dehydroepiandrosterone and cardiac allograft vasculopathy.

BACKGROUND: Tissue culture, animal model, and epidemiologic studies suggest that dehydroepiandrosterone may inhibit atherosclerosis through its potent antiproliferative effects. Because cardiac allograft vasculopathy is predominantly a proliferative abnormality of intimal and medial smooth muscle cells, plasma levels of dehydroepiandrosterone may play an important role in the development of this disease. METHODS: Sixty-one cardiac allograft recipients who survived for 1 year or more and had at least one annual follow-up cardiac catheterization were included in the study. Plasma levels of dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, and free dehydroepiandrosterone (dehydroepiandrosterone not bound to sex hormone-binding globulin) were measured in all 61 subjects and compared with the presence or absence of cardiac allograft vasculopathy as defined by angiography. RESULTS: Plasma levels of total and free dehydroepiandrosterone were lower in subjects in whom cardiac allograft vasculopathy developed (p = 0.005 and 0.003, respectively). Furthermore, the time to development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy was shorter in subjects with low levels of total and free dehydroepiandrosterone (p = 0.062 and 0.046, respectively). This relationship was maintained after adjusting for age, gender, cholesterol, prednisone use, and blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Low plasma levels of dehydroepiandrosterone may facilitate and high levels may retard the development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

AUTRES--the Johns Hopkins Hospital automated resume.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital has developed AUTRES, an electronic discharge summary. This computer generated report was designed to provide improved continuity in the care of patients by offering a legible, standardized summary of the events of hospitalization. It can be sent by mail, FAX, or electronically (computer-to-computer) to the next care giver who will see the patient. It is available from any network attached terminal at the hospital and School of Medicine to support re-admission to the hospital, treatment in the emergency room, or outpatient visits. AUTRES first ran in fully supported production serving the Department of Medicine in 1988. Re-engineered to take advantage of cooperative processing, it has been implemented in Neurology, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pediatrics, with plans for phased installation in the remaining clinical departments of The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Baltimore↗
PubMed1990

Is atrial activation beneficial in heart transplant recipients?

Because of the distortion of atrial morphology that occurs during cardiac allograft transplantation in humans, the beneficial effects of properly sequenced atrial and ventricular activation are unclear in these patients. To evaluate the atrial contribution to ventricular pump performance in heart transplant recipients, arterial pressure and cardiac output during pacing from either chamber were measured in nine patients 10 +/- 1 days after transplantation. Systolic, diastolic and mean systemic arterial pressures were significantly higher during atrial pacing compared with ventricular pacing: 143 +/- 23 versus 125 +/- 20 mm Hg, 73 +/- 15 versus 66 +/- 14 mm Hg and 94 +/- 17 versus 84 +/- 16 mm Hg, respectively (p less than 0.05 for all). In addition, cardiac output decreased from 5.5 +/- 1.4 to 4.6 +/- 1.5 liters/min (p less than 0.005) for atrial versus ventricular pacing. Thus, there is a significant atrial contribution to cardiac performance in patients after heart transplantation. This may have clinical implications in those patients who later require a permanent pacemaker.

Atrial Function↗
PubMed1990

Plasma dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in patients undergoing diagnostic coronary angiography.

Serum levels of DHEA sulfate are inversely associated with cardiovascular death in men, and urinary dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels are inversely associated with clinical manifestations of coronary artery disease. These observations may be related to the antiproliferative effects of DHEA, resulting in inhibition of atherosclerotic intimal hyperplasia. To examine the relation between these steroids and a direct measure of coronary atherosclerosis, plasma DHEA and DHEA sulfate levels were determined in 206 middle-aged patients (103 men, 103 women) undergoing elective coronary angiography. Plasma DHEA sulfate levels were lower in men with at least one stenosis greater than or equal to 50% compared with those without any stenosis greater than or equal to 50% (4.9 +/- 2.7 versus 6.1 +/- 3.5 nmol/ml, p = 0.05). Levels of DHEA sulfate were also inversely related to the number of diseased coronary vessels (r = -0.20, p = 0.05) and a continuous measure of the extent of coronary atherosclerosis (r = -0.25, p = 0.01) in men. The association between DHEA sulfate levels and extent of coronary artery disease was independent of age and other conventional risk factors for coronary disease. In women, there was no association between plasma DHEA or DHEA sulfate levels and coronary disease. These data demonstrate a consistent, independent, inverse, dose-response relation between plasma DHEA sulfate levels and angiographically defined coronary atherosclerosis in men. Plasma DHEA sulfate may be another important and potentially modifiable risk factor for the development and progression of coronary atherosclerosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Silent ischemia on Holter monitoring predicts mortality in high-risk postinfarction patients.

The relative prognostic significance of ischemic ST changes on two-lead continuous electrocardiographic (Holter) monitoring in 103 high-risk postinfarction patients was examined. Ischemic ST changes were detected in 30 patients, with a median number of five episodes per day and median total daily duration of 157 minutes. Only one third of these patients reported any angina in the hospital, and 28 of the 30 patients had silent ST changes on Holter monitoring. The remaining 73 patients had no ischemic ST changes on Holter monitoring. At one year, nine (30%) of 30 patients with ischemic ST changes were dead vs only eight (11%) of 73 patients without such changes. Multivariate Cox's hazard function analysis on 18 variables, including age, type of infarction, Lown and Killip class, ejection fraction, and medications, showed that the presence of ST changes on Holter monitoring was a significant predictive variable for one-year mortality in the overall study population and particularly in the subgroup of 59 patients who could not undergo early exercise treadmill testing. Thus, ischemic ST changes on Holter monitoring, the majority of which are silent, occur in nearly one third of high-risk postinfarction patients and are significantly associated with one-year mortality.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1988

Prognostic cardiac catheterization variables in survivors of acute myocardial infarction: a five year prospective study.

The prognostic variables from predischarge coronary angiography and left ventriculography in survivors of acute myocardial infarction during the years 1974 to 1978 were evaluated in 143 patients (less than or equal to 66 years of age) with documented myocardial infarction who were then followed up prospectively for 5 years. One half of the study population had triple vessel coronary disease (greater than or equal to 50% stenosis). However, only 7% of patients had severely depressed left ventricular function with an ejection fraction less than or equal to 29%. Evaluation of the contribution of many clinical and angiographic variables to a first cardiac event (death, nonfatal reinfarction or coronary artery bypass surgery) was considered with Kaplan-Meier actuarial curves and multivariate Cox's hazard function analysis. A risk segment was defined as an area of contracting myocardium supplied by a coronary artery with a greater than 50% stenosis. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that right plus left anterior descending coronary artery stenoses (p less than 0.01), ejection fraction (p less than 0.01) and the presence of risk segments (p less than 0.05) were significant predictors of outcome. Furthermore, on separate multivariate analyses, the angiographic variables added significantly to the clinical variables to predict cardiac events over 5 years of follow-up. Therefore, in survivors of acute myocardial infarction who undergo cardiac catheterization, additive prognostic information is obtained that can be used to stratify risk over 5 years.

Cardiac Catheterization↗
PubMed1988

Diagnosis of lung allograft rejection by bronchial intraepithelial Leu-7 positive T lymphocytes.

Currently there is no reliable technique for the diagnosis of lung allograft rejection. The presence of intraepithelial lymphocytes expressing the Leu-7 antigen is a specific marker of renal rejection. We examined whether immunoperoxidase techniques that detect Leu-7 positive lymphocytes could be used to diagnose lung rejection in heart-lung transplant recipients. In lungs from two autopsied patients with lung allograft rejection, numerous Leu-7 positive lymphocytes were present in the donor bronchial mucosa (32 and 65 cells/section), submucosa (23 and 80 cells/section), and submucosal glands (7 and 19 cells/section). These Leu-7 positive lymphocytes were associated with proximal airway injury, including squamous metaplasia, destruction of submucosal glands, and ulceration. In one case, there was bronchiectasis. Both cases also had distal airway bronchiolitis obliterans. In contrast, Leu-7 positive lymphocytes were not identified in the epithelium of the native trachea of these two patients; nor were they found in the bronchial epithelium of two sets of transplanted lungs without evidence of rejection. Only rare Leu-7 positive lymphocytes were evident in the epithelium (0 to 2 cells/section) and submucosal glands (0 to 1 cell/section) of 20 lungs from autopsied patients who had not received a transplant. Application of this technique to epithelial biopsy specimens obtained at bronchoscopic examinations demonstrated that it could be applied to the diagnosis of rejection in living heart-lung transplant recipients.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Depletion of bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue associated with lung allograft rejection.

Pulmonary infections remain one of the major complications of lung transplantation. The bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) forms a local immune system that normally protects the lung from infection. The effects of lung transplantation and lung allograft rejection on the BALT were examined using immunoperoxidase techniques. The BALT was evaluated by quantifying the number of immunoglobulin-bearing plasma cells in the lamina propria of sections of trachea and mainstem bronchus. Sections of donor mainstem bronchus from 2 patients with allograft rejection were compared with sections of native trachea from these same patients, and with sections of mainstem bronchus from 2 transplanted lungs without rejection and 20 controls. Lung allografts from the 2 patients with rejection had a marked depletion of submucosal IgA-bearing and IgG-bearing plasma cells. Two sets of transplanted lungs without evidence of rejection showed only a mild reduction of the BALT. The depletion of BALT associated with allograft rejection may contribute to the increased incidence of pulmonary infections seen in these patients.

Bronchi↗
PubMed1987

Histologic predictors of acute cardiac rejection in human endomyocardial biopsies: a multivariate analysis.

To identify specific histologic abnormalities that could predict early cardiac rejection before the development of myocyte necrosis, 167 consecutive endomyocardial biopsy samples from 18 cardiac transplant recipients were retrospectively analyzed and 17 histologic variables were semiquantitatively graded from 0 to 3. Forty-five biopsy samples contained foci of myocyte necrosis and were labeled Rejectors. The two samples immediately preceding Rejector biopsies were labeled Predictors (n = 44). All remaining samples were labeled Others (n = 78). Endocardial and interstitial infiltrates, interstitial mononuclear cells, pyroninophilic mononuclear cells, polymorphonuclear leukocytes and other cells (eosinophils and plasma cells) were significantly increased in graded severity in Rejector biopsy samples as compared with Predictors or Others (p less than 0.001, ANOVA testing). These variables cannot distinguish Predictor biopsy specimens from Others. On the other hand, interstitial edema, perivascular karyorrhexis and perivascular infiltrate with intermyocyte extension are histologic abnormalities that can distinguish Predictor biopsy samples from Others (p less than 0.001, ANOVA testing). Multiple logistic regression analysis indicates that the relative risk of developing myocyte necrosis when a biopsy sample contains interstitial edema is 8.1. With perivascular infiltrate with intermyocyte extension in addition, the relative risk is 41.4. In summary, three histologic abnormalities have been identified that help predict the future development of myocyte necrosis within the next two endomyocardial biopsies. Biopsy specimens with these abnormalities probably represent early cardiac rejection before the development of myocyte necrosis.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1987

Prophylactic antiarrhythmic therapy of high-risk survivors of myocardial infarction: lower mortality at 1 month but not at 1 year.

To determine whether prophylactic antiarrhythmic therapy influences mortality in high-risk patients after acute myocardial infarction, 143 such patients were randomized in a double-blind individually dose-adjusted, placebo-controlled trial an average of 14 +/- 7 days after myocardial infarction and followed for 1 year. Patients were judged to be at high risk on the basis of (1) ejection fraction less than 40% (n = 60), (2) arrhythmias of Lown class 3 or higher (n = 26), or (3) both (n = 57). Aprindine was chosen because of its long half-life, few side effects, and antiarrhythmic efficacy. Baseline characteristics in the treatment arms did not differ. Holter-detected arrhythmias were reduced in aprindine-treated patients at 3 months (p less than .001) and at 1 year (p less than .001). One patient was lost to follow-up; in the remaining patients 1 year mortality was 20% (28/142; 12 aprindine and 16 placebo). There was no significant difference between the two study arms in overall mortality and sudden death. However, among those who died, median duration of survival was longer in aprindine-treated patients (86 vs 21.5 days) (p = .04). Although antiarrhythmic treatment with aprindine of high-risk patients after myocardial infarction does not affect 1 year survival, mortality appears to be delayed; thus there may be a role for short-term treatment before more definitive therapy such as surgery.

Aprindine↗
PubMed1986

Importance of risk factors in the angiographic progression of coronary artery disease.

Although specific risk factors correlate with the development of clinical coronary events, little is known about their importance in patients with established coronary artery disease (CAD). A numerical scoring system was used to assess serial coronary angiograms in subjects who had detailed risk factor determinations. Strong linear correlations were demonstrated between the extent of progression of CAD and diastolic blood pressure (BP) (p = 0.002), systolic BP (p = 0.094), the number of cigarette pack-years smoked among current smokers (p = 0.022), fasting blood glucose level (p = 0.017) and low levels of physical activity at leisure (p = 0.097). This analysis of sequential coronary angiograms identifies BP, cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus and physical activity as important risk factors in the progression of CAD. These variables merit attention in the management of patients with symptomatic CAD and in secondary coronary prevention trials investigating risk factor modification.

Adult↗