Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D C Grant.
Differential diagnoses for hyponatremia with concurrent hyperkalemia should include hypoadrenocorticism. Renal failure, chylothorax, and gastrointestinal tract disorders may also cause abnormally low serum sodium:potassium ratios. The ACTH stimulation test is the gold standard for diagnosis of hypoadrenocorticism.
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BACKGROUND: Defunctioning loop ileostomies are uncommonly used forms of fecal diversion. The aim of this study was to determine the morbidity associated with both construction and reversal of loop ileostomies. STUDY DESIGN: An analysis was performed of all patients who underwent loop ileostomy construction or reversal between 1990 and 1997, with data being collected prospectively. RESULTS: One-hundred-two patients, (43 male, 59 female) with a mean age of 38 years (range 13 to 81 years) had loop ileostomies constructed. Indications for ileostomy construction included inflammatory bowel disease (76 patients), ultralow anterior resection for carcinoma (16 patients), or miscellaneous reasons (10 patients). Nine patients (9%) had complications arising from ileostomy construction including 4 parastomal infections, 3 high output ileostomies, 1 small-bowel obstruction, and 1 ileostomy stenosis in the early postoperative period. Only the stricture required surgical intervention. All other complications improved with conservative management. Mean time to ileostomy reversal was 120 days. Three patients (4%) had complications associated with reversal. All of these complications required surgical intervention, 2 for small bowel obstruction, and 1 for small bowel perforation. Currently 84 patients have had their ileostomy reversed, and 12 patients have had their loop ileostomy converted to a permanent stoma for reasons not related to the loop ileostomy itself. CONCLUSIONS: Defunctioning loop ileostomy is associated with low morbidity. We recommend a defunctioning ileostomy as the procedure of choice for temporary fecal diversion.
We examine some limitations of the psychiatric diagnosis, particularly in the assessment of the seriousness of a patient's mental illness. The bureaucratic or technocratic use of the concept "serious mental illness' is contrasted with the perspective of the clinician who provides ongoing patient care. A decline in the clinical skills of psychiatrists is likely if proposed mental health reforms regulate psychiatric practice according to bureaucratic and technocratic definitions of serious mental illness rather than the realities of the clinical encounter between patient and doctor.
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To summarize the imaging work-up of gastric carcinoma, the patient should be initially evaluated with a double-contrast UGI series and correlated with endoscopy. Some authors feel that the primary role of UGI is to provide a guide to the endoscopist. The area in question should be biopsied. The role of CT is controversial due to limitations in staging. Some feel that it is an ancillary procedure, as are ultrasound, MRI, and angiography. Exploratory laparotomy is recommended as the diagnostic and therapeutic evaluation of choice. However, CT may prevent surgery in the nonsymptomatic patient with diffuse metastatic disease.
Real-time ultrasound examination of the kidneys was performed in 11 patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the renal collecting system. Each sonogram revealed a zone in the renal sinus which was less echogenic than the normal sinus and which corresponded to the extent of the tumor. Although the specificity and sensitivity of this finding are not yet known, this appearance should suggest the diagnosis of transitional cell carcinoma.
The ability of three ultrasound (US) parameters--echogenicity, texture, and through transmission--to predict fetal lung maturity was tested in 59 patients using currently available clinical US equipment. The chi square test was used to determine whether there was an association between any single parameter and a "mature" lecithin/sphingomyelin (LS) ratio or specific phosphatidycholine (SPC). Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the combined ability of these three parameters and gestational age to predict LS ratio and SPC. There was no correlation between fetal lung maturity, as determined by mature LS and SPC indices, and the US parameters tested using unmodified clinical equipment.
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We tabulated the computed tomographic (CT) findings in 14 consecutive patients who had proven malignant pleural mesotheliomas and were studied over a 3-year period. We also staged the disease in these patients, all of whom were men, aged 40-75 years (mean, 59), and had been exposed to asbestos at work. Common presenting symptoms were shortness of breath or chest pain. Pleural thickening was found on the side of the tumor in all of the patients, characterized as nodular and circumferential (6/14 cases), plaque-like (4/14), or strictly nodular (4/14) in appearance. In addition, 86% of the patients demonstrated contralateral pleural thickening, but these lesions did not prove to be tumor deposits. Other common CT findings in the involved hemithorax included: pleural effusions (79% of cases), lung parenchymal disease (79%), decreased hemithorax size (62%), and pleural calcification (50%). Before the chest scans were performed, 13 patients were felt to have Stage I disease and one to have Stage IV. The CT information revised these opinions: four of the Stage I patients were assigned to Stage II (on the basis of chest wall involvement or enlarged hilar/mediastinal lymph nodes). Therapy was altered in these four cases. In two patients pericardial thickening was seen, but it was not possible to determine if this was due to tumor involvement. We conclude that CT can identify several abnormalities that are commonly associated with mesotheliomas. By demonstrating lesions not detectable on conventional imaging studies, CT may alter staging and therapy in many patients with this disease.
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