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Biomedical subjects

B Goldschmidt

Publications and source records attributed to B Goldschmidt.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Mycoplasma antibody in Guillain-Barré syndrome and other neurological disorders.

Counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) was used to determine precipitating antibodies to Mycoplasma pneumoniae retrospectively in sera from 100 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), 125 medical and neurological controls, and 40 normal individuals. Sera from 7 patients produced precipitin lines. These positive cases included 5 patients with GBS, 1 with acute cerebellar ataxia, and 1 with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. A complement-fixation test performed with the same antigen showed titers to M. pneumoniae of 1:512 or greater in these 7 sera. In contrast, sera from other patient controls and normal individuals were negative by CIEP and had only low mycoplasma complement-fixation antibody titers. No distinguishing clinical features separated the 5 seropositive GBS patients from the whole group except for their young age, which parallels that for human mycoplasma infection in general. Additional laboratory findings consistent with acute mycoplasma infection were demonstrated in 6 of the 7 seropositive patients.

Adolescent↗

Control of life-threatening bleeding by combined plasmapheresis and immunosuppressive treatment in a haemophiliac with inhibitors.

Life-threatening lingual haemorrhage was successfully treated in a 3-year-old haemophiliac who had a high level of inhibitor in his plasma. Repeated plasma exchange with high-dose factor VIII concentrate led to a cessation of bleeding. Immunosuppressive treatment introduced at the time of plasmapheresis and carried out for 6 weeks seems to have prevented the return of the inhibitor.

Child, Preschool↗

Rapid detection of antibodies to cytomegalovirus by counterimmunoelectrophoresis.

A new method for the detection of precipitating antibody to cytomegalovirus by counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) is described. Fourteen of 15 adult sera (95%) with IgM-specific antibodies (as detected by immunofluorescence) and complement-fixing antibodies to cytomegalovirus in high titers gave positive reactions by this method. Control sera from 156 patients and 40 normal subjects were negative by CIEP. One of 32 individuals acutely infected with other members of the herpesvirus group gave a positive reaction (3%). False-positive reactions were restricted to a group of sera containing rheumatoid factor (10 of 31), but this activity could be eliminated by preliminary absorption of the sera with aggregated gamma-globulin. The present findings demonstrate that CIEP is useful for the detection of precipitating antibodies to cytomegalovirus in sera from acutely infected patients and promises to be a rapid, inexpensive screening procedure of diagnostic value.

Adult↗

Herpes simplex virus-IgM specific antibodies in Guillain-Barré syndrome and encephalitis.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) has veen associated with a variety of inflammatory neurologic disorders. Recently we studied a patient with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) following acute herpes vaginalis infection. Since IgM virus-specific antibody is thought to be a reliable indicator of acute viral infection, we employed a 2-h serologic assay for serum IgM antibodies to HSV using an indirect immunofluorescent technique. This patient demonstrated high serum IgM titers to HSV type 2 during the acute phase of her neurologic syndrome. The titer dropped substantially as convalescence progressed. A search for similar elevations in HSV-IgM specific antibody was made on sera from more than 70 other GBS patients. No other significant IgM antibody titers to either HSV type 1 or type 2 were found in this GBS series and a large number of neurologic controls. However, sera from two patients with a presumptive diagnosis of acute herpes encephalitis based on clinical and cerebrospinal fluid findings were positive, showing high titers in our test. The results of this study suggest that associated acute HSV infection is uncommon in GBS and an immunofluorescent seroassay of the type reported here may be a valuable noninvasive technique enabling the clinical laboratory to rapid confirm a diagnosis of herpes encephalitis.

Adult↗

Fibrinogen metabolism in cyanoti congenital heart disease.

The metabolism and in vivo kinetics of fibrinogen labelled with radioactive iodine was studied in children with cyanotic congenital heart disease. The patients had a significantly lowered plasma fibrinogen pool, shortened fibrinogen half-life and increased fractional catabolic rate of fibrinogen compared with healthy children. The average plasma fibrinogen and absolute catabolic rate of fibrinogen did not differ from control values. The shortened fibrinogen half-life together with the correcting effect of anticoagulation with heparin indicated that fibrinogen was consumed by chronic disseminated intravascular coagulation. Inhibition of the fibrinolytic system with epsilon-aminocaproic acid in three cyanotic patients had no influence on the fibrinogen half-life in two of them but resulted in its prolongation in one patient.

Adolescent↗

The young platelet population in children with cyanotic congenital heart disease.

Some morphological, biochemical and functional parameters of platelet population in children with cyanotic congenital heart disease (CCHD) were studied by making comparisons of the normal platelet population in both CCHD patients and controls. The mean volume of the platelets from cyanotic patients was greater than from normals. The platelet size distribution curves demonstrated a shift towards larger than normal size in the case of CCHD. The mean protein content, as well as the mean PF3 content of platelets was increased in CCHD. Following addition of kaolin, PF3 release was more rapid and of shorter duration with platelets from CCHD patients as compared to normal platelets. They also released more PF3 than did normal platelets. After addition of ADP, collagen, or adrenalin, platelets of CCHD patients were more responsive than similarly treated platelets from normals. Platelets from CCHD showed an increased initial rate of aggregation and greater maximum aggregation. These data suggested that the platelet population of CCHD patients consists of larger, younger and functionally more active platelets than does the platelet population of normals.

Adolescent↗