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Biomedical subjects

A Caldeira

Publications and source records attributed to A Caldeira.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

High-volume vs standard fluid therapy in a septic pig model. Impact on pulmonary function.

OBJECTIVE: To compare pulmonary function and peripheral organ blood flow in septic pigs receiving high-volume fluid resuscitation or standard-volume fluid resuscitation with similar goals in oxygen delivery. DESIGN: A prospective study comparing 2 groups of septic pigs. SETTING: A university animal research laboratory. SUBJECTS: Eleven septic pigs. INTERVENTIONS: Basal oxygen delivery was increased from 450 to 550 mL/min to at least 600 mL/min by the sixth hour and maintained for 24 hours. From a baseline pulmonary artery occlusion pressure (PAOP) measurement of approximately 6 mm Hg, the high-volume group (n = 5) was treated until a PAOP measurement of 12 mm Hg was reached and the standard-volume group (n = 6) was treated until a PAOP measurement of 8 mm Hg was reached. Blood transfusions and inotropic agents were added as necessary to reach the oxygen delivery goal. RESULTS: The high-volume group had a significantly greater positive fluid balance, greater weight gain, and a higher PAOP but similar intrapulmonary shunt and extravascular lung water as compared with the standard-volume group. CONCLUSION: Resuscitation with large volumes of fluid in early sepsis with a physiological goal of a higher PAOP to augment oxygen delivery did not cause increased pulmonary edema and oxygenation deficit compared with maintenance of lower cardiac filling pressures.

Animals↗

[Molecular heterogeneity of beta thalassemia].

PURPOSE: To check out the incidence of beta-thalassaemia in different regions of Spain and to demonstrate its heterogeneity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was performed on 60 peripheral blood samples from patients diagnosed of beta-thalassaemia by conventional methods, namely, microcytosis, HbA2 over 3.5%, increased HbF. DNA was isolated with phenol-chloroform and amplified by ARMS technique, and in one case its sequence was established according to Sanger's method. RESULTS: The mutations found in the 67 alleles studied showed similar incidence, although NT1 (IVS 1) mutation was increased and NT110 (IVS 1) mutation was decreased when compared with the findings in other Mediterranean populations. CONCLUSION: Due to historical reasons, the racial characteristics of Spanish people are the product of different ethnic groups, so hereditary disorders are here usually heterogeneous. This study appears to confirm such fact with respect to beta-thalassaemia.

Genetic Heterogeneity↗

[Coronary angioplasty in elderly patients. A therapeutic option].

Of 304 consecutive percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasties (PTCA) performed between March 86 and March 88, 61 patients were 65 years or older. The indications for PTCA were: stable angina, unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction with suitable anatomy. In elderly patients, the female sex, and the calcific deposits, were more frequent than in the younger group (p less than 0.0001). Primary success was achieved in 82%, vs 88% in patients younger than 65 years; complications and mortality were also statistically irrelevant between the two groups. Late clinical follow-up ranging from 3 to 36 months (mean 10) showed that symptomatic improvement was achieved in 86% of elderly patients in whom PTCA was successful (vs 80% in the younger group). These data support the safety and clinical effectiveness of PTCA in elderly symptomatic patients with suitable anatomy.

Age Factors↗

Illiteracy and brain damage--1. Aphasia testing in culturally contrasted populations (control subjects).

One hundred neurologically healthy adults were tested for their pointing (choosing one of four or six line drawings as the match to an auditorily presented linguistic stimulus), naming (from line drawings), and repetition abilities. All subjects were unilingual adult right-handers. Fifty-seven subjects were totally unschooled illiterates and 43 were fluent readers. Statistically significant differences were found to exist between the scores of the illiterate and literate subpopulations across all tasks. With the focus being placed on these cultural differences, the discussion bears on: (a) the interaction between linguistic and iconographic factors in certain types of naming and pointing tasks currently used in clinical and research aphasiology, (b) some of the linguistic parameters which are apparently at stake in repetition behavior, and (c) the circumstances in which aphasiological research dealing with groups of patients cannot yield reliable data without reference to neurologically healthy controls. It is argued that, when testing brain-damaged patients of different cultural backgrounds, one runs the risk of over- or underestimating the frequency of aphasia if one does not refer to norms which explicitly take educational level into account.

Adult↗