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Biomedical subjects

B Wanscher

Publications and source records attributed to B Wanscher.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1978

Oral zinc therapy in geriatric patients with selected skin manifestations and a low plasma zinc level.

A geriatric population comprising 585 inhabitants of an institution for the aged was studied. Twenty-six persons with a mean age of 82 years were selected because of skin manifestations suggestive of chronic zinc deficiency. In 10 of the patients a subnormal plasma zinc level was found. This hypozincaemic group underwent a 4 week trial with zinc sulphate tablets, 0.6 g daily. The therapy failed to alleviate the skin condition in any of the patients, thus indicating that the changes were not caused by zinc deficiency. In the hypozincaemic group, plasma albumin was subnormal in all patients and significantly lower than in the normozincaemic subjects. The correlation between plasma zinc and plasma albumin levels in all 34 patients studied was highly significant (rs = 0.69, p less than 0.001). As plasma albumin tends to fall to subnormal concentrations with age, this explains why plasma zinc may be low in the elderly without indicating a state of zinc deficiency. After 2 and 4 weeks' zinc therapy, the mean plasma zinc concentration of the hypozincaemic group rose significantly from 9.5 to 17.6 and 23.4 mumol/1. This increase is higher than the rise observed in younger patients receiving an identical zinc sulphate dosage.

Aged↗
PubMed1978

Oral injury caused by fellatio.

A 34-year-old Caucasian woman is presented with a circular hemorrhagic lesion located on the soft palate and caused by fellatio. The lesion consisted of erythema, petechiae, dilated blood vessels and vesicles. It healed in a few days. No evidence of the major clinical alternatives such as thrombocytopenia, venereal disease, candida infection or pathomimia were found. Injuries due to fellatio must be considered as an etiological factor to hemorrhagic changes of the oral mucosa, and with a positive history, patients can be spared from other investigations.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

[Diagnosis and therapy of the zinc deficiency syndrome during total parenteral feeding. Review with report of a case].

A 47-year-old man with ulcerative colitis developed severe zinc deficiency during longterm intravenous feeding. Early symptoms included seborrhoeic lesions in the face and scalp. Later on his general condition deteriorated, and erythema and bullae erupted in the fingers, together with an erosive area with a marked border in the perianeal and scrotal regions. The symptomatology was suggestive of zinc depletion syndrome, a recently recognised acrodermatitis-enteropathica-like disorder in patients receiving longterm total intravenous feeding. A significantly lowered serum zinc level and a prompt beneficial response to intravenous zinc therapy (20 mg Zn2+ daily for one week) substantiate the provisional clinical diagnosis. As zinc depletion is caused by a zinc free parenteral alimentation this serious complication should be avoided by adding zinc to the infusions. Serum zinc determinations should be carried out as a control of the prophylactic zinc supply. Possibly, zinc plays a role in the symptomatology of various disorders with skin and bowel symptoms.

Acrodermatitis↗
PubMed1976

Syndermatotic cataract in patients with psoriasis.

266 consecutive in-patients, more than 10 years of age (mean age 24.7) and suffering from psoriasis have been examined with slit lamp and ophthalmoscope to determine the incidence of cataract among such patients. 188 (70%) had clear lenses. 66(26%) presented some minute punctate opacities considered as physiological variations. Four had blue-dot cataract, and 6 had congenital or evolutionary small opacities at various sites in the lenses but without blurring of vision. Only one patient, aged 72, had crystalline cataract with slightly impaired vision. The conclusion is drawn that the incidence of cataract among patients with psoriasis does not exceed that in the normal population. Consequently, routine eye examinations for cataract are unnecessary in these patients.

Adolescent↗