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Biomedical subjects

A M Wright

Publications and source records attributed to A M Wright.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Angiographic coronary morphology in survivors of cardiac arrest.

Autopsy studies in victims of sudden coronary death revealed intramyocardial platelet aggregates with microscopic myonecrosis downstream from ruptured atherosclerotic plaques. Ruptured plaques usually manifest angiographically as irregularly bordered (type II) lesions. To investigate the possible pathogenic role of ruptured plaques in arrhythmic death, we analyzed clinical, angiographic, and electrophysiologic data from 49 survivors of cardiac arrest without acute myocardial infarction. All patients had greater than or equal to 50% stenoses of greater than or equal to one coronary artery; 16 had type II morphology, and 33 did not. Type II morphology was more prevalent in patients without inducible sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (11 of 22 or 50%) than in those with it (five of 27 or 19%), p less than 0.05, and patients without akinetic or dyskinetic segments (eight of 14 or 57%) than in those with them (eight of 34 or 24%), p less than 0.06. Thus type II morphology is more prevalent in patients without a demonstrable anatomic and/or electrophysiologic substrate for reentrant ventricular tachycardia, indirectly implicating ruptured plaques in the pathogenesis of cardiac arrest in this subset of patients.

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PubMed1987

Cervical myelopathy attributable to pseudogout. Case report with radiologic, histologic, and crystallographic observations.

A 77-year-old woman complained of numbness in her hands and feet, progressive unsteadiness, weakness, and loss of proprioception of six months' duration. A myelogram revealed stenosis of the spinal canal at the levels of C2-3, T6-7, L2-3, and L3-4. On computerized tomography scan, a large dorsal, epidural, soft tissue mass and focal calcification of the ligamentum flavum were seen at C3. Laboratory studies ruled out gout, collagen disease, vitamin B12 deficiency, syphilis, parathyroid, and thyroid disease. At decompressive laminectomy, a nodular mass in the ligamentum flavum (C2-4) was found and removed. Three months after operation, the neurologic symptoms had improved. Histologic examination of the elastic ligament revealed deposits of birefringent crystals, which were identified by X-ray diffraction as calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CCPD). Only about six cases of myelopathy attributable to deposits of CPPD appear to have been previously reported.

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PubMed1985

Partial Purification and Characterization of a Polysaccharide Depolymerase Associated with Phage-Infected Erwinia amylovora.

Erwinia amylovora infected with bacteriophage ERA103 produced an enzyme which degraded the extracellular polysaccharide of noninfected cells. The depolymerase enzyme was purified 15-fold by a procedure which included ammonium sulfate precipitation, ultracentrifugation, CM-Sephadex batchwise separation, Sephadex G-50 column chromatography, and Sephacryl S-200 column chromatography. The enzyme had a molecular weight of approximately 21,000 and a pH optimum of 6.0. Activity was enhanced by supplements of 2-mercaptoethanol or dithiothreitol.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1983

Excreta disposal facilities and intestinal parasitism in urban Africa: preliminary studies in Botswana, Ghana and Zambia.

The relationships between intestinal parasitism and excreta disposal technologies in Gaborone (Botswana), Ndola (Zambia) and Kumasi (Ghana) were investigated. Parasitic prevalence and intensity rates amongst groups of urban residents having similar socio-economic status and housing, but different excreta disposal technologies, were compared. In Gaborone, there was no evidence of a difference in intestinal parasitism between those using aqua privies and having access to public taps and those in identical houses enjoying flush toilets, in-house water connections and showers. In Ndola, the group with sewered aqua privies had larger houses, cleaner toilets, better water supplies, longer residence and more people in paid employment than the groups using pit latrines or communal flush toilets. Despite this, the sewered aqua privy users were not found to be different from the other groups with regard to hookworm and protozoal infection but had significantly higher Ascaris infection rates. In Kumasi, despite the differences in toilet type--from squalid communal aqua privies, through often fouled bucket latrines to well-maintained flush toilet systems--and despite also the differences in water provision, no evidence was obtained of any differences in intestinal parasitism between the groups studied. These findings suggest that the provision of superior water and sanitation facilities to a small cluster of houses, or to houses scattered through an area, may not protect those families from infection if the over-all level of faecal contamination of the environment is high. The sample sizes and response rates achieved in this study were low and follow-up studies, employing the same methodology but with larger samples, are recommended.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Iron-chelating compounds produced by soil pseudomonads: correlation with fungal growth inhibition.

Strains of Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas sp., and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were examined for their ability to grow in the presence of the iron chelator, ethylenediamine-di-(o-hydroxyphenylacetic acid). In vitro fungal inhibition assays showed that the isolates varied in their ability to inhibit the growth of representative fungal plant pathogens. Fungal inhibition in vitro was superior to that of previously reported Pseudomonas sp. Studies with Fusarium oxysporum forma sp. lycopersici and a susceptible tomato cultivar demonstrated that Pseudomonas putida PPU3.1 was able to significantly reduce wilt disease.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1974

Current status of biomedical book reviewing. I. Key biomedical reviewing journals with quantitative significance.

This is the first part of a comprehensive, quantitative study of biomedical book reviewing. The data base of the total project was built from statistics taken from all 1970 issues of biomedical journals held in the Science Library of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Of 285 so-called "life sciences" journals held by that library, fifty-four English journals (excluding Science and Nature) were found to contain bona fide book reviews (as contrasted with mere author-title lists) and were therefore selected for close study. The statistical results reveal that there were 3,347 reviews of 2,067 biomedical books in these fifty-four selected journals in 1970. Part I of the study identifies key biomedical reviewing journals of quantitative significance. The top ten journals, British Medical Journal, Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Archives of Internal Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, Quarterly Review of Biology, Bioscience, Canadian Medical Association Journal,(*) and American Journal of the Medical Sciences, accounted for 63.03% of the total number of reviews in 1970.

Book Reviews as Topic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A case of fatal food-borne septicemia: can family physicians provide prevention?

BACKGROUND: Vibrio vulnificus, a common bacteria found in undercooked seafood and seawater, is the leading cause of food-borne death in Florida. Fatal cases of V vulnificus infection have also been reported in most states. METHODS: The literature was searched using the key words "Vibrio vulnificus," "septicemia," "wound infections," "seafood," "immunocompromise," and "patient education." A case of fatal V vulnificus septicemia is described. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: V vulnificus, part of the natural flora of temperate coastal waters and one of the most abundant microorganisms found in seawater, has been isolated from waters off the Gulf, Pacific, and Atlantic coasts of the United States. Infections in noncoastal regions have been traced to consumption of seafood derived from Gulf Coast waters. Seawater exposure and consumption of inadequately cooked seafood are routes most commonly associated with V vulnificus infection. Exposure to V vulnificus is life-threatening for chronically ill or immunocompromised patients, who are most likely to develop fatal septicemia. Currently a combination of doxycycline and intravenous ceftazidime is recommended treatment. Mortality rates from V vulnificus continue to be high in immunocompromised patients. Family physicians can help prevent this outcome by counseling high-risk patients.

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