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Biomedical subjects

C Isaacson

Publications and source records attributed to C Isaacson.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

The iron status of urban black subjects with carcinoma of the oesophagus.

Non-haem iron concentrations were measured in 65 specimens of liver obtained from 50 male and 15 female black adults who died from carcinoma of the oesophagus in the Johannesburg area between 1971 and 1980. The results were compared with those obtained in two earlier studies on subjects who died from other causes. The first was carried out on 220 men and 164 women in 1959/1960 at Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg, and the second series, which consisted of 248 men and 181 women, was obtained at the same hospital in 1976. During the intervening period there was a marked drop in the incidence and severity of iron overload in urban blacks. A direct comparison between subjects with carcinoma of the oesophagus and the 1976 group showed that the geometric mean hepatic iron concentrations in the carcinoma patients were significantly higher in the 40-49, 50-59 and over-60 age groups. While geometric mean hepatic iron concentrations in the various age groups were also higher than those obtained in the 1959/1960 study, the differences only reached statistical significance in subjects over the age of 60 years. Seven of the 15 women had significant hepatic iron deposits (greater than 0,5% dry weight). These results suggest that the excessive consumption of home-brewed alcoholic drinks contaminated with iron may be directly or indirectly associated with the development of carcinoma of the oesophagus in urban black adults.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Aneurysmal bone cysts of the patella secondary to chondroblastoma. Case reports.

Three cases of aneurysmal bone cysts secondary to chondroblastoma of the patella are described. This association is not particularly uncommon, but its occurrence in the patella is unusual. Treatment consists of curettage and bone grafting; however, if the patella is grossly enlarged or distorted, patellectomy is preferable.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Low survival of South African urban black women with cervical cancer.

In Soweto, Johannesburg, the incidence of cervical cancer, the most common cancer in black women, is higher than in most white populations but lower than in many other populations. In a series of 210 patients who were diagnosed in 1981 and 1982, 50% had died within 1.6 years of diagnosis, a third of the reported survival time in white patients. The pattern of stage at presentation was similar to, although sometimes later than, those reported for various white communities. Data on patients' age at birth of first child, parity, smoking practice, and socioeconomic status, differed little from those in a control group. Neither these factors, nor availability of medical services, could be correlated with the distressingly short period of survival, which also occurs among urban black patients with breast and oesophageal cancers. Presumably, unidentified factors linked with low socioeconomic status affect survival time.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatocellular carcinoma in Southern Africa.

Most series in Africa show a high percentage of hepatitis B surface antigen in hepatocellular carcinoma. Two groups of cases were investigated in this study. The one was derived from the autopsy material at Baragwanath hospital from subjects who had lived in Soweto, a large Black urban town. The second group consisted of male Black mineworkers generally originating from rural areas. A combination of the aldehydefuchsin stain and immunoperoxidase technique was used. The two groups showed totally different results. The Baragwanath series consisted of 24 hepatocellular carcinomas of which only 4 (17%) were HBsAg positive. Of the 24 cases, 14 had cirrhosis of which 9 were macronodular and 5 micronodular. Ten of these cases showed heavy iron overload. The series of male Black mineworkers comprised 22 cases of which 16 (72%) were HBsAg positive. Twelve of the 22 cases showed a macronodular cirrhosis and there were no micronodular cirrhoses. Only one case showed severe iron overload. These findings delineate two different populations of hepatocellular carcinoma in Southern Africa.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Changing patterns of dietary iron overload in black South Africans.

Over the last 17 years there has been a significant reduction in the prevalence and severity of dietary iron overload in urban blacks of Johannesburg. This is attributed to a decrease in the consumption of traditionally brewed beer of high iron content over this period. A 40% reduction was found in hepatic iron concentrations measured in necropsy specimens from 248 male patients who died in 1976 as compared with 220 who died in 1959 and 1960. While hepatic iron concentrations rose with age in both groups there was no evidence of iron accumulation during the period between the two studies. Hepatic iron concentrations measured in 345 female subjects were many fold less than those of males and the 1976 group did not differ significantly from the 1959 to 1960 group. A paradoxical increase in the prevalence of portal fibrosis and cirrhosis was seen and may be due to the effects of increased ingestion of spirits and fortified wine in recent years. Iron overload was significantly greater in males with carcinoma of the esophagus and in those with idiopathic heart failure when compared to subjects who died of other causes. This suggests excessive exposure of these subjects to traditionally brewed beverages and the adulterants present in them.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Liver damage associated with perhexiline maleate.

Two patients who developed biochemical and histological evidence of hepatitis while taking the anti-anginal drug perhexiline maleate are described. The pathological changes were those of mild to moderate fatty change together with a hepatitis which resembled alcoholic hepatitis, including in one patient the presence of material which by light microscopy was indistinguishable from Mallory's alcoholic hyalin. However, the predominantly periportal location of this material contrasted with the centrilobular distribution of Mallory's hyaline. One patient showed, in addition, severe atypia of the hepatocytes which was still present in less pronounced form 10 weeks after stopping perhexiline. The other patient had advanced hepatic fibrosis.

Aged↗
PubMed1978

The changing pattern of liver disease in South African Blacks.

Consecutive liver biopsies in a large general hospital for Blacks over the period 1959 - 1960 were compared with those in the 2-year period 1975 - 1976. Changes were noted in the histological appearances of micronodular cirrhosis. With the liberalization of the liquor laws and the granting of access to hard liquor to Blacks, fatty change, alcoholic hepatitis, alcoholic hyalin and alcoholic cirrhosis are making their appearance in the micronodular cirrhosis of the South African Blacks, features which were never observed when alcohol consumption was confined to homebrewed beverages containing large quantities of iron derived from the metallic containers in which liquor is brewed. No change in the histological picture or incidence of macronodular cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma was observed.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the ampulla of vater.

The first case to appear in the world literature is described of an embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma in a child arising from the region of the ampulla of Vater and projecting into the lumen of the duodenum.

Ampulla of Vater↗
PubMed1978

"Vrot foot".

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Idiopathic neurotrophic feet in Blacks: a pathological study.

The pathological findings in tissues obtained from 6 patients with idiopathic neurotrophic feet are described. The salient features were those of a neuropathy characterized by gross demyelinization and marked changes in the distal blood vessels. The vascular changes included medial and intimal hypertrophy with luminal narrowing. It is proposed that both the neural and the vascular changes were secondary to chronic alcoholism.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

The changing pattern of heart disease in South African Blacks.

All autopsies on Black patients who died of heart disease at Baragwanath Hospital were examined for the years 1959, 1960 and 1976. The commonest form of heart disease encountered in South African Blacks is undoubtedly hypertensive heart disease and by far the majority of these cases are of essential hypertension. There appears to have been a slight rise in the incidence of hypertension. Rheumatic heart disease is extremely common, and affects young people, who often have advanced valvular lesions by puberty. The incidence of idiopathic cardiomyopathy does not seem to have altered materially, although there has perhaps been a slight drop, which may be accounted for by the tendency of clinicians to place cases of congestive cardiac failure with mild hypertension in the hypertensive group rather than in the idiopathic cardiomyopathy group. There was a significant alteration in the incidence of myocardial infarction; in 1959 and 1960 these cases comprised less than 1% of all cardiac deaths but in 1976 they comprised nearly 12%. There has also been a dramatic fall in the incidence of cardiovascular syphilis.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Liver morphology in southern African blacks with hepatocellular carcinoma: a study within the urban environment.

Hepatocellular carcinoma has a lower prevalence and presents at a later age in urban Blacks than in rural Blacks. These differences have previously been shown not to be attributable to differences in serum hepatitis B virus markers. In the present study, the average age of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in a developing urban Black population is shown to have risen from 38.9 to 56.5 years (p less than 0.0001) over a 20-year interval, while the prevalence of co-existing cirrhosis has declined from 66 to 44% (p less than 0.05) and tissue HBsAg positivity has fallen from 44 to 17.7% (p = 0.002). The lower prevalence of tissue HBsAg in the recent patients may be explained by their older age. Macronodular cirrhosis was present in 56% of cases in the earlier period but declined to 18.9% in the later period, with micronodular cirrhosis becoming the dominant nontumor pathology (p = 0.002). Liver damage attributable to the abuse of alcohol is now found in more than half of the cases (48/90) of hepatocellular carcinoma occurring in this population. The remainder show no changes (12 cases) or show macronodular or incomplete septal cirrhosis (30 cases), presumed to be of viral origin. The latter cases are more likely to have serum markers of current hepatitis B virus infection than those with evidence of alcohol abuse. We conclude that alcohol is increasing in importance as an etiologic association of hepatocellular carcinoma in urban South African Blacks. At the same time, the prevalence of macronodular cirrhosis (and of cirrhosis as a whole) in urban patients with this tumor has declined. The reason for this decline is not known.

Adult↗