Biomedical subjects

A J Kerwin

Publications and source records attributed to A J Kerwin.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1984

Sudden death while driving.

Sudden death of cardiac origin in drivers of motor vehicles has been perceived to be a danger to other drivers, passengers, pedestrians and property, and in provinces other than Ontario people with a history of cardiac disease are not permitted to hold a commercial driver's license. An examination of the literature indicates that injury or death of others occurs rarely when someone dies while driving. It is postulated that drivers who have a myocardial infarction experience warning symptoms, which allows them to take action to prevent a serious accident. It is suggested that a history of heart disease should not necessarily prevent people from holding a commercial driver's license.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1984

The electrophysiologic features of sudden death.

Sudden or instantaneous death is nearly always of cardiac origin. The most common mechanism is a severe electrical dysfunction, which is apparent on Holter monitoring tapes. Identifying patients at risk of sudden cardiac death is difficult, and Holter monitoring has proved to be limited in its diagnostic usefulness. However, in patients who have experienced cardiac arrest Holter monitoring has shown that the electrical abnormalities leading to death vary. These abnormalities usually take time to develop, and during this time the cerebral circulation is partially maintained. In this brief period, lasting less than 2 minutes, the individual may become aware that something is wrong and have time to react.

Death, Sudden↗

PubMed1982

Rapidly progressive vegetative endocarditis.

Echocardiography has become a valuable tool in visualizing and localizing vegetations in patients with bacterial endocarditis. Since the natural course of vegetative lesions remains poorly understood, we report a case of a rapidly progressive vegetative lesion in a patient with staphylococcal endocarditis. Although the significance of this observation will require a larger experience, it may represent an accelerated form of disease necessitating surgical management.

Adult↗