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Biomedical subjects

C J Sells

Publications and source records attributed to C J Sells.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Influences on measured intelligence in Down's syndrome.

The measured IQ and parental educational level of 57 children with Down's syndrome were compared. The phenomenon of decreasing IW with increasing chronological age in Down's syndrome was considered in the data analysis. There was no trend toward better cognitive performance by children of higher-educated parents. Thirty-one of the children had attended an early, continuous stimulation program. This experience accounted for most of the observed IQ variance.

Adolescent↗

The Summitt syndrome: observations on a third case.

A 6 1/2 year old male presented with acrocephaly, brachydactyly, clinodactyly, mild syndactyly of the hands and feet, genu valgum, and marked obesity. Roentgenograms of the hands revealed hypoplasia or aplasia of the middle phalanges. Roentgenograms of the feet revealed hypoplasia of the middle phalanges and deformity of the proximal phalangeal epiphyses of the great toes. Chromosomes studies revealed a normal 46,XY karyotype, and psychological testing revealed low normal intelligence. Current data support autosomal recessive inheritance, although X-linkage cannot be excluded.

Child↗

An interdisciplinary health care setting's experience with groups for parents of children having specific disabilities.

This paper describes the planning, implementation, use, and evaluation of a group for parents of children with Williams elfin facies syndrome in an interdisciplinary health care setting. The group utilized a modified educational approach that resulted in significant gains reported by participants in learning about educational opportunities and rights of the handicapped, terminology and labeling of Williams syndrome, and meeting and sharing with other parents. The experience has implications applicable in interdisciplinary health care settings for use of groups as an aid in reducing the conflict that may result from the frequent combination of research and service to individuals with specific disabilities.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

The management of patients with cerebrospinal fluid shunts.

This article outlines the principles of management of the patient with a cerebrospinal fluid shunt, emphasizing the clinical and laboratory methods of determining shunt malfunction or infection. Appropriate therapies for each complication are described.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Nutrient intake and stimulant drugs in hyperactive children.

Recent studies have demonstrated suppressed growth of height and weight in children receiving stimulant drugs for hyperactivity. For approximately twelve months, growth data and food records were collected on two subjects receiving different types and dosages of stimulant drugs. The two cases demonstrated that dextroamphetamine levels of 10 mg. or more and methylphenidate levels of 30 mg. or more decreased caloric intake significantly. This decrease may be limiting for long-term growth. Both subjects had a variety of feeding problems due to poor appetite. Careful nutritional evaluation and planning are important to insure optimal energy and nutrient intake in these children receiving stimulant drugs.

Ascorbic Acid↗

Prevention of mental retardation: the role of medicine.

In the past 100 years striking progress has been made in the prevention of mental retardation. Since mental retardation is a symptom rather than a distinct disease entity, its prevention requires attention to many different areas. Heterozygote detection, specific factors of pregnancy, the current status of newborn screening, and major postnatal factors associated with mental retardation are some of the issues discussed in this centennial paper. Although considerable progress has been made, the causes and, hence, the modes of prevention of mental retardation for the majority of retarded individuals are unknown. Continued progress will require the combined efforts of both medical and social scientists if the goal, the prevention of mental retardation, is to be realized.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗

Microcephaly in a normal school population.

Heights, weights, and head circumferences were obtained on 1,006 students, ages 5 to 18 years, attending regular classes in four schools in a suburban Seattle school district. From the 1,006 students initially examined, 19 (1.9%) had a head circumference two or more standard deviations below the mean for age and sex. Intelligence quotients and academic achievement scores were obtained on these children and compared with normal controls. No significant difference was found between mean IQs of the study subjects and the controls (99.5 vs. 105), but mean academic achievement scores were significantly lower in the study subjects (49 vs. 70; P less than .001). In addition, although mean IQs were not significantly different between those subjects whose head circumference was proportional and those whose head circumference was relatively small, mean academic achievement scores were significantly higher (60 vs 39; P less than .02) in those subjects whose head size was proportional.

Achievement↗

Gram-negative cerebrospinal fluid shunt-associated infections.

Twenty hydrocephalic children with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunts over an 11-year period were seen with Gram-negative central nervous system (CNS) infections. Seventeen infections were with single organisms and three were mixed. Sixteen of 20 (80%) of the infections occurred within five months of shunt surgery. Complete shunt removal or replacement in a new site plus systemic and intraventricular antibiotics resulted in a 100% (9/9) cure rate. Systemic and intraventricular antibiotics alone or in combination with incomplete shunt removal generally were unsuccessful. Significant morbidity and mortality were associated with these infections. Of the 18 patients with follow-up data, seven (39%) died with the infection, four (22%) sustained definite CNS damage, three (17%) were retarded after infection but their preinfection status was unknown, and only four (22%) patients escaped without definite sequela. Early recognition and appropriate therapy, hopefully, will improve the current bleak prognosis

Adolescent↗

Cerebrospinal fluid shunts.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt technology has undergone rapid advances in the past two decades. As a result, pediatricians and other primary care physicians are being asked with increasing frequency to provide care for persons with CSF shunts. Familiarity with the more common shunts is a prerequisite to intelligent management of shunt related problems. Physicians providing daily care must have carefully documented hospital records and operative notes available to them as well as information detailing the safe evaluation of shunt patency and function if they are to manage patients with CSF shunts properly. In addition, parents and guardians must be alerted to signs and symptoms related to shunt malfunction.

Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts↗

Sequelae of central-nervous-system enterovirus infections.

The long-term effects of central-nervous-system enterovirus infections were examined in a controlled follow-up study of 19 children 2 1/2 to eight years of age who had been hospitalized with documented enterovirus infection 17 to 67 months before evaluation. Assessment included medical history, physical and neurologic examination, psychologic testing, and speech and hearing evaluation. Three children (16 per cent) had definite neurologic impairment, five (26 per cent) had possible impairment, and 11 (58 per cent) were free of detectable abnormalities. Children whose illness occurred during the first year of life, when compared to controls, were found to have significantly smaller mean head circumference (50.6 vs. 51.6 cm, P less than 0.033), significantly lower mean I.Q. (97 vs 115, P less than 0.007), and depressed languange and speech skills. Children whose illness occurred after the first year of life were not different from their controls. Children whith central-nervous-system enterovirus infection may have neurologic impairment when infection occurs in the first year of life.

Age Factors↗

Medex: a time-motion study.

Six Medex working with family practitioners were followed by an observer for a total of 18 days to gain an objective profile of how Medex spent their workday. Medex on the average spent 30% of their time with office patients and saw 38% of all office patients. Medex saw between 25% and 100% of all pediatric office patients and spent on the average 37% of their office patient time with pediatric patients. On the average, Medex saw 8 pediatric and 11 adult office patients per day. Well-child examinations, the largest pediatric diagnostic category, accounted for 30% of Medex pediatric office patient time. Minor surgery accounted for the second largest portion of pediatric office patient time (21%) while respiratory illness ranked third (11%). In view of the increasing role family practitioners and their assistants will undoubtedly play in the provision of child health care, pediatricians are urged to work closely with family physicians in developing and implementing health care services for children.

Adolescent↗