Search PubMedSearch

Biomedical subjects

W J Wilson

Publications and source records attributed to W J Wilson.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Antibody to hepatitis C virus increases with time on hemodialysis.

We studied whether chronic hemodialysis is associated with an increased risk of exposure to hepatitis C virus. Utilizing a first generation Elisa assay (C-100 Elisa, Ortho Diagnostic Systems, Raritan, NJ) and the Chiron RIBA HCV second generation assay (RIBA, Chiron, Emeryville, CA and Ortho Diagnostic Systems, Raritan, NJ), antibody to HCV was found in 31 of 87 hemodialysis patients (36%). Patients on hemodialysis less than 2 years had an antibody incidence of 15% (n = 46), as contrasted with a 59% incidence for patients on dialysis greater than or equal to 2 years (n = 41). We were unable to demonstrate a correlation of HCV-antibody positivity with history of blood transfusion. The overall incidence is higher than previously reported for hemodialysis patients in the United States. The very high incidence found in patients on dialysis greater than or equal to 2 years suggests that factors in the hemodialysis unit might contribute to the spread of virus.

Blood Transfusion

Combined reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament in competitive athletes.

Fifty-eight professional and competitive amateur athletes had a combined reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament, with use of the semitendinosus tendon for the intra-articular portion of the reconstruction and a strip of iliotibial band for the extra-articular augmentation. Thirty patients (thirty-two knees) were evaluated two to seven years postoperatively to assess the results and the ability to return to athletics. Follow-up consisted of an interview, clinical and roentgenographic examinations, and testing with an arthrometer. Six patients (20 per cent) had a rating of excellent; twenty-two (73 per cent), good; and two (7 per cent), fair. There were no poor results. Of the thirty-two knees, twenty had an associated injury: twenty meniscal tears in eighteen knees, three tears of the medial collateral ligament, four osteochondral fractures of the lateral femoral condyle, and two loose bodies. Combined reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament resulted in improved stability of the knee in these patients whose goal of treatment was to be able to resume sports at a highly competitive level.

Adolescent

Pharmacological manipulations of the nucleus accumbens: effects on classically conditioned responses and locomotor activity in the cat.

Agonists and antagonists of dopamine, acetylcholine, and glutamate were injected bilaterally into the nucleus accumbens in 5 adult cats, and their effects on classically conditioned responses and locomotor activity were observed. Dopamine reduced conditioned consummatory responses (leg flexion and vocalization) and conditioned changes in respiration rate, but did not affect other conditioned preparatory responses (changes in heart rate and respiration amplitude). The cholinergic agonist oxotremorine reduced both conditioned and unconditioned leg flexion. The glutamatergic agonist and antagonist had no effect on any of the conditioned responses. All drugs except haloperidol increased the cats locomotor activity in an open field setting. The results suggest that dopaminergic input to the nucleus accumbens is involved in the inhibition of consummatory conditioned responses, and that the behavioral effect of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens might be dependent on the emotional state of the animal.

Animals

Utilization of computed tomography scanners and the health planning issue: a process data summary.

Studies were made of the computed tomography (CT) scanning process at three hospitals. The data collected, while of interest to hospital administrators and radiologists, are particularly significant in view of the current structure of health planning guuielines. The data show clearly that the utilization potential of a particular CT scanner is a function of patient demand, scan time, the ratio of head to body procedures, and medical practice insofar as contrast medium administration is concerned. This paper summarizes the results of the hospital studies and documents the implications of the data for health planning guidelines.

Adult

Diverticulosis of the left ventricle.

Nine patients, 4--60 years old, had single or multiple left ventricular outpouchings, best seen during diastole, and believed to represent congenital diverticula. The 14 diverticula, 5--28 mm long, were either along the diaphragmatic or anterior ventricular wall. Only one patient had his diverticulum surgically removed; the wall was lined by thick endocardium surrounded by normal myocardium. The lesions did not produce local or systemic complications. All patients had normal chest radiographs. The material suggests that left ventricular diverticula not associated with midline anomalies are perhaps not very rare and should be distinguished from cardiac aneurysm.

Adolescent

Laryngotracheobronchitis: 2 years' experience with racemic epinephrine.

A relatively new form of treatment of laryngotracheobronchitis, administration of racemic epinephrine by intermittent positive-pressure breathing, was begun in 1973 in the pediatric unit of a large community hospital. A review of 2 years' experience with this treatment, compared with the experience of the 3 years prior to its introduction, has shown that it has reduced significantly the necessity for tracheostomy, to nearly zero, and the duration of hospital stay. A total of 119 children (33.15% of those admitted) received this treatment, the average number of treatments required being 1.8. There were no important complications of treatment and no deaths.

Adolescent

The effect of angiotensin-II during ventriculography in dogs with normal coronary arteries.

Left ventriculography was performed with and without angiotensin-II in dogs with normal coronary arteries. Concomitant administration of angiotensin significantly attenuated the myocardial depression associated with ventriculography. The beneficial effect of angiotensin may be due to its ability to maintain aortic diastolic pressure and thus flush the contrast material from the myocardium more rapidly, at least in animals without imposed coronary stenosis.

Angiocardiography