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Biomedical subjects

A B Gasser

Publications and source records attributed to A B Gasser.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Neurologic and cardiac toxicity following iv application of methotrexate.

The case of a 61-year-old female patient with metastatic breast cancer is reported. She developed neurologic symptoms and supraventricular extrasystoles when she received iv methotrexate. These symptoms were reproducible and were not found with other drugs. The cause for this event is not clear.

Bone Neoplasms↗

[Urinary and serum hydroxyproline in the diagnosis of bone metastases of prostatic cancer].

Of 31 patients with prostatic cancer, 21 have skeletal metastases proven by bone scintigraphy and/or radiology. The sensitivity and specificity of the following measurements are compared: total urinary hydroxyproline, urinary hydroxyproline/creatinine ratio, free serum hydroxyproline, alkaline and prostatic phosphatases and serum calcium. The hydroxyproline/creatinine ratio is the most sensitive measurement for the diagnosis of bone metastasis, while total urinary hydroxyproline excretion per 24 hours is the most specific. Free serum hydroxyproline has no particular significance for this diagnosis. The alkaline and acid phosphatases are elevated but are not specific. Serum calcium decreases when skeletal metastases are present.

Acid Phosphatase↗

Biological variation in free serum hydroxyproline concentration.

Improvements in the accuracy of single estimations of biochemical constituents such as the serum free hydroxyproline (FSHP) concentration can only result from control of biological variation as well as analytical variation. In this context two experiments were carried out to determine whether a significant diurnal rhythm in FSHP concentration exists in man, and whether a worthwhile reduction in intra-individual variance can be achieved by eliminating dietary sources of hydroxyproline. A significant (p < 0.001) diurnal variation in FSHP concentration was detected in a group of normal subjects, with a range of about 20% of the mean. In a second group of eight normal subjects, there was a substantial reduction in the within-subject variation after the start of dietary control. For the most precise determination of FSHP concentration therefore, dietary hydroxyproline sources must be controlled, preferably eliminated, and blood should be sampled at a standardised time of day.

Adult↗

Total urinary and free serum hydroxyproline in metastatic bone disease.

The present study examines the possibility of correlation between free serum and urinary total hydroxyproline and whether this correlation can be applied to clinical conditions. The correlation between the two indices was 0.80 (P less than 0.001) in 18 patients, mostly suffering from malignant disease. On comparing the same measurements in 37 patients, all with known metastatic bone disease, we found 29/37 normal results for free serum hydroxyproline, whereas only 2/37 values of urinary total hydroxyproline were normal. The authors therefore conclude that urinary total hydroxyproline, measured as the ratio hydroxyproline/creatinine in a fresh specimen of early-morning urine, is the best index of collagen breakdown in metastatic bone disease and preferable to measurement of free serum hydroxyproline.

Adult↗

[Determination of plasma parathyroid hormone in the differential diagnosis of hypercalcemias associated with malignant tumors].

In 44 patients, all suffering from a malignant disease with hypercalcaemia, plasma parathormone was measured by a radioimmunoassay measuring the intact PTH molecule. The results as a function of plasma calcium were compared with those in 38 patients suffering from proven primary hyperparathyroidism and with those in 9 cases of hypercalcaemia of other origin. PTH was indetectable in 14 cases of malignant disease and normal in 25 cases. In 5 patients only could PTH and plasma calcium not be separated from primary hyperparathyroidism. 3 patients had an increased PTH level when plasma calcium was lowered by treatment of the underlying disease. In patients with malignant disease hypercalcaemia is rarely caused by increased secretion of PTH. In these cases either primary hyperparathyroidism or ectopic secretion of PTH may be the cause of hypercalcaemia.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

[Hydroxyproline in the diagnosis of bone metastases in breast cancer].

15 patients with breast cancer and proven bone metastases have been studied. Free serum and total urinary hydroxyproline were measured and the ratio (hydroxyproline/creatinine) - 100 in a morning urine specimen was calculated. The preliminary results show elevated free serum hydroxyproline in 8 of 15 patients; total urinary hydroxyproline in a 24-h collection and the ratio hydroxyproline/creatine in a morning urine specimen were elevated in all cases. These results agree with those of the literature. Further studies of free hydroxyproline and of the ratio hydroxyproline/ creatinine in a morning urine specimen in similar patients with provide more information on the possibility of using these measurements, alone or in combination, for the early detection or follow-up under therapy of bone metastases.

Adult↗