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Biomedical subjects

U Abildgaard

Publications and source records attributed to U Abildgaard.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

[Internal medicine--limited or wide medical specialty?].

980 consecutive admissions to the medical department of Aker Hospital were analyzed in order to determine the extent to which the department deals with problems not related directly to the field of internal medicine. 709 patients (72%) were admitted for purely medical conditions. These patients occupied 49% of the beds. In 121 cases (12%) the main reason for admission involved other specialities. 209 admissions (21%) involved conditions other than somatic disease. Patients waiting for transferral to permanent nursing homes occupied 16% of the beds. Most patients needed hospital care, and many suffered from complex medical conditions. These factors advocate a liberal admission policy. On the other hand, medical departments should be relieved of responsibility for patients whose primary requirement is long-term care.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

[Admissions to the medical wards. Are resources used in accordance to patients' needs?].

Medical and social data on 980 consecutive admissions to the Medical Department, Aker Hospital, Oslo, were recorded prospectively with emphasis on patients' requirements and the Department's use of available resources. 73% of the admissions were acute, 4% were considered unnecessary. Half were because of chronic illness. Although 88% of the patients' requirements could have been met at a local hospital, 59% were treated in specialized units. 12% were admitted to the day unit at reduced cost for an average stay of three days. 41% of the patients were over 70 years of age, 37% lived alone and 14% needed rehabilitation. A main reason for admission was the patient's inability to take care of him/herself at home, in nearly all cases the main reason being acute illness or deterioration. Therefore many of the patients seemed to need care in an acute geriatric unit. At any one time the reason for 20-25% of the patients being in the department was delay in providing care at home or in a nursing home.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Diagnostic related groups--testing of the system in a medical department].

In a prospective study we registered the lengths of stay for hospital care for diagnosis-related groups (DRG) for 980 consecutive admissions to a medium-sized medical department in Oslo. The DRG codes which should discriminate between high and low ages and between routine and complicated cases were found to differentiate well in an economic sense, based on the length of hospital stays. We conclude that the main principles of this American system can probably be used in Norway, although some modifications are necessary.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Alcohol abuse as the cause of admission to a medical department].

In a prospective study at Aker hospital in Norway, chronic alcohol abuse was the cause of five per cent (48 of 980) of the medical admissions. The alcohol abusers were approximately ten years younger than the other patients. Eighty per cent were men, and fifty-four per cent were single. Most of the admissions (90%) were acute. Gastrointestinal diseases, psychiatric disorders and intoxications dominated among the alcohol abusers. The cost of treatment was lower, however, for the alcohol abusers than for other patients, because the former seldom needed expensive treatment and the stay in hospital was often short.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Dose adjusted heparin treatment of deep venous thrombosis: a comparison of unfractionated and low molecular weight heparin.

Two studies have been done to establish recommendations for dosage and dose adjustment in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). In the first, 56 patients were randomized in a double blind study to be treated either with unfractionated heparin (UFH) or LMWH s.c. every 12 h. Initial doses were given according to age and sex, disregarding bodyweight, and the dose was then adjusted when the peak plasma heparin concentration fell outside the desired range of 0.5-0.8 anti-FXa U/ml. There were fewer dose adjustments in the LMWH group. The correlation between injected dose (U/kg bodyweight) and the heparin concentration was higher in the LMWH group (r = 0.59) than in the UFH group (r = 0.38). The results suggest that, in order to obtain the desired heparin concentration, the initial dose of LMWH should be about 100 U/kg bodyweight every 12 h. In the second, open study, this dosage plan was followed in 15 patients. The peak heparin concentration on Day 2 ranged from 0.40 to 0.75 anti-FXa U/ml and adjustment was only required in 3 patients. Day to day variation in peak heparin activity in the individual patient varied little (CV 11-22%), and there was no accumulation. The results indicate that plasma heparin concentration is more predictable using LMWH than UFH, and they point to definite advantages in the use of LMWH in a bodyweight adjusted dosage.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

Monitoring therapy with LMW heparin: a comparison of three chromogenic substrate assays and the Heptest clotting assay.

Three LMW heparins (LMWH), one unfractionated heparin (UH), and international standards of LMWH and UH were compared in three chromogenic substrate (CS) assays and the 'Heptest' clotting assay. With a two-stage CS assay, linear standard curves were obtained in the 0.1-1.0 U/ml range, nearly coinciding for all preparations. With the one-stage CS assays, standard curves were curvilinear and similar for UH and the LMWH groups. In the Heptest assay, standard curves were linear for UH but not for LMWH. Mean recovery of LMWH, added to patients' plasma samples was 70-98% for the four assays. Variation between individual recoveries was much greater with Heptest (coefficient of variation (CV) 35-44%) than with one-stage CS assays (CV 14-21%) or two-stage CS assays (CV 7-8%). For monitoring LMW heparin therapy, CS assays seem preferable to Heptest. The two-stage CS assay had superior accuracy, but the one-stage CS assays were easier to perform.

Automation↗
PubMed1990

Indices of hypercoagulation in cancer as compared with those in acute inflammation and acute infarction.

The mean levels of fibrinopeptide A (FPA), thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT), and soluble fibrin (tPA method) in cancer patients (n = 32) were intermediate between those of patients with cerebral infarction and pancreatitis who had the most abnormal results and patients with myocardial infarction and pneumonia who had the least abnormal results. Patients with disseminated malignancies (n = 16) had significantly higher mean levels of FPA (10.6 vs. 5.3 nmol/l) and TAT (11.0 vs. 4.4 pmol/l) than patients with limited malignancies (n = 16). The difference in soluble fibrin (fibrin monomer, FM; 22.1 vs. 18.0 nmol/l) was not significant. The values of FPA, FM, and TAT in the patient population correlated significantly. There was a negative correlation between the level of antithrombin and test results for FPA (-0.69), FM (-0.48), and TAT (-0.38) in the cancer patients. Even cancer patients with locally limited disease may have elevated FPA, FM, and TAT test results, indicating a state of definite hypercoagulation.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1990

A double-blind and randomized placebo-controlled trial of low molecular weight heparin once daily to prevent deep-vein thrombosis in acute ischemic stroke.

The effect of LMW heparin (Kabi 2165, Fragmin) was compared with placebo for the prevention of DVT in 103 patients with acute ischemic stroke using a prospective, double-blind, randomized trial design. Treatment was started within 72 hours, and LMW heparin was administered subcutaneously once daily according to body weight classes, which corresponded to about 55 to 65 Factor-Xa inhibitory U/kg, for 14 days, or until discharge from the hospital, if earlier. All patients underwent thrombosis surveillance with unilateral venography of the paretic limb. Evaluation of venography could be performed in 42 of 52 patients randomized to LMW heparin and in 50 of 51 patients randomized to placebo. The frequency of DVT was 15 of 42 patients or 36% (95% confidence interval 22 to 52%) in the LMW heparin group and 17 of 50 patients or 34% (21 to 49%) in the placebo group. The frequency of proximal thrombi was 5 of 42 (12%) and 8 of 50 (16%), respectively. There was one fatal pulmonary embolism in the placebo group. The mortality rate (28 days follow-up) was 5 of 52 in the LMW heparin group and 1 of 51 in the placebo group (p = 0.24). None of the deaths was related to treatment. No major hemorrhagic complications were observed. The mean Factor Xa inhibitory activity levels at peak concentration were 0.34 U/ml on day 2 and 0.42 U/ml on day 12 (p = 0.02). We conclude that LMW heparin in the dose range studied did not provide efficient prophylaxis against DVT in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1989

Extrinsic pathway inhibitor in elective surgery: a comparison with other coagulation inhibitors.

Extrinsic coagulation pathway inhibitor may be an important regulator of haemostasis to prevent thrombosis after tissue damage. The functional activity of this inhibitor was determined using a chromogenic substrate assay, and compared to the activities of antithrombin, heparin cofactor II and protein C during the perioperative period of elective hip replacement (n = 28), cholecystectomy (n = 11), and vascular surgery (n = 5). Peroperatively, all the inhibitors decreased rather similarly and to the same degree as the decrease in albumin concentration. The decreases during hip surgery were about 2-fold the decreases observed during cholecystectomy. A significant peroperative increase in extrinsic pathway inhibitor activity was observed in vascular surgery, probably due to a bolus injection of heparin. Antithrombin, heparin cofactor II and protein C levels normalized on days 3-5 postoperatively in all three patient groups. Sustained low levels of extrinsic pathway inhibitor were observed on postoperative days 1 to 7 in hip surgery patients. Apparently, extrinsic pathway inhibitor is not an acute phase reactant. In uncomplicated surgery, the decreases of the coagulation inhibitor levels are mainly due to hemodilution.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

The quantitative association of plasma endotoxin, antithrombin, protein C, extrinsic pathway inhibitor and fibrinopeptide A in systemic meningococcal disease.

We have evaluated the quantitative relationship between lipopolysaccharide (LPS, endotoxin), fibrinopeptide A (FPA), antithrombin (AT), protein C (PC) and extrinsic pathway inhibitor (EPI) in plasma from 39 consecutively admitted patients with systemic meningococcal disease (SMD). The most severely ill patients with fulminant meningococcal septicemia (n = 13, 6 dead) had significantly (p less than 0.01) higher plasma levels of LPS and FPA and lower levels of PC and AT on admission as compared with the less severe clinical presentations (n = 26, 1 dead). The levels of EPI on admission were significantly (p less than 0.05) higher in nonsurvivors vs survivors with fulminant septicemia. As the disease progressed, the levels of LPS, FPA, AT and PC declined, while the levels of EPI increased. Three of six nonsurviving septicemic patients had levels of EPI greater than 200% within 16 hours of admission vs two of 30 survivors (p = 0.02). The results suggest that increasing levels of LPS in SMD elicit increasing consumption coagulopathy, contributing to the organ pathophysiology. The kinetics of EPI, inhibiting the thromboplastin-FVIIa-FXa complex, differs markedly from the kinetics of AT and PC i.e. increases as opposed to decreases.

Antithrombin III↗
PubMed1989

[Treatment of iliofemoral venous thrombosis].

In a series of 41 patients with iliofemoral venous thrombosis, 23 were treated with heparin only. Five patients received ultra high dose streptokinase without any detectable thrombolysis. 11 patients were treated according to the conventional dose regimen for streptokinase. Three of these obtained complete thrombolysis, and two partial thrombolysis. Two patients were treated primarily with thrombectomy, whereas five patients were referred to thrombectomy after streptokinase had failed. Operation resulted in complete recanalization in four cases, and partial recanalization in two cases. We recommend the conventional dose regimen for streptokinase as first-line therapy for iliofemoral venous thrombosis. Thrombectomy should be considered if phlegmasia cerulea dolens is present, or when streptokinase is contraindicated. Thrombectomy can be carried out equally well after streptokinase failure, if major symptoms last less than a week.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Heparin cofactor IIOslo. Mutation of Arg-189 to His decreases the affinity for dermatan sulfate.

Heparin and dermatan sulfate increase the rate of inhibition of thrombin by heparin cofactor II (HCII) approximately 1000-fold by providing a catalytic template to which both the inhibitor and the proteinase bind. A variant form of HCII that binds heparin but not dermatan sulfate has been described recently in two heterozygous individuals (Andersson, T.R., Larsen, M.L., and Abildgaard, U. (1987) Thromb. Res. 47, 243-248). We have now purified the variant HCII (designated HCIIOslo) from the plasma of ne of these individuals. HCIIOslo or normal HCII (11 nM) was incubated with thrombin (9 nM) for 1 min in the presence of heparin or dermatan sulfate. Fifty percent inhibition of thrombin occurred at 26 micrograms/ml dermatan sulfate with normal HCII and greater than 1600 micrograms/ml dermatan sulfate with HCIIOslo. In contrast, inhibition of thrombin occurred at a similar concentration of heparin (1.0-1.5 micrograms/ml) with both inhibitors. To identify the mutation in HCIIOslo, DNA fragments encoding the N-terminal 220 amino acid residues of HCII were amplified from leukocyte DNA by the Taq DNA polymerase chain reaction and both alleles were cloned. A point mutation (G----A) resulting in substitution of His for Arg-189 was found in one allele. The same mutation was constructed in the cDNA of native HCII by oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant HCIIHis-189 reacted with thrombin in the presence of heparin but not dermatan sulfate, confirming that this mutation is responsible for the functional abnormality in HCIIOslo.

Amino Acid Sequence↗