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Biomedical subjects

A J Keay

Publications and source records attributed to A J Keay.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1983

Phototherapy for neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia: the importance of dose.

The management of neonatal jaundice can be made much easier using simple methods that increase the radiant energy in the range 420 to 480 nm. Two groups of infants being treated for physiological jaundice during a period of 6 months were compared. The first group received treatment from two unmodified phototherapy units and the second from two units in which the horizontal frames housing the tube lights were lowered, thus providing a higher 'dose' of phototherapy. Measurements of irradiance from the four units were compared. An improvement in treatment was noted in the group receiving the higher dose with a decrease in duration of treatment and a greater rate of fall in the level of serum bilirubin. A dose response relationship was thus confirmed. Comparisons between previous studies are hindered by failure to recognise the varying contribution of background irradiance, the use of radiometers with differing spectral responses, and the use of different units for expressing results. Failure to appreciate the importance of dose must largely be responsible for the present wide variability in the effectiveness of phototherapy.

Bilirubin↗
PubMed1983

Radiation under phototherapy and its relationship to clinical effectiveness in moderately severe neonatal jaundice.

Radiation under four commercially available phototherapy units was measured over the visual spectrum and demonstrated that between 69 and 87 per cent of the radiation was irrelevant to the photodegradation of bilirubin. When infants with moderately severe physiological jaundice were exposed to three of the same phototherapy units under the same conditions there was no demonstrable difference in the apparent rate of decline of serum bilirubin or in length of treatment required.

Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation↗
PubMed1982

Maternal plasma alpha-fetoprotein and low birthweight: a prospective study throughout pregnancy.

Maternal plasma alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was measured serially between 15 weeks gestation and term in 520 patients. Thirty-seven of these women were delivered of normal singleton infants with birthweights less than 2.5 kg. The median plasma AFP values in this group of women were highest between 15 and 20 weeks gestation and then declined steadily towards term. It is concluded that the use of maternal plasma or serum AFP in the early detection of low birthweight babies is optimal in the period most suitable for screening for fetal neural tube defects.

Female↗
PubMed1978

Low arylsulphatase A activity in a family without metachromatic leukodystrophy.

A low arylsulphatase A activity was noted in the leukocytes and cultured skin fibroblasts of a child without any other symptoms of metachromatic leukodystrophy. Although the mother had a level of arylsulphatase commensurate with heterozygosity for the classical metachromatic leukodystrophy gene, the father had a variant gene giving an unusually low in vitro level of this enzyme. In combination (the proband), these two genes gave rise to a very low in vitro activity without any apparent disease. In screening for metachromatic leukodystrophy, a low arylsulphatase A level is not necessarily indicative of this disease, if a clinically normal parent shows an unusually low level of this enzyme.

Arylsulfatases↗
PubMed1977

Prevention of infection in nurseries for the newborn.

Prevention of infection in nurseries involves consideration of the design of hospitals, wards and equipment, the study of nursing and domestic procedures, the monitoring of environmental flora and the planning of antiseptic and antibiotic policies. These subjects cannot be considered in isolation from each other and are most suitably managed by a Control of Infection Committee. Ultimately the safety of infants in nurseries rests upon the degree to which each individual involved in their care pays attention to the agreed policies of general and personal hygiene.

Bacterial Infections↗