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Biomedical subjects

A Aparicio

Publications and source records attributed to A Aparicio.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Effect of the mode of calcitriol administration on PTH-ionized calcium relationship in uraemic patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism.

To assess the effect of the different modes of calcitriol administration on PTH-ionized calcium relationship we conducted a prospective clinical trial in 33 patients on chronic haemodialysis with secondary hyperparathyroidism (four times upper normal limit intact PTH) who were randomly assigned, with stratification to PTH levels, to receive daily oral, intermittent oral, or intermittent intravenous calcitriol at the same dose of 0.045 micrograms/kg/weekly. PTH-iCa curves were generated by inducing hypo- or hypercalcaemia in sequential haemodialysis 1 week apart, before and after 10 weeks on treatment. All patients were dialysed against a dialysate calcium concentration of 2.5 mEq/l throughout the study period. After drop-outs, 26 patients completed the study: 11 on intravenous calcitriol (mean basal PTH +/- SD: 666 +/- 280 pg/ml), eight on intermittent oral calcitriol (mean basal PTH: 831 +/- 361), and seven on daily oral calcitriol (mean basal PTH: 719 +/- 280). Serum ionized calcium and phosphorus significantly increased in intravenous and daily oral groups after calcitriol treatment, but not in the intermittent oral group. Basal PTH did not significantly change in the three groups after 10 weeks on treatment. Maximal PTH significantly decreased in intravenous group (1449 +/- 660 versus 1122 +/- 691 pg/ml, P = 0.0085) and at the limit of statistical significance in the intermittent oral group (1701 +/- 774 versus 1445 +/- 634, P = 0.12), but it did not change in the daily oral group. Minimal PTH did not modify in the three groups. In all three groups, a shift to the right in the PTH-iCa relationships were observed, with significant changes in the set point of calcium.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1992

Assessment of iron status by erythrocyte ferritin in uremic patients with or without recombinant human erythropoietin therapy.

Erythrocyte ferritin may be a better estimator of iron bioavailability than the conventional markers of iron stores (serum ferritin and transferrin saturation). To investigate the accuracy of these conventional markers in uremic patients compared with erythrocyte ferritin, we studied 29 chronic hemodialysis patients on erythropoietin (EPO) therapy, 18 without EPO therapy, and 22 healthy control subjects. Apart from the red blood cell indices, serum ferritin, transferrin saturation, and erythrocyte ferritin, the analytical study included red blood cell protoporphyrin and plasma aluminum levels. The control group showed erythrocyte ferritin concentrations between 8.3 and 12.5 attograms/cell (95% confidence interval). In the EPO group, red blood cell protoporphyrin correlated negatively with erythrocyte ferritin, but not with serum ferritin or transferrin saturation. In the non-EPO group, serum ferritin, erythrocyte ferritin, and transferrin saturation did not correlate with red blood cell protoporphyrin. Even though erythrocyte ferritin correlated well with serum ferritin in the EPO group (r = 0.61, P = 0.0003), the sensitivity of normal serum ferritin levels (30 to 300 ng/mL) to discard a low erythrocyte ferritin concentration (erythrocyte ferritin less than 7 ag/cell) was 0.53, while the sensitivity of serum ferritin at levels less than 30 ng/mL to indicate an absolute iron deficiency expressed as a low erythrocyte ferritin concentration was 0.28. Only values of serum ferritin and transferrin saturation greater than 300 ng/mL and 35%, respectively, could rule out a relative iron deficiency expressed as a low erythrocyte ferritin and high red blood cell protoporphyrin concentration. Plasma aluminum levels did not correlate with red blood cell protoporphyrin or erythrocyte ferritin levels in either uremic group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Anemia, Hypochromic↗
PubMed1991

Argentina's WHO Cancer Pain Relief Program: a patient care model.

We treat cancer pain patients at their homes, in collaboration with their relatives and primary physician. Assistance is free. Our team is monodisciplinary and trained volunteers are the liaison between team and patients. In 118 patients treated with our model between October 1987 and December 1988, we assessed the symptoms that moved them to seek assistance, their previous therapies, and the effectiveness of our intervention. The data obtained suggest that (a) in our country, the majority of cancer patients do not obtain effective pain and symptom control; (b) our model yields satisfactory pain control and improvement in quality of life; and (c) there is a need for centers that teach and practice terminal care; our model may be useful as a working outline for such centers.

Argentina↗