PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

B Spector

Publications and source records attributed to B Spector.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Voice outcome following thyroplasty in patients with cancer-related vocal fold paralysis.

Medialization laryngoplasty restores voice in patients with unilateral laryngeal paralysis. Of question was whether patients with vocal fold paralysis resulting from cancer or its treatment had as good a post-operative voice result as patients with vocal fold paralysis of benign etiology. The purpose of the present study was to compare post-operative perceptual, acoustic, aerodynamic, and quality of life data in these two patient groups. Twenty-eight patients with vocal fold paralysis secondary to malignancy or its treatment were age and gender-matched with patients with paralysis resulting from benign origin. Pre- and post-operative perceptual judgments of pitch, loudness and quality were rated independently by two speech-language pathologists. A digital audiotape of the patient's voice was analyzed using Soundscope software. Fundamental frequency, conversational intensity and perturbation were evaluated. Glottal flow rates in propositional speech, phonation times and extent of pitch and loudness ranges were also measured. Three quality of life surveys, the Short Form-36 general health survey, the Voice Handicap Index, and the Voice Outcomes Study were administered. Results of voice testing indicated that perceptual, acoustic and aerodynamic data were significantly improved 3 months after thyroplasty in all patients regardless of whether they had a history of cancer. Quality of life data, however, distinguished the two groups. In particular, the general health measure found a significant difference in physical functioning and overall vitality, although satisfaction with improved voice was equally appreciated in both patient groups. Of clinical significance is that though general health may differ, patients with cancer-related laryngeal paralysis can expect to have as good a voice outcome following thyroplasty as patients with paralysis of benign etiology.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The effect of absorbable stenting on postoperative stenosis of the surgically enlarged maxillary sinus ostia in a rabbit animal model.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of absorbable stenting on postoperative stenosis of the surgically enlarged maxillary sinus in a rabbit model. DESIGN: A randomized controlled animal study with each specimen serving as its own control. Animals had their maxillary ostia surgically enlarged bilaterally. Video images were made of each enlarged ostia. Unilateral stenting was performed using rolled absorbable stenting (Gelfilm, Upjohn Co, Kalamazoo, Mich). The animals were killed at 3 months and repeated images were made of each ostia. An image processing system (IBAS-AT, Kontron Instruments, Milan, Italy) was used to individually calibrate each image and then measure areas. Surgical and 3-month areas were compared with the examiner blinded to the stented side. SUBJECTS: Twelve specific pathogen-free New Zealand white rabbits. RESULTS: Stented ostia had an increased stenosis compared with unstented ostia, but this increase was not statistically significant (P = .08, Student t test). There was no within-animal change in nonstented ostia compared with an 18% decrease in the stented ostia. CONCLUSIONS: Stenting did not statistically change the amount of stenosis of the surgically enlarged ostia in a rabbit model, although a trend toward more scarring when compared with the nonstented side was observed.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Video integrated measurement system.

A Video Integrated Measurement (VIM) System is described which incorporates the use of various noninvasive diagnostic procedures (moire contourography, electromyography, posturometry, infrared thermography, etc.), used individually or in combination, for the evaluation of neuromusculoskeletal and other disorders and their management with biofeedback and other therapeutic procedures. The system provides for measuring individual diagnostic and therapeutic modes, or multiple modes by split screen superimposition, of real time (actual) images of the patient and idealized (ideal-normal) models on a video monitor, along with analog and digital data, graphics, color, and other transduced symbolic information. It is concluded that this system provides an innovative and efficient method by which the therapist and patient can interact in biofeedback training/learning processes and holds considerable promise for more effective measurement and treatment of a wide variety of physical and behavioral disorders.

Biofeedback, Psychology↗
PubMed1981

Histologic study of the ocular lesions in multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type IIb.

We studied the clinical and histopathologic findings in the eyes of two patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type IIb. A prominent clinical feature of this condition is enlarged nonmyelinated corneal nerves composed of bundles of axons associated with Schwann cells. Prominent corneal nerves within an otherwise normal corneal stroma are an important clinical feature of multiple endocrine neoplasia type IIb. Because of this, ophthalmologists are in a position to make an early diagnosis and hence to recommend diagnostic procedures and treatment for the associated potentially fatal medullary carcinoma of the thyroid and pheochromocytomas.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Why change programs don't produce change.

Faced with changing markets and tougher competition, more and more companies realize that to compete effectively they must transform how they function. But while senior managers understand the necessity of change, they often misunderstand what it takes to bring it about. They assume that corporate renewal is the product of company-wide change programs and that in order to transform employee behavior, they must alter a company's formal structure and systems. Both these assumptions are wrong, say these authors. Using examples drawn from their four-year study of organizational change at six large corporations, they argue that change programs are, in fact, the greatest obstacle to successful revitalization and that formal structures and systems are the last thing a company should change, not the first. The most successful change efforts begin at the periphery of a corporation, in a single plant or division. Such efforts are led by general managers, not the CEO or corporate staff people. And these general managers concentrate not on changing formal structures and systems but on creating ad hoc organizational arrangements to solve concrete business problems. This focuses energy for change on the work itself, not on abstractions such as "participation" or "culture." Once general managers understand the importance of this grass-roots approach to change, they don't have to wait for senior management to start a process of corporate renewal. The authors describe a six-step change process they call the "critical path."

Administrative Personnel↗