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Biomedical subjects

W F Taylor

Publications and source records attributed to W F Taylor.

210 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of a heparin assay method using a fluorogenic synthetic peptide substrate for thrombin.

A heparin assay method based on thrombin cleavage of a fluorogenic synthetic peptide has been evaluated in normal subjects, in patients with chronic renal disease on hemodialysis, and in patients with other disorders. The method has satisfactory accuracy, sensitivity, and reproducibility. In contrast to methods commonly used to monitor heparin therapy, it measures heparin directly and is uninfluenced by patient variables such as low antithrombin III. The method may provide valuable information in selected clinical settings such as cardiopulmonary bypass and in patients with chronic renal disease who receive heparin during hemodialysis or prior to surgery.

Cardiopulmonary Bypass↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Sputum cytologic diagnosis of upper respiratory tract cancer. Second report.

Screening for cancer is a popular issue for debate because few, if any, evaluations of the screening process have been conducted on a long-term prospective basis with use of concomitant, unscreened controls. We have found that screening of high-risk persons for presymptomatic lung cancer will identify patients with cancer in the upper and lower respiratory passages. Randomly selected patients enrolled in the Mayo Lung Project have undergone sputum cytologic and chest roentgenographic screening at four-month intervals and were compared with randomly selected matched control subjects who were not intensively screened. The search for upper airway tumors in the head and neck region was instigated by abnormal findings on sputum cytology in 12 screened patients. In the same period, 12 other screened patients with abnormal results of sputum cytology were found to have roentgenographically "occult" lung cancer. This finding emphasized the importance of the otorhinolaryngologic examination in screening programs for airway cancer. It is also important to emphasize that sputum-negative patients may have obvious, symptomatic tumors of the upper aerodigestive tract that can be easily diagnosed by those who are skilled in examining this area. Contrary to our expectation, there is no definitive evidence that screening has reduced mortality from either upper or lower airway cancer.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and in comparison groups.

One hundred fifty-one patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) were enrolled in a prospective collaborative study of North American patients (most were white). Serum samples were collected concurrently from 903 Mayo patients for comparisons of serologic analyses. Both IgA antiviral capsid antigen [VCA (IgA)] and the anti-early antigen [EA (D)] antibody responses were associated with diagnosis, but not always in the same way. Both responses were positive in 85% of patients with World Health Organization types 2 and 3 NPC. Only 16% with WHO type 1 NPC had positive IgA responses and only 35% had positive EA (D) responses, prevalences close to those in the comparison groups. Increased titers were found in the squamous carcinoma comparison group with tumors of the tongue and in the group with benign nasal polyps (p less than 0.01). We believe that the tests are specific, sensitive, and useful in diagnosis and treatment planning in patients with NPC, particularly those with occult primary NPC.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prognostic determinants and a new view of staging for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

There is no agreement on the single best staging system for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. We have evaluated prospectively several staging systems and have assessed the predictive value of many variables on survival and found that the most important are extensive tumor within the nasopharynx or regional extension, nodes in the lower portion of the neck, and cranial nerve involvement. Other variables that have not been used in traditional extent of disease staging systems but that have an adverse bearing on survival have been studied by multiple regression techniques in the Cox proportional hazards model. Two prognostic scores, which can be used for classifying patients into survival groups, ranging from excellent survival (low score) to poor survival (high score), have also been presented. With these schemes, patients who are at high risk for recurrence after conventional therapy can be reliably selected.

Carcinoma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Immunologic detection of occult primary cancer of the head and neck.

Because antibody titers against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antigens often are elevated in patients with active undifferentiated and nonkeratinizing nasopharyngeal carcinoma, anti-EBV serologic tests have been applied as a diagnostic aid in patients who have metastatic lymphadenopathy in the neck without an obvious source. IN this study of 44 patients, the serologic testing procedure proved useful in identifying six patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma that was initially occult but was eventually confirmed by biopsy.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Myocardial infarction after general anesthesia.

During 1967 and 1968, a total of 32,877 patients had general anesthesia at the Mayo Clinic; 422 had previous myocardial infarction. Of these 6.6% experienced another infarction during the first postoperative week. There was no relationship between incidence of postoperative reinfarction and type or duration of anesthesia. However, operations on the thorax and upper abdomen were followed by three times as many reinfarctions as operations at other sites. Patients who were operated on within three months of infarction had a 37% reinfarction rate. This rate decreased to 16% in patients at three to six months after infarction, and remained at 4% to 5% when infarction had occurred more than six months previously. A significantly higher number of myocardial infarctions occurred during the third postoperative day.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

AIDS: the risk to you.

Acquired immunodeficiency deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is atopic that currently grips the attention of many people in this country. How many surgical technologists have taken the time to study this subject and learn how we should respond? This article briefly reviews the microbiology and the transmission of AIDS, as well as discussing briefly the groups at high risk for contracting AIDS. Some elementary precautions for surgical technologists will be listed, and then the relevance of this topic for surgical technologists will be discussed. It is important for surgical technologists to understand how AIDS is transmitted, not only to prevent the immediate spread of the disease, but so that surgical technologists can help inform the nonmedical public about the disease and thereby help minimize panic and hysteria.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗