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Biomedical subjects

C Muller

Publications and source records attributed to C Muller.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

[Pap cell test laboratory report].

The Papanicolaou smear is done to detect preinvasive lesions (eg. dysplasia, carcinoma-in-situ) as well as invasive lesions. To ensure that a smear is suitable for laboratory examination, the nurse must know the reasons why a smear cannot be analysed. When a smear is sent to the laboratory it will analysed to see if any of the following are present: atypical cells, neoplastic cells, endometrial cells or infections. When the nurse gets the result back she must be able to interpret the results and be able to guide the patient to the correct form of treatment.

Cervix Mucus

B-cell lymphoma following polycythemia vera: evidence for the involvement of two different clones.

We report here two patients with polycythemia vera (PV) who developed secondary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Both cases were high grade B-cell NHL. Cytogenetic analysis of bone marrow and lymph node was performed in each case and showed numerous chromosomal abnormalities. Of interest, chromosomal abnormalities of the PV and of the NHL clones were different, suggesting the possible involvement of two different clones. A 11q23 breakpoint was common between the two cases and the putative role of this breakpoint in the pathogenesis of the NHLs is discussed.

Aged

Characterization and chemosensitivity of a human epithelioid sarcoma cell line (SARCCR 2).

A new cell line was derived from the epithelioid sarcoma of a Caucasian woman who had previously received chemotherapy. The cells grew as an adherent monolayer, with a doubling time of 28 hr and had mainly epithelial morphology, but with areas of mesenchymal-like cytoplasmic extensions. The cells were tumorigenic in nude mice, with a short growth time, and a doubling time of 8 days. The cell line showed over-expression of P-glycoprotein by Western blot analysis, and its sensitivity to doxorubicin and vincristine was low. This sensitivity could be enhanced by reversants of multidrug resistance (MDR), such as cyclosporin or verapamil. This cell line constitutes an excellent model for studying compounds able to reverse MDR.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem

Cellular pharmacokinetics of doxorubicin in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: comparison of bolus administration and continuous infusion.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether administration of doxorubicin (DOX) as a continuous infusion or a bolus injection resulted in similar leukemic cell drug concentration in patients with refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). This study was carried out on five patients with refractory CLL, with DOX administered either as a bolus injection (35 mg/m2; CHOP protocol) or as a constant-rate infusion for a period of 96 h (9 mg/m2 per day; VAD protocol). The two types of drug administration were used alternatively with the same patient. Plasma and cellular DOX concentration were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography. Peak plasma DOX levels were higher after the bolus injection than after continuous administration (1509 +/- 80 ng/ml vs 11.6 +/- 1.8 ng/ml, respectively), whereas the plasma area under the curve (AUC) levels were similar. Maximum DOX cellular concentrations were 8629 +/- 2902 ng/10(9) cells (bolus injection) and 2745 +/- 673 ng/10(9) cells (96 h infusion). The cellular AUC after the bolus injection was 2.85 times greater than that observed after continuous administration. This difference was due to a higher cellular peak level followed by a relatively prolonged retention of the drug, with a loss of only 25% in the first 24 h following. These findings demonstrated that in CLL the cellular DOX exposure can be notably modified by the method of drug administration, with higher drug intracellular concentrations being achieved after bolus administration than with the infusion schedule.

Aged

Cost effectiveness of cervical cancer screening for the elderly.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the costs and benefits of alternative cervical cancer screening schedules among elderly women. SETTING: Population-based screening programs. DESIGN: A Markov model predicts the outcomes of periodic screening, diagnosis, and treatment for cervical cancer among women from 65 to 109 years of age. PATIENTS: A hypothetical cohort of one million 65-year-old women; representative of the U.S. population. MEASUREMENTS: The costs and yields of screening. RESULTS: Triennial screening reduced mortality from cervical cancer among the elderly by 74% at a cost of $2254 per year of life saved. Annual screening increased costs to $7345 per year of life saved; less frequent schedules yielded lower costs but decreased savings in life. These results were most sensitive to the quality of the Papanicolaou smear and the characteristics of the women using the benefit. If the sensitivity of the Papanicolaou smear was reduced from a baseline estimate of 75% to 50% and the specificity was decreased to 87% from 95%, the cost effectiveness ratio increased by nearly $7000 per year of life saved. If triennial screening is targeted to women who have not had regular screening, the program will save money as well as years of life; however, screening women who have been screened regularly is considerably less efficient, increasing costs to $33,572 per year of life saved. CONCLUSION: The success of the new Medicare benefit depends substantially on physicians assuring that their elderly patients, particularly women without regular prior screening, obtain high quality Papanicolaou smears. The data also show that after a woman 65 years of age or older has a history of regular negative smears, screening is inefficient and can cease.

Aged

Sensitivity of fresh acute myeloid leukemia cells to etoposide: relationship with cell growth characteristics and DNA single-strand breaks.

In this study, we evaluated the individual in vitro sensitivity of fresh acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells to VP-16, and attempted to correlate VP-16 cytotoxicity with AML cell growth characteristics and drug-induced DNA single-strand breaks (SSB). Primary (PE1) colony inhibition assays allowed us to characterize two distinct groups of AML: group I (patients 1 through 6), which displayed sensitivity to VP-16 similar to that of normal CFU-GM (IC90 of 20.52 +/- 2.44 micrograms/mL v 20.48 +/- 2.23 micrograms/mL after 1 hour drug exposure, respectively); and group II (patients 7 through 11), which was more sensitive to VP-16 (IC90 of 7.26 +/- 2.93 micrograms/mL, P = .004). Subsequently, groups I and II were termed normosensitive and hypersensitive, respectively. This objective VP-16 sensitivity classification, as determined by PE1, remained unaltered when assessed by secondary (PE2) colony inhibition assay (evaluating the self-renewal fraction of AML progenitors), or by cytofluorometric viability assay (evaluating the ultimately differentiated blast cell population). These findings would suggest that individual sensitivity to VP-16 of a particular cell population is maintained throughout CFU-AML differentiation. Finally, we report that sensitivity of AML cells to VP-16 did not correlate either with cell growth characteristics or with SSB generation. Indeed, AML cell sensitivity to VP-16 appeared more closely related to DNA repair kinetics after drug removal, ie, hypersensitivity being essentially characterized by a prolonged retention of SSB during the posttreatment period. Interestingly, the established HL-60 cell line, which presented greater sensitivity to VP-16 cytotoxicity than KG1, HEL, and K562, was also found to exhibit delayed DNA SSB repair kinetics, as compared with the other AML cell lines. These results suggest that hypersensitivity to VP-16 of some AML cells may be related to a deficient DNA-repair mechanism.

Cell Division

Prevention of hepatic veno-occlusive disease after bone marrow transplantation by continuous infusion of low-dose heparin: a prospective, randomized trial.

Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is a major regimen-related toxicity after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Endothelial injury, leading to deposition of coagulation factors within the terminal hepatic venules, is believed to be the key event in the pathogenesis of VOD. To evaluate the benefit and the safety of a VOD prophylaxis with anticoagulants, we conducted a prospective randomized trial of continuous infusion of low-dose heparin among 161 patients under-going either allogeneic (n = 79) or autologous BMT (n = 81). Patients were randomized to receive (n = 81) or not receive (n = 80) prophylactic heparin 100 U/kg/d by continuous infusion from day -8 until day +30 post-BMT. Heparin was found to be highly effective in preventing VOD, which occurred in 11 of 80 patients (13.7%) in the control group versus 2 of 81 (2.5%) in the heparin group (P less than .01). Furthermore, none of the 39 patients in the heparin group developed VOD after allogeneic BMT, versus 7 of 38 (18.4%) in the control group (P less than .01). This prophylactic effect was achieved without added risk of bleeding. Indeed, the low-dose heparin we used did not prolong the partial thromboplastin time and did not increase the red blood cell and platelet requirements. It is therefore recommended that heparin prophylaxis be part of early mortality prevention programs after BMT.

Adult

High cell density-dependent resistance and P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance in mitoxantrone-selected Chinese hamster cells.

Mitoxantrone (MIT) resistance has been studied in a colony selected from the CHO AA8 parental line in one step under a low degree of selective pressure (9 nM). The cells of the clonal isolate AA8/MIT C1(0) were sensitive to 9 nM MIT at low cell density but able to grow at high density. Parental AA8 cells were not able to grow under the latter condition. Decreased MIT accumulation (-20%) was observed at this step (step 0) in the absence of overexpression of mdr RNA coding for the drug efflux pump P-glycoprotein. Furthermore, AA8/MIT C1(0) did not exhibit cross resistance to vincristine, Adriamycin and etoposide at low cell density. During subsequent controlled growth for 2 months at high cell density in the presence of 9 nM drug, an additional selection occurred leading to a 4-fold MIT-resistant subline AA8/MIT C1(+). This subline was characterized at this step (step I) and after an additional 4 months of culture in the presence of 9 nM MIT (step II). Analysis of mdr gene expression and gene copy number showed an increase in mdr RNA and a pattern of mdr gene amplification which changed between step I and II. AA8/MIT C1(+)II exhibited a classical multidrug resistance phenotype with decreased accumulation of [14C]MIT and cross-resistance to vincristine, Adriamycin and etoposide. The ability to form the cleavable complex in the presence of etoposide in DNA topoisomerase II-containing nuclear extracts was identical in AA8/MIT C1(+)II and AA8 cell lines. These results demonstrate a new sequence of events in MIT resistance: low level of drug resistance at high cell density followed by mdr gene amplification.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem

Using patient reports to assess hospital treatment of persons with AIDS: a pilot study.

Providing efficacious, compassionate, and efficient medical care to persons with HIV infection is one of the greatest challenges that will face US hospitals this decade. Unfortunately, there have been almost no studies of how organizational arrangements are related to the quality of care. We developed an interview protocol and conducted a pilot study to evaluate the instrument's ability to detect differences in selected interpersonal aspects of care provided to persons with AIDS. We evaluated the care received in two different treatment models in a major teaching hospital: a designated AIDS unit and general medical beds. We assessed several areas of patient care that are clinically important and that patients can evaluate: communication between patients and providers, patient education, respect for patient preferences, emotional support, involvement of family and friends, trust and confidence, physical care, pain management, AIDS knowledge, perceived segregation, confidentiality, and financial information. Patients generally were very satisfied with their hospital care, but many reported problems with certain aspects of their care. The instrument used detected differences between the care reported by patients treated in general hospital beds and in a designated AIDS unit in several specific aspects of care.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

A primary cutaneous multi-lobed B-cell lymphoma.

Multi-lobed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has recently been recognized as a NHL variant. A patient presented with a scalp nodule which, upon skull X-Ray, was seen to be associated with a bone defect. Immunophenotyping clearly demonstrated that this was a B-cell proliferation. Histologically the B-lymphocytes were closely related to centroblasts. There were no other extra cutaneous localizations. The present report emphasizes the importance of this clinico anatomical entity which shows prominent extra-nodal involvement, large lymphoid cells with multi-lobed nuclei and a good response to chemotherapy. Multi-lobed NHL may be a T-cell lymphoma, or a B-cell lymphoma closely related to centroblastic NHL. Although multi-lobed lymphomas have a predilection for cutaneous localizations, our case is the first primary cutaneous multi-lobed B-NHL, proven by immunophenotyping.

Female

Contact and photocontact allergy to oxybenzone.

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of contact allergy and photocontact allergy to sunscreens. A consecutive series of 54 patients with suspected clinical photosensitivity were assessed. All had the same standardized photobiological investigation from January 1989 to December 1990, including patch tests and photopatch tests with 6 sunscreen agents. Oxybenzone was found to cause 4 cases of allergic contact dermatitis (with photoaggravation in 2), and 3 cases of photocontact dermatitis (13% of patients). This is probably due to the wide distribution of oxybenzone in sunscreens and other cosmetics, 2 patients with polymorphic light eruption and persistent light reactivity, respectively, were regular sunscreen users. Photobiological investigation is necessary to ensure accurate diagnosis, since sunscreen contact or photocontact allergy may simulate other photosensitivity eruptions.

Adult

Carpal tunnel syndrome and systemic sclerosis.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) was observed in 4 cases of a consecutive series of 16 patients admitted for the initial diagnosis or follow-up of systemic scleroderma from 1986 to 1990. We also observed one case of ulnar nerve compression. Neurological involvement was confirmed by electromyogram, and motor and sensory nerve conduction studies. The neurological signs appeared at the beginning of the disease in two cases and preceded the discovery of scleroderma in two. CTS is not rare in scleroderma and must be carefully sought, both clinically and electrophysiologically. Patients with 'idiopathic' CTS might need clinical follow-up for early diagnosis of scleroderma.

Adult

The inpatient AIDS unit: a preliminary empirical investigation of access, economic, and outcome issues.

An AIDS unit model ("cluster beds") and a general inpatient placement model ("scatter beds") in a major teaching hospital were compared to determine whether they differed on several dimensions of care. After controlling for severity of illness, (the major predictor of admission to the AIDS unit), length of stay, charges, and inpatient mortality rates did not differ between the two settings. Equal proportions of White, Hispanic, male, and privately insured patients were found in both settings. Nursing staff turnover rates were comparable to those of other sites. However, the data raise new issues regarding access to AIDS units for older, Black, and female patients.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome