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Biomedical subjects

A D Tasker

Publications and source records attributed to A D Tasker.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Smoking related COPD and facial wrinkling: is there a common susceptibility?

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking causes accelerated facial wrinkling and predisposes to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, it has long been recognised that there is a subgroup of susceptible smokers who are at increased risk of developing airflow obstruction. We have tested the hypothesis that there is a common susceptibility for the development of COPD and facial wrinkling in cigarette smokers. METHODS: One hundred and forty nine current and ex-smokers were recruited from a family based study of COPD genetics, 68 (45.6%) of whom fulfilled the definition of COPD. 124 (83.2%) had no or minor facial wrinkling (Daniell /=IV). Generalised estimating equations were used to adjust for familial correlations between related individuals and the potential confounding effects of age and pack years smoked. RESULTS: Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) was significantly lower in those with wrinkles than in those without (mean difference in FEV(1) % predicted -13.7%, 95% CI -27.5 to 0.0, p = 0.05) and facial wrinkling was associated with a substantially increased risk of COPD (adjusted OR 5.0, 95% CI 1.3 to 18.5, p<0.02). The Daniell score correlated with the extent of emphysema on the CT scan (p<0.05) and facial wrinkling was also associated with a greater risk of more extensive emphysema (adjusted OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.0 to 9.3, p = 0.05). CONCLUSION: Facial wrinkling is associated with COPD in smokers, and both disease processes may share a common susceptibility. Facial wrinkling in smokers may therefore be a biomarker of susceptibility to COPD.

Disease Susceptibility↗
PubMed2002

Femtosecond laser time-of-flight mass spectrometry of labile molecular analytes: laser-desorbed nitro-aromatic molecules.

Femtosecond laser time-of-flight mass spectra of solid samples of trinitrobenzene (TNB), trinitrotoluene (TNT) and trinitrophenol (TNP) have been recorded. Desorption of the solid samples was enacted by the fourth harmonic output (266 nm) of a 5 ns Nd:YAG laser. Subsequent femtosecond post-ionisation of the plume of neutral molecules was achieved using 800 nm laser pulses of 80 fs duration. Mass spectra have been recorded for desorption laser intensities from 2-6 x 10(9) W cm(-2) with ionisation laser intensities between 2 x 10(14) and 6 x 10(15) W cm(-2). Femtosecond laser ionisation has been shown to be capable of generating precursor and characteristic high-mass fragment ions for labile nitro-aromatic molecules commonly used in high-explosive materials. This feature is critical in the future development of femtosecond laser-based analytical instruments that can be used for complex molecular identification and quantitative analysis of environmentally important labile molecules. Furthermore, a comparison of femtosecond post-ionisation mass spectra with standard 70 eV electron impact data has revealed similarities in the spectra and hence the fragmentation processes.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

The role of preliminary interpretation of chest radiographs by radiographers in the management of acute medical problems within a cardiothoracic centre.

Radiographic staff in a regional cardiothoracic centre were asked to assess all pre- and post-operative chest radiographs over a 6-month period. Radiographs showing new, acute changes were noted and a red dot placed on the film. Medical staff were notified of radiographs with red dots, and these were subsequently reported by radiologists. Using reports by radiologists as the gold standard, an audit was performed of the radiographers' accuracy in identifying new abnormalities. The absence of a necessary red dot as well as inappropriate use were noted. To enhance the accuracy of radiograph interpretation, a series of lectures on the chest radiograph and a protocol for red dot use were developed by senior radiologists. During this 6-month period 8614 chest radiographs were taken; red dots were applied to 464 (5%). These red dots were considered incorrect in 100 radiographs. Radiographers misinterpreted or missed potentially important changes in 38 of the remaining 8150 radiographs without red dots (sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 99%, respectively). Radiographers appeared to err on the side of caution when confronted with an abnormal chest radiograph, especially when previous radiographs and reports were unavailable. This resulted is a relatively high false positive rate. Future audits will show whether this rate can be reduced by continued training. Subtle interpretation is crucial to distinguish between an abnormal chest radiograph needing urgent medical attention and an abnormal chest radiograph with normal post-operative changes. The opinion of the experienced and trained radiographer is immediate and may be invaluable to the diagnostic care of the patient.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2000

Air trapping in sarcoidosis on computed tomography: correlation with lung function.

AIMS: To document the presence and extent of air trapping on high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis and correlate HRCT features with pulmonary function tests. METHODS: Twenty-one patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis underwent HRCT and pulmonary function assessment at presentation. Inspiratory and expiratory HRCT were assessed for the presence and extent of air trapping, ground-glass opacification, nodularity, septal thickening, bronchiectasis and parenchymal distortion. HRCT features were correlated with pulmonary function tests. RESULTS: Air trapping on expiratory HRCT was present in 20/21 (95%) patients. The extent of air trapping correlated with percentage predicted residual volume (RV)/total lung capacity (TLC) (r = 0.499;P < 0.05) and percentage predicted maximal mid-expiratory flow rate between 25 and 75% of the vital capacity (r = -0.54;P < 0.05). Ground-glass opacification was present in four of 21 (19%), nodularity in 18/21 (86%), septal thickening in 18/21 (86%), traction bronchiectasis in 14/21 (67%) and distortion in 12/21 (57%) of patients; there were no significant relationships between these CT features and pulmonary function results. CONCLUSION: Air trapping is a common feature in sarcoidosis and correlates with evidence of small airways disease on pulmonary function testing.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Heterogeneous signal in bone marrow on MRI of children's feet: a normal finding?

OBJECTIVE: To describe the magnetic resonance (MR) appearances of the bone marrow of children's feet and to determine their frequency and significance. DESIGN AND PATIENTS: A review of MR studies obtained in a retrospective series of 35 children with foot pain and in a prospective series of 19 asymptomatic children was performed. The MR appearances on T1-weighted, T2-weighted and STIR sequences were assessed and the frequency of patchy areas of low signal intensity on T1-weighted and high signal intensity on T2-weighted or STIR sequences was determined and correlated with clinical features. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Low signal intensity on T1-weighted and high signal intensity on T2-weighted and STIR sequences were seen in 63% of symptomatic and 57% of asymptomatic children. In all cases where both feet were imaged, the changes were seen bilaterally. The marrow pattern varied from multiple discrete foci to more extensive confluent areas of high signal on the STIR sequence. These appearances are frequent and represent normal variation in the growing skeleton, and should not necessarily be interpreted as a sign of pathology.

Bone Marrow↗
PubMed1999

Imaging the airways. Hemoptysis, bronchiectasis, and small airways disease.

Advances in technology have increased the contribution of radiology in understanding and evaluating diseases of the airways. In patients with hemoptysis, CT is now established as a complementary technique to bronchoscopy, or as an alternative to bronchoscopy in selected cases. The introduction of high-resolution CT has improved the detection and assessment of bronchiectasis and small airways disease, allowed better correlation between pathologic changes and radiologic appearances, and provided new insights into possible links between small airways disease and bronchial disease.

Bronchi↗
PubMed1997

Basilar artery fenestration in association with aneurysms of the posterior cerebral circulation.

We reviewed all patients over a 3-year period with documented aneurysms of the posterior cerebral circulation, and re-examined the angiograms of 103 patients. There were 9 cases of fenestration of the basilar artery, all associated with aneurysms of the basilar artery. In 6, the aneurysm arose at the site of the fenestration. We believe that the presence of a fenestration predisposes to aneurysm formation, due to the combination of the resulting alteration in flow characteristics and the presence of a defect in the media of the vessel.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Achalasia: an unusual cause of stridor.

Two cases are presented of patients with achalasia were the massively dilated oesophagus resulted in respiratory compromise and stridor. This appears to be caused by mechanical compression of the trachea due to failure of relaxation of the upper oesophageal sphincter.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Relative incidence and morphology of lateral and medial meniscal cysts detected by magnetic resonance imaging.

It is likely that meniscal cysts of the knee are a complication of meniscal tears which extend to the capsular attachment. They are reported as occurring three times more commonly on the lateral than the medial side. We reviewed 50 cases of meniscal cysts diagnosed on magnetic resonance imaging in patients with suspected internal derangement of the knee. Twenty-eight cysts involved the medial and 22 the lateral meniscus. The most common sites were the posterior third of the medial meniscus and the mid-third of the lateral meniscus. Fifteen cysts were suspected clinically, five on the medial side and 10 on the lateral side. Small cysts were only clinically predicted on the lateral side. We conclude that menial cysts are more common than previously thought and are more difficult than lateral cysts to detect clinically.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Intestinal stricturing as a late presentation of appendiceal abscess.

We report two patients in whom the primary presentation of an appendix abscess was atypical, and who later developed obstructive symptoms due to extrinsic intestinal stricturing from chronic inflammation. In one case a short ileal stricture was revealed on enteroclysis, in the other double contrast barium enema showed sigmoid stricturing.

Abscess↗
PubMed1993

Can ultrasound reliably detect renal scarring in children with urinary tract infection?

One hundred children with a proven urinary tract infection were studied prospectively using both ultrasound (US) and 99mTc dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scintigraphy to assess the efficacy of US in the detection of renal scarring. Sixty-nine girls and 31 boys with an age range of 0.5-11.8 years were studied. DMSA scintigraphy detected 19 scarred kidneys in 17 children. Scarring was classified as mild, moderate or gross. US detected a total of seven of the scarred kidneys (sensitivity 37%). US detected 0/6 kidneys with mild scarring, 1/7 kidneys with moderate scarring and 6/6 kidneys with gross scarring. Four kidneys with scarring on DMSA showed abnormalities other than scarring on US. 8/19 scarred kidneys were thought to be normal on US. It is important to detect renal scarring in young children and US cannot be relied upon for this purpose. It should therefore be supplemented with DMSA scintigraphy.

Child↗
PubMed1989

Primary cutaneous neuroendocrine (Merkel cell or trabecular carcinoma) tumour of the skin: a radioresponsive tumour.

Four patients with primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin (Merkel cell or trabecular carcinoma) are reported to document their response to radiotheraphy. In three patients there was complete response following radiation treatment, with no local recurrence, whilst the other patient died later with distant metastases. In one patient, post-operative irradiation after excision of an involved local node prevented the growth of further tumour in this nodal group but the unirradiated primary site recurred after initial wide local excision only. This rare tumour appears to be radioresponsive, and although more clinical data are required, we would advocate a wider study of radiotherapy to the primary lesion after biopsy or excision biopsy, in association with prophylactic nodal irradiation. These tumours occur predominantly in elderly people in whom the avoidance of extensive surgery is particularly desirable.

Aged↗