PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A C Harrison

Publications and source records attributed to A C Harrison.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Intermittent supervised treatment of tuberculosis at Green Lane Hospital, 1987-8.

AIMS: to assess the results of the first two years experience with intermittent supervised treatment of tuberculosis (IST) in Auckland, looking especially at practical problems. METHOD: the hospital records of the 16 patients who received IST during 1987-8 were reviewed retrospectively, and public health nurses who administered the medications were questioned about problems that were encountered. RESULTS: two-thirds of those who were given IST were Polynesian. In retrospect, the need for IST could have been anticipated in eight of the 12 patients (67%) who failed to comply with daily treatment. Five of the 16 IST patients presented major problems to the nurses supervising the twice weekly treatment. Poor motivation, itinerancy and alcohol abuse were the most common factors causing difficulty. IST was successfully completed in 13/16 patients (81%) and was abandoned in only one patient. Only two patients completed IST with a drug regimen for resistant organisms. Health nurse supervision resulted in improvements in understanding and attitude to tuberculosis, eventually enabling two patients to self medicate without supervision. CONCLUSIONS: IST is a practical treatment method in New Zealand, permitting curative therapy in a group of tuberculosis patients who would otherwise create risks of drug resistance, disease reactivation and spreading the disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The mechanism of bioactivation and antigen formation of amodiaquine in the rat.

A glutathione conjugate of amodiaquine has been isolated and characterized from rat bile after administration of [14C]amodiaquine (50 mumol/kg, 5.0 muCi/rat) to anaesthetized male Wistar rats. Thioether conjugates of amodiaquine in rat bile accounted for a total of 12% of the dose, 5 hr after administration of the drug. In addition, 1% of the dose remained in the liver covalently bound to tissue proteins after 5 hr. These findings provide direct evidence that a chemically reactive metabolite, amodiaquine quinoneimine, has been formed from the drug in vivo. A second major metabolite, desethylamodiaquine, accounting for 14% of the given dose, was present in the liver after 5 hr. Enzyme inhibition studies with ketoconazole-pretreated rats showed that both amodiaquine quinoneimine and desethylamodiaquine formation can be catalysed by cytochrome P450. The demonstration that amodiaquine readily and extensively forms a metabolite in vivo, with strong reactivity towards protein and non-protein thiol groups, may help to explain the idiosyncratic toxicity observed in man.

Amodiaquine↗
PubMed1991

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia as a complication of methotrexate treatment of asthma.

A 32 year old man with chronic severe asthma, requiring maintenance oral corticosteroids, was started on a weekly dose of methotrexate. Eleven weeks later he developed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. In the two years following treatment there has been no recurrence while oral corticosteroid treatment has been continued. Pneumocystis pneumonia should be considered in asthmatic patients taking methotrexate who present with fever, pulmonary infiltrates, and hypoxia.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Effects of water immersion on cardiac output of lean and fat male subjects at rest and during exercise.

To investigate the combined effect of water immersion (WI) and lean body mass on cardiac output (Q), 12 healthy young men, 6 lean (fat less than 9%) and 6 fat (fat greater than 18%), were studied at rest and during steady state exercise approximating 30-40% Vo2 max under three experimental conditions. There were on land at 24 degrees C (LND), and immersed in water at 33-34 degrees C to hip level (HIP), and to the xiphoid (XIP). Metabolic measures were determined during 30-s periods from the average breath measurements. Mixed venous PCO2 (PVCO2) was estimated using rebreathing equilibration technique. Cardiac output was calculated by the indirect Fick's principle. In the lean individuals the average Q rose from a resting value of 5.43 +/- 0.43 (LND) to an exercise value of 7.25 +/- 0.40 L/min (XIP), and from resting value of 5.62 +/- 0.40 to an exercise 6.47 +/- 0.5 L/min in the fat individuals. During exercise, the associated increase in Q with increasing WI was significantly (p less than 0.05) higher compared with the land experiments. Inspection of the mean profile corresponding to this increase indicated that an increase in the level of immersion results in a significant (p less than 0.05) increase in the average Q for the lean group. For the fat group, the average Q was significantly (p less than 0.05) larger only at XIP level. At rest, heart rate dropped from 67 +/- 3.36 (LND) to 60 +/- 4.13 (XIP), and from 79 +/- 3.73 to 73 +/- 4.10 BPM for the lean and fat group, respectively. MANOVA analysis showed a significant (p less than 0.05) interaction between WI and group membership, indicating that the effect of WI is significantly different between the two groups. These data indicate that the change in central blood volume with WI depends, in part, on the lean mass of the body.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Giant condyloma (Buschke--Loewenstein tumor) of the anorectum.

A case of giant condyloma of Buschke and Loewenstein is presented. The clinical course and pathology of these tumors are reviewed. This case illustrates the delay in establishing the diagnosis in spite of numerous biopsies. It is emphasized that the only effective treatment is wide local excision.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Combined cholinergic antagonist and beta 2-adrenoceptor agonist bronchodilator therapy by inhalation.

The bronchodilator effects of 40 microgram ipratropium bromide (I) and 400 microgram fenoterol (F) by pressurised aerosol and both drugs in combination were compared with placebo (P) in a double-blind study in eight patients with chronic, partially reversible airways obstruction. The four treatments were (1) IP, (2) PF, (3) IF and (4) PP, with the second aerosol administered two hours after the first. Both drugs produced significant bronchodilatation for five hours, the response being greater and more rapid in onset with fenoterol. Both drugs in combination (IF) produced significant additive bronchodilatation from three to six hours after fenoterol. This additive effect may have been due to the improved lung function caused by ipratropium bromide and does not imply a synergistic effect. There were no side-effects reported. The results suggest that both ipratropium bromide and fenoterol are effective bronchodilating agents in patients with chronic asthma.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica.

The clinical, pathological and physiological features of two patients suffering from tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica (TO) are described. Unequivocal evidence of extrapulmonary airways obstruction was not able to be obtained by lung function testing, despite extensive central airway involvement in both patients. TO is a rare condition of which there is only one other clinical report from this country. As the bronchoscopic appearance may closely resemble that of endobronchial neoplasms, TO should be remembered in the differential diagnosis of patients with haemoptysis.

Aged↗
PubMed1978

Myogenic cells in Kaposi's sarcoma: an ultrastructural study.

An ultrastructural study of a metastatic Kaposi's sarcoma in a cervical lymph node demonstrated the presence of endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts and myofibroblasts. Some of these cells exhibited phagocytic activity in relation to extravasated red blood cells. The ultrastructural features favour the suggestion of an origin of Kaposi's sarcoma from pluripotential mesenchymal cells which may differentiate into more specialised cell types including endothelial, smooth muscle, fibroblastic and myofibroblastic cells.

Female↗