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Biomedical subjects

D Cavanagh

Publications and source records attributed to D Cavanagh.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Cervical cancer and tuboovarian abscesses. A report of three cases.

Tuboovarian abscesses are rarely found in cervical cancer cases. In each of the three cases presented below, the diagnosis of adnexal disease was established at exploratory laparotomy. In one patient following surgery the cancer was downstaged from IIIb to IB. Another patient had undergone external radiotherapy with considerable morbidity prior to surgery. The third patient presented with ruptured tuboovarian abscesses. The cases illustrate the spectrum of problems when these diseases coexist. Exclusion of the presence of tuboovarian abscesses in selected cases by surgery is recommended to optimize treatment of the cancer.

Abscess↗

Elective cesarean hysterectomy for treatment of cervical neoplasia. An update.

From January 1, 1979, to March 31, 1991, 37 patients underwent elective cesarean hysterectomy for early cervical neoplasia. Thirty-four patients had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia III, and three patients had stage IA-1 squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix. Twenty-eight were primary cesarean sections; nine had obstetric indications. The mean operative time was 128 minutes; mean estimated blood loss was 1,400 mL. One patient experienced an intraoperative hemorrhage (3,500 mL). There were no other recognized intraoperative complications. Four significant postoperative complications included a vaginal cuff abscess, a wound dehiscence and pelvic abscess, one patient with febrile morbidity and an ileus and ligation with partial transection of a ureter. Patients were discharged on a mean of postoperative day 5.7. Although significant complications occurred, we believe that the noncompliant nature of our patient population justifies elective cesarean hysterectomy for treatment of cervical neoplasia.

Adult↗

Characterisation of an infectious bronchitis virus isolated from vaccinated broiler breeder flocks.

Four apparently serologically closely related isolates of infectious bronchitis virus were obtained from two flocks of vaccinated broiler breeders, one mile apart, which were experiencing increased mortality and decreases in egg production. The isolates were serologically distinct from isolates previously described and capable of causing characteristic infectious bronchitis-like respiratory infection in young chicks. In one experiment, the H120 vaccine strain of the virus did not protect the trachea against challenge with the new isolates 21 days later.

Animals↗

Coronavirus IBV-induced membrane fusion occurs at near-neutral pH.

The lysosomotropic agent NH4Cl caused a reduction of 80-95% in the number of chick kidney (CK) cells and Vero cells infected by infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) strain Beaudette, as determined by immunofluorescence at the end of the first replication cycle. Inhibition only occurred when NH4Cl was present during the first 2 h after infection. Syncytium formation was studied during replication of IBV-Beaudette in Vero cells. Some cell-cell fusion occurred at pH 7.0 and pH 6.5 but it was optimal at pH 6.7. IBV strain UK/123/82 did not replicate in Vero cells and was studied in CK cells in which it grew well but without forming syncytia. In contrast to IBV-Beaudette, NH4Cl had virtually no effect on the replication of UK/123/82. The results show that the IBV spike glycoprotein induces membrane fusion at near neutral pH although some IBV strains may require a mildly acidic environment for the efficient uncoating of the virion RNA.

Ammonium Chloride↗

Radical hysterectomy for treatment of cervical cancer: a prospective study of two methods of closed-suction drainage.

Two closed-suction drainage methods were prospectively compared in 96 patients after radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy in stage IB cervical cancer. In group 1 (n = 49) two pelvic sidewall drains and a vaginal drain were used, and in group 2 (n = 47) only the vaginal drain was used. The groups were similar for mean age, preoperative weight, hemoglobin and serum albumin level, operating time, operative blood loss, and blood transfusions. The febrile morbidity rates and the operative site infection rates were similar in the two groups. Ninety vaginal drains were removed by day 3. By day 6 55% of patients in group 1 had at least one sidewall drain, with a mean drainage of 150 ml/day. The median postoperative stay was similar in both groups. A pelvic lymphocyst developed in one patient in each group. The single vaginal closed-suction drain is safe, efficient, more acceptable to patients, and more cost-effective.

Adult↗

Upper vaginectomy for in situ and occult, superficially invasive carcinoma of the vagina.

Between Aug. 1, 1985, and July 31, 1990, 32 patients underwent upper vaginectomy for grade 3 vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia. Thirty-one of these patients had undergone hysterectomy, 25 because of cervical neoplasia. Fourteen patients had undergone treatment for vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia. Nine (28%) had invasive cancer on final pathologic examination. Among the remaining 23 patients, recurrence of vaginal neoplasia developed in four (17%), with a mean time to recurrence of 78 weeks, and one was found to have superficial invasion at the time of recurrence. The remaining 19 patients remain alive with no evidence of recurrent disease at a mean follow-up interval of 152 weeks. In our patients upper vaginectomy was efficacious for the diagnosis of occult invasive carcinoma of the vagina and for the treatment of in situ and superficially invasive carcinoma of the vagina.

Adult↗

Cloning and sequencing of the matrix protein (M) gene of turkey rhinotracheitis virus reveal a gene order different from that of respiratory syncytial virus.

Several biochemical properties and the sequence of the fusion glycoprotein (F) have indicated that turkey rhinotracheitis virus (TRTV) is a pneumovirus, subfamily Pneumovirinae of the Paramyxoviridae family. As TRTV was known to generate polycistronic mRNAs, cDNA was generated from TRTV strain UK/3BV/85-infected Vero cell mRNAs using an oligonucleotide primer corresponding to a region of the F gene. Sequencing of four cDNAs revealed that the gene adjacent to the beginning (3' end) of the F gene was that for the matrix (M) protein, i.e., that TRTV had the partial gene order 3'-M-F-5'. This was unexpected as human respiratory syncytial (RS) virus, the type species of the genus Pneumovirus, has the partial gene order 3'-M-SH-G-F-5', where SH and G are the small hydrophobic protein and attachment glycoprotein, respectively. Instead TRTV resembled the Morbillivirus and Paramyxovirus genera of the Paramyxoviridae (subfamily Paramyxovirinae) which have the partial gene order 3'-M-F-5'. Two further oligonucleotides, one corresponding to a sequence near the end of the M gene and the other (oligo B) to a sequence near the beginning of the F gene, with their 5' ends spaced 300 nucleotides apart on the basis of the cDNA sequence, were used in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using genomic RNA as template. Only a PCR product of 0.3 kb was obtained. The same sized product was also obtained using these oligonucleotides and genomic RNA from three other TRTV strains (SA/91/78, UK/8544/85, and SA/2381/88) which had been grown in chicken tracheal organ cultures. In addition PCR was performed using genomic RNA from TRTV-3BV and SA/2381/88 with oligo B and another oligonucleotide near the 5' end of the gene upstream from M, spaced 1141 nucleotides apart on the basis of the sequence data. Only a 1.14-kb PCR product was obtained. Larger products would have been expected if another gene had been situated between M and F. The absence of such larger products, plus the demonstration that infected cells contained M-F dicistronic mRNAs, supported the conclusion that in the TRTV genome the M gene is adjacent to the F gene in the order 3'-M-F-5'. The 5' termini of the M and F mRNAs were confirmed by mRNA mapping. The TRTV M gene encoded a protein of 254 amino acids, very similar to that of RS virus (256 residues; 37% amino acid identity) but very different from that of the morbilliviruses and paramyxoviruses (approximately 350 residues).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Neuraminidase treatment of avian infectious bronchitis coronavirus reveals a hemagglutinating activity that is dependent on sialic acid-containing receptors on erythrocytes.

The interaction of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) with erythrocytes was analyzed. The binding activity of IBV was not sufficient to agglutinate chicken erythrocytes. However, it acquired hemagglutinating activity after treatment with neuraminidase to remove alpha 2,3-linked N-acetylneuraminic acid from the surface of the virion. Pretreatment of erythrocytes with neuraminidase rendered the cells resistant to agglutination by IBV. Susceptibility to agglutination was restored by resialylation of asialo-erythrocytes to contain alpha 2,3-linked sialic acid. These results indicate that IBV attaches to receptors on erythrocytes, the crucial determinant of which is sialic acid alpha 2,3-linked to galactose. In contrast to other enveloped viruses with such a binding specificity (influenza viruses and paramyxoviruses) IBV lacks a receptor-destroying enzyme.

Animals↗

Complications of colostomy performed on gynecologic cancer patients.

From 1/1/80 to 5/31/90 111 patients underwent a colostomy on a gynecologic oncology service. Six patients developed 7 (6.3%) early colostomy-related complications, including sepsis (1), stomal retraction (1), ostomy wound infection (3), and partial stomal obstruction (2). The sepsis was felt to be related to spillage of stool upon maturing the colostomy, and this patient expired on Postoperative Day 63. There were no other mortalities attributed to the colostomies. Fourteen patients developed 17 (15.3%) delayed colostomy-related complications, including parastomal hernia (5), stomal retraction (1), stomal prolapse (3), tumor replacement (2), and site-choice problems (6). These results compare favorably with those in the literature and support the continued role of the gynecologic oncologist in gynecologic cancer-related gastrointestinal surgery.

Adult↗

Lymphoscintigraphy in vulvar cancer: a pilot study.

This pilot study was undertaken to correlate the patterns of lymphatic drainage demonstrated by vulvar lymphoscintigraphy with the clinical and pathologic findings of the inguino-femoral lymph nodes in patients with vulvar cancer. Ten patients were studied with the radionuclide Technetium-antimony trisulfide colloid (Tc 99m ASC) using a perilesional technique. Images were obtained at 2-4 hr postinjection. Four of the six patients with central lesions or lesions that crossed the midline had bilateral groin uptake, and two had unilateral uptake to the side on which the lesion was predominantly located. Three of these patients, each with suspicious groin nodes bilaterally, had metastatic nodal disease, two unilateral and one bilateral, in whom the uptake was bilateral and unilateral, respectively. Three of the four patients with unilateral lesions had ipsilateral groin drainage only and one had no drainage. Three underwent a bilateral lymphadenectomy and none had metastasis. The pattern of Tc 99m ASC uptake was not predictive of metastatic nodal disease. In two of the three patients with unilateral groin recurrence the side of recurrence was the same as that demonstrated on lymphoscintigraphy, and in the third case there was bilateral drainage. Further data are needed to determine the role of lymphoscintigraphy in the management of vulvar cancer.

Aged↗

A comparative study of radical vulvectomy and modified radical vulvectomy for the treatment of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva.

Forty-five patients who underwent a modified radical vulvectomy for invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva were compared with forty-five patients who underwent radical vulvectomy for similar lesions. Vulvar wound infection and breakdown were infrequent in both groups. Anal incontinence developed postoperatively in five of the modified radical vulvectomy patients and in none of the radical vulvectomy patients. Urinary incontinence developed postoperatively in two of the modified radical vulvectomy patients and in seven of the radical vulvectomy patients. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed. One invasive local recurrence (2.2%) developed in the modified radical vulvectomy group and two (4.4%) local recurrences developed in the radical vulvectomy group. A modified radical vulvectomy appears to be efficacious for the vulvar phase of treatment of localized invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva.

Aged↗

Infrequent point mutations in codons 12 and 61 of ras oncogenes in human hepatocellular carcinomas.

DNA from human hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) were analysed for the presence of mutations in codons 12 and 61 of the K-ras, H-ras and N-ras genes. The relevant ras sequences were amplified in vitro using the polymerase chain reaction and point mutations detected by selective hybridisation using mutation-specific synthetic oligonucleotides. In one of the 19 HCCs a mutation in codon 61 of the K-ras gene was detected, whilst in 3/19 HCCs a mutation was found in codon 61 of the N-ras gene. The mutations were all heterozygous A-T transversions and were found in HCCs arising in patients with underlying cirrhosis. In two of these patients where the corresponding normal tissue was available only the wild-type ras gene was detected, indicating that oncogenic activation of the ras gene was a consequence of somatic mutation. In another patient the same mutation in codon 61 of the N-ras gene was found in cirrhotic liver tissue and in all four patients the same mutation was also detected in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded liver biopsy HCC tissue obtained at diagnosis. These results indicate that mutational activation of the ras genes at codon 61 is an infrequent but possibly early event in the development of HCC in Britain.

Aged↗

Randomized comparison of cisplatin plus epirubicin or doxorubicin for advanced epithelial ovarian carcinoma. A multicenter trial.

Stage III and IV epithelial ovarian cancer patients were prospectively randomized to receive eight courses of 60 mg/m2 of cisplatin plus either 75 mg/m2 of epirubicin (62 patients) or 60 mg/m2 of doxorubicin (54 patients). Clinical response rates for cisplatin/epirubicin of 42% [15% complete response (CR) and 27% partial response (PR)] and for cisplatin/doxorubicin of 55% (24% CR and 31% PR) were not statistically different (p = 0.14). The negative second look rate was 35% (10/29) for cisplatin/doxorubicin and 17% (5/30) for cisplatin/epirubicin (p = 0.12). The progression-free interval for cisplatin/epirubicin (13 months) was not statistically different (p = 0.09) from that for cisplatin/doxorubicin (19 months). The median survivals for cisplatin/epirubicin (756 days) and cisplatin/doxorubicin (739 days) were similar (p = 0.70). Cardiotoxicity was greater for the cisplatin/doxorubicin group (p = 0.0003). With similar survival and less cardiotoxicity, the cisplatin/epirubicin regimen had the more favorable therapeutic index.

Adolescent↗

Sequence and in vitro expression of the M2 gene of turkey rhinotracheitis pneumovirus.

Negative-stranded virion RNA and oligonucleotide primers complementary to fusion (F) protein gene sequences were used to generate cDNA clones, revealing that the gene 5'-proximal to the F protein corresponded to the M2 (22K) gene, as in respiratory syncytial (RS) virus. The transcription start signal, GGGACAAGU, was identical to that of the F and matrix (M) proteins of turkey rhinotracheitis virus (TRTV). There were two sequences with the potential to function as transcription termination/poly(A) signals, located at nucleotides 751 to 762 and 777 to 787; 15 clones derived from mRNA indicated that the first of these sequences formed the major signal. Part of the next downstream (5') gene was sequenced; unlike mammalian pneumoviruses the TRTV M2 gene did not overlap the beginning of the 5'-proximal gene. Northern blotting indicated that infected Vero cells contained less M2 mRNA than F mRNA and that about half of the M2 mRNA was present as a F-M2 dicistronic mRNA. The M2 gene contained two overlapping open reading frames (ORFs 1 and 2), as with RS virus. ORF 1 comprised 558 nucleotides with the coding potential for a 186 amino acid polypeptide, M(r) 20959, eight or nine residues shorter than for human RS virus strains. The overall amino acid identity was 40%, the N-terminal one-third of the proteins sharing 62% of residues, the remainder 29%. A hydropathy plot of the TRTV M2 protein had close similarity to that of the M2 or RS virus. The protein was predicted to have a basic character with no N-terminal signal sequence or other major highly hydrophobic sequences. In vitro translation of a transcript comprising both ORFs 1 and 2 produced a single product of apparent M(r) 23000, corresponding to the M2 product of ORF 1. Site-directed mutagenesis confirmed that this product was derived from ORF 1 and that frameshifting was not involved. The second ORF was expressed only from a transcript which lacked the AUG codons of ORF 1 and, although occupying a similar position to that in the RS virus M2 gene, had virtually no amino acid identity in its 73 residue length and was approximately 25% shorter than the corresponding RS virus ORF 2. The hydropathy plot of the potential products of the second ORFs of TRTV and RS virus showed little resemblance. Taken together these results suggest that ORF 2 is unlikely to be expressed in vivo.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Percutaneous nephrostomy and ureteral stenting in gynecologic malignancies.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the indications, complications, and efficacy of percutaneous nephrostomies and ureteral stents in women with gynecologic cancer. METHODS: In a retrospective study, 40 women underwent urinary diversion with percutaneous nephrostomy and ureteral stents. Nine had ureteral stenosis on initial presentation, 18 had persistent or recurrent cancer, nine had no evidence of disease, and four had operative ureteral damage. Of the nine who were without disease, seven had a urinary conduit. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients had ureteral stenosis, which was bilateral in 24, and five had a ureteral fistula. Sixteen had a unilateral and 22 had bilateral percutaneous nephrostomies, with two cases having stents only. The most common complication was hematuria. Thirteen women were later hospitalized for pyelonephritis. Twenty-nine (72.5%) had ureteral stents, which were bilateral in 12. Renal function was abnormal in 26, but improved in 14 and returned to normal in six. Five fistulas were managed with ureteral stents alone and four were closed. The median time to death (N = 22) was 5.5 months, 12 months in primary cases versus 5.5 months in recurrent cases. Twelve of the remaining 18 were alive without evidence of disease at a median of 38 months, five were alive with disease at a median of 16 months, and one was lost to follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: These techniques are safe and often improve renal function. The procedures have different roles in women with primary and recurrent gynecologic cancer, in those without evidence of recurrent disease, and in those with urinary conduits.

Adolescent↗

Laser vaporization for vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia III.

Eighteen women with vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) III were treated with laser vaporization. The majority had multifocal disease. After a single laser vaporization, 15 of the 18 remained free of recurrent disease, with a mean follow-up of 129.5 weeks (range, 24-253). There were no intraoperative complications. Two patients had delayed healing and persistent vulvar soreness for 4 and 10 months. Laser vaporization appears to be reasonably well tolerated and effective for VIN III, especially multifocal.

Adult↗

Upper-body fat distribution and endometrial cancer risk.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: --To determine if body fat distribution affected endometrial cancer risk. DESIGN: --Case-control study. SETTING: --This study was carried out at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center at the University of South Florida, Tampa, where all patients in the case group received their diagnoses and histological confirmations. PATIENTS: --Forty consecutive women newly diagnosed with endometrial cancer and 40 controls matched for age and Quetelet index. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: --Anthropometric measurements were taken for the abdomen, thigh, suprailiac, subscapular, biceps, and triceps skin fold thicknesses; waist and hip circumferences, weight, and height. Relative risks for endometrial cancer were calculated according to these anthropometric measurements. RESULTS: --Case patients with endometrial cancer had significantly greater waist-to-hip circumference ratios (P less than .001), abdomen-to-thigh skin fold ratios (P less than .01), and suprailiac-to-thigh skin fold ratios (P = .02) compared with control subjects matched for age and Quetelet index. The relative risk for endometrial cancer increased with an increasing waist-to-hip circumference ratio (less than or equal to 1.14 = 1.0; greater than 1.14 = 15.0), with an increasing abdomen-to-thigh skin fold ratio (less than or equal to 0.82 = 1.0; greater than 0.82 = 5.0), and with an increasing suprailiac to-thigh skin fold thickness ratio (less than or equal to 0.67 = 1.0; greater than 0.67 = 3.50). CONCLUSION: --Upper-body fat localization is a significant risk factor for endometrial cancer in women matched for age and Quetelet index.

Adult↗