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Biomedical subjects

A Cameron

Publications and source records attributed to A Cameron.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Limitations of the triolein breath test.

Patients being investigated for intestinal absorptive capacity were classified as normals or malabsorbers on the basis of three fat absorption tests. Malabsorbers were further classified as mild, moderate, severe or gross according to severity of malabsorption. Using this classification system the triolein breath test was evaluated in 53 patients. Seventeen patients were excluded because their graph of percentage breath [14C]carbon dioxide versus time was exponential indicating that the peak [14C]-carbon dioxide may be occurring later than the six hour duration of the test. The sensitivity and specificity of the triolein breath test were found to be 100% and 96%, respectively and moderate correlations with the individual fat absorption tests were found. However, the breath test was limited in its capacity to predict the severity of malabsorption. Carbon dioxide output was also measured in order to determine the applicability of using an assumed value. The respiratory quotient and variability of results were high in nineteen patients indicating possible hyperventilation. In 32 patients with reproducible results and normal respiratory quotients the average carbon dioxide output was 8.66 mmol/kg per hour with a wide range of 5-12.4 mmol/kg per hour. Consequently the use of an assumed carbon dioxide output can introduce considerable errors in the triolein breath test. This study highlights drawbacks of the triolein breath test, particularly problems in using an assumed carbon dioxide output for its calculation, its inability to predict the severity of malabsorption and the nature of the dietary load used.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Mobile cardiac catheterization laboratories. Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions Laboratory Performance Standards Committee.

The Society of Cardiac Angiography and interventions proposed guidelines for the establishment of mobile cardiac catheterization laboratories. These laboratories should be established only in areas with genuine need, preferably as determined by an objective medical authority. Safety of the patient should be of paramount importance and specifications as to the selection of patients, transportation of patients with complications, the relationship to a tertiary care center, and quality assurance mechanisms are all addressed.

Cardiac Catheterization↗
PubMed1992

Cardiac catheterization laboratory survey: 1990. Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions, Laboratory Performance Standards Committee.

A survey of 117 member cardiac catheterization laboratories was undertaken by the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions. The survey included numbers and types of procedures, both diagnostic and interventional, in adult as well as pediatric age groups. Radiation safety, various laboratory policies, frequency of short stay, and outpatient procedures were tabulated. Report generation, training programs, administrative organization, and laboratory equipment were all included. The results were compared with a 1978 survey. Areas of concern in terms of safety of the patient and possible underutilization of laboratories were identified.

Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary↗
PubMed1992

Facing the cuts: a health authority's experience of rate-capping.

Health and social services in Britain are both publicly funded, but health care is provided centrally by the National Health Service while social services are provided by local government. Central government has sought to limit overall public spending by limiting the income of local authorities from rates (property taxes)--a policy known as rate-capping. In the face of this policy, one inner London local authority was forced to cut its social services budget in 1988/89 by 17%. We have compared the actual social service reductions with the perceptions, expressed in semi-structured interviews, of 69 health and social services staff. There was a perceived deterioration in social service provision, and indicators were suggested which would help health service staff to monitor these changes. There were also recent and more long-standing difficulties of communication between the two services, which limited joint working. The increasing emphasis on community care requires health authorities to cooperate more closely with social services at the local level.

Health Expenditures↗
PubMed1992

Laxative induced diarrhoea--a neglected diagnosis.

A laxative screening service was established and offered to gastroenterologists in hospitals covering the West and Central belt of Scotland. The prevalence of laxative induced diarrhoea was assessed in two populations and was found to be 4% in new patients presenting to a gastroenterology clinic with diarrhoea and 20% in patients already under investigation of chronic idiopathic diarrhoea. A high rate of missed diagnosis of laxative induced diarrhoea (71%) and a low request rate (eight per annum) confirm the low clinical awareness of this diagnosis. We found potential savings of 80% of the cost of investigations subsequently ordered which could have been avoided by performing laxative screens on all patients presenting with diarrhoea. The introduction of such a screening policy is recommended as a cost-effective measure.

Cathartics↗
PubMed1991

Diagnosis of the abuse of magnesium and stimulant laxatives.

A reliable diagnosis of laxative abuse can only be reached by chemical analysis. We report a modified thin layer chromatography approach for the detection and confirmation of over-the-counter colonic stimulant laxatives. Potential interference by dietary and drug components chemically similar to anthraquinones was investigated and the method was found to be specific in this respect. The diagnosis of magnesium laxative abuse is more difficult since magnesium is a component of body fluids. By inducing diarrhoea with magnesium salts in volunteers we have established that the diagnosis can be made by measuring magnesium concentrations in stool water, with 30 mmol/L being an appropriate cut-off concentration.

Cathartics↗
PubMed1979

Asynchronous ventricular relaxation: an angiographic temporal analysis of asynchronous left ventricular relaxation in man.

Segmental "early relaxation" is a common angiographic finding. An attempt was made to elucidate the temporal characteristics of this event. Twenty subjects with and 20 without segmental early relaxation were studied. The left ventricular diastolic relaxation time was precisely determined angiographically, and the findings were as follows: 0.12 +/- 0.04 second (mean +/- standard deviation) in the normal patients, 0.14 +/- 0.03 second in the patients with coronary artery disease but no segmental early relaxation and 0.20 +/- 0.04 second in the patients with segmental early relaxation. These findings indicate that early relaxation is associated with a significantly prolonged ventricular relaxation time. The use of the term asynchronous ventricular relaxation is proposed to denote the disturbed diastolic properties of the ventricle with "early relaxation."

Angiocardiography↗
PubMed1979

Aortocoronary bypass surgery: a 7-year follow-up.

Follow-up of 748 consecutive patients who underwent aortocoronary artery bypass grafts was obtained for 5 to 94 months (average, 59 months). Operative mortality of 2.5% did not vary with number of vessels bypassed. There was a linear 3.5% annual recurrence rate of angina, and average annual late infarction rate of 1.4%. The cumulative survival rates did not differ for the number of grafts performed or for men and women, but did differ for left main coronary stenosis and impaired ejection fractions. The late cumulative survival rates for the entire group approached those of the general U.S. population.

Adult↗