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Biomedical subjects

D Erickson

Publications and source records attributed to D Erickson.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Sonographic evaluation and conservative management of newborns with myelomeningocele and hydronephrosis.

Hydronephrosis has been reported in 7 to 60 per cent of all newborns with myelomeningocele. However, most of these reports have been based upon x-ray findings obtained after closure of the myelomeningocele. To determine whether the radiographic abnormalities might be secondary to the neurosurgical procedure in a manner analogous to spinal shock, a prospective study of 34 newborns with myelomeningoceles was done during a 5-year period. Renal and bladder sonography was done on day 1 of life before surgical intervention and for varying periods thereafter. A total of 31 infants (91 per cent) had normal renal sonograms preoperatively but 6 of these had bilateral hydronephrosis and distended bladders postoperatively. Three patients had urinary retention before postoperative sonography could be obtained. For these 9 patients intermittent catheterization was required for 4 to 14 days until bladder tone recovered. Urinary retention in the infant with myelomeningocele may be a transient consequence of the myelomeningocele repair and should be treated conservatively for at least 2 weeks before surgical intervention is considered seriously.

Humans↗
PubMed1989

Fertility, menstrual characteristics, and contraceptive practices among white, black, and Southeast Asian refugee adolescents.

This study compares fertility and menstrual characteristics and contraceptive practices of white, black, and Southeast Asian refugee adolescents participating in the Minneapolis Health Department's Maternal and Infant Care Program between 1980 and 1982. Mean ages were similar among all racial groups; however, half the Hmong adolescents had a live birth as compared to less than 25% of the other racial groups. More than 75% of the Hmong and other Southeast Asian adolescents were married as compared to 11% of the whites and 8% of the blacks. Menarche was significantly later (2 years) for Hmong and other Southeast Asians, and the interval between menarche and first pregnancy was significantly shorter for the Hmong. While more than half of the whites and blacks previously used contraception, 14% of the Hmong and 29% of the other Southeast Asians had used contraception. Oral contraceptives were the most frequently used method for whites, blacks, and Southeast Asians; the Hmong were equally likely to choose oral contraceptives or barrier methods. The Hmong were less likely to choose contraception postpartum than were the other groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Quadriceps strength training using two forms of bilateral exercise.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of quadriceps strength training in 15 women using bilateral constant resistance computerized exercise equipment that enabled only concentric contractions. To facilitate this investigation, data from an experimental control group (n = 14), using bilateral variable resistance exercise equipment which enables both concentric and eccentric muscle contractions, and a nonexercise control group (n = 17) were incorporated into the study design. Through a random selection process, subjects were assigned to one of three groups that participated in this 10-week study. Analysis, including univariate and multivariate statistical techniques, revealed no significant changes in strength between the two experimental groups. However, compared with the nonexercise group, there were significant increases in strength in the experimental exercise groups; yet, these increases were significant in both groups only on the right legs. In addition, the development of transient knee pain in two subjects engaged in both concentric and eccentric exercise training required their removal from the study. This finding, in concert with previous experimental evidence of an association between eccentric exercise and the development of transient pain, must be integrated into future studies. Results suggest that further investigation is necessary to reveal the neurologic or biomechanical factors which may result in unequal training stimuli to the limbs with bilateral strength training on various types of equipment.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The adult diplomyelia syndrome.

Diplomyelia is an uncommon variant of diastematomyelia in which the spinal cord remains divided caudal to the diastematomyelia spur. Presented here are three adults who presented with a sign-and-symptom complex that is likely to occur only when such an anatomic aberration is found. Each patient complained of pain and paresis in one leg. Neurologic examination demonstrated dysfunction of not only both long tracts but also lower motor modalities in the symptomatic leg and no abnormalities in the opposite leg. These findings, therefore, would strongly suggest that each leg was supplied by one of the split spinal cords, with only one cord being compromised. When planning surgical intervention on these patients, one must be aware that removal of the central spur alone may not resolve the problem because the spur, unlike that in diastematomyelia, does not tether the split spinal cords.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Increased mouse epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity by the tumour promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate involves increased amounts of both enzyme protein and messenger RNA.

Evidence was sought that the tumour promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-induced mouse epidermal ornithine decarboxylase (ODC, EC 4.1.1.17) activity involves both increased ODC mRNA and ODC protein. Application of 10 nmol of TPA to mouse skin led to a dramatic increase in soluble epidermal ODC activity which paralleled an increase in amount of enzymically active ODC protein as determined by gel electrophoresis of immunoprecipitated difluoromethyl[3H]ornithine-bound ODC. Application of TPA to mouse skin also resulted in an increase in ODC mRNA measured by dot-blot analysis using a radiolabelled cDNA probe. ODC mRNA induction preceded the increase in ODC activity by TPA. TPA-increased ODC mRNA displayed a single major band of 2.1 kilobases in size identified by the Northern blotting procedure.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Induction of mouse epidermal ornithine decarboxylase by the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate: dependence on calcium availability.

The role of calcium in epidermal ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) induction by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) was determined in adult mouse skin pieces incubated in serum-free minimal essential medium (MEM). Addition of TPA to skin pieces incubated in serum-free MEM, which contains 1.82 mM Ca2+ and 0.83 mM Mg2+, resulted in about a 200-fold increase in epidermal ODC activity at about 8 h after TPA treatment. TPA failed to induce epidermal ODC in skin pieces incubated in calcium-free medium. Similarly, chelation of extracellular calcium by ethyleneglycol bis(beta-aminoethyl ether) N,N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) prevented ODC induction by TPA, which could be resumed upon calcium restoration in the medium. Furthermore, calcium ionophore A23187, which facilitates efflux of Ca2+ across cellular membranes, induced ODC activity in incubated skin pieces. Epidermal ODC activity increased by TPA appears to be the result of an increase in both the amount of ODC protein and the level of hybridizable ODC messenger. Inhibition of the induction of ODC activity by EGTA was the result of the inhibition of the amount of active ODC protein and the level of ODC mRNA.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Involvement of protein kinase C activation in ornithine decarboxylase gene expression in primary culture of newborn mouse epidermal cells and in skin tumor promotion by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate.

The role of protein kinase C in ornithine decarboxylase (ODC; EC 4.1.1.17) gene expression in primary culture of newborn mouse epidermal cells (MEC) from BALB/c mice and in skin tumor promotion by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in female CD-1 mice was determined. A time course and the dose-response curves of ODC induction paralleled that of ODC mRNA induction by TPA in MEC. TPA treatment did not elicit any change in the size of ODC mRNA. The magnitude of ODC induction was proportional to the amount of ODC mRNA increased by TPA. TPA (2 X 10(-7) M) failed to induce ODC activity in MEC plated in Ca2+-deprived medium; TPA induction of ODC could be resumed upon Ca2+ restoration in the medium. 1-Oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol, a membrane-permeable diacylglycerol which activates protein kinase C, induced at the same rate both ODC activity and the amount of ODC mRNA in MEC. Phospholipase C, which releases diacylglycerol from membrane phospholipids, also induced ODC activity; 0.02 units of phospholipase C per ml led to about a 50-fold increase in ODC activity at 6 h after treatment. Phospholipase A2 was ineffective. Phospholipase C-induced ODC activity correlated with an increased level of ODC mRNA. Furthermore, palmitoylcarnitine, an inhibitor of protein kinase C, inhibited epidermal ODC induction and the increased level of ODC mRNA by TPA. Also, palmitoylcarnitine inhibited skin tumor promotion by TPA; application of 3 mumol of palmitoylcarnitine in conjunction with each promotional treatment with 10 nmol of TPA to the initiated skin of female CD-1 mice inhibited tumor formation. Taken together, we conclude that activation of protein kinase C may be an early event in ODC gene transcription and skin tumor promotion by TPA.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Birth weight, Apgar scores, labor and delivery complications and prenatal characteristics of Southeast Asian adolescents and older mothers.

The study population included 337 adolescents and 876 mothers who delivered live-born, singleton infants in the Maternity and Infant Care Program at the Minneapolis Health Department between 1980-1982. Whites and blacks on the average experienced menarche 1-2 years earlier than the Southeast Asians although age of first pregnancy was 2 years later for the Southeast Asians. In spite of the significantly later ages of entry into prenatal care, lower weight gains, and hematocrits among the Southeast Asians, compared to the white and black populations, overall height-weight status on admission compared favorably with whites and blacks. The virtual absence of alcohol and tobacco consumption among the Southeast Asians may in fact contribute to the generally favorable Apgar scores, length of gestation, and birth weights. The high frequencies of alcohol and tobacco consumption among white adolescents during pregnancy suggest the need for more intervention to discourage smoking in this population. Further, the potential adoption of these substances needs to be discouraged among the Southeast Asian adolescents. While 2-4% of the whites, blacks and Hmong adolescents experienced eclampsia, 1% of the older Hmong mothers and none of the other Southeast Asians experienced eclampsia. The most frequent complication for all groups was perineal laceration.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Use of portable vitrectomy instrumentation (VISC X) in the rural Guatemalan highlands.

In a rural mountain setting 20 patients with blinding ocular opacities were treated surgically with modern vitrectomy techniques. There were no intraoperative or postoperative complications unique to the isolated environment. Because of its compact portability, the VISC X proved to be an ideal vitrectomy instrument. In addition to plastic lid procedures, cataract extraction, and strabismus surgery, repair of retinal detachment and vitrectomy in selected cases has been added to the armamentarium of surgeons who are seriously involved in exporting ophthalmology to remote places.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Electrical stimulation of the spinal cord and peripheral nerves for pain control. A 10-year experience.

Patients who underwent implantation of dorsal column stimulators from 1970 to 1973 were reviewed 7-10 years following stimulation. The number who achieved satisfactory pain relief was not significant. The criteria for selecting these patients were reviewed utilizing those now used in 1980. 50% of the patients originally selected would now be rejected for psychological or drug-related reasons. This long-term evaluation indicates no benefit to the patients treated with spinal cord stimulation. However, it appears that psychological factors were the most important reasons for failure. A smaller group of patients studied for 3-5 years following implantation of epidural spinal cord stimulators achieved a 70% pain control rate. Selection factors that explain these differences are discussed.

Brachial Plexus↗
PubMed1980

A Chicano version of the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). A health care evaluation instrument crosses the linguistic barrier.

Evaluation of improvement of access of health services requires measurement across cultural and language boundaries. Using a measure of functional health status, the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), a procedure for and analysis of a Chicano Spanish translation of the SIP is presented. Consensus among translators was achieved. The translation was validated by administering English and Spanish versions to 31 bilinguals and by having Spanish monolinguals rescale it. In both cases, correlations between English and Spanish versions were high.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1976

Amenorrhea following oral contraception.

A prospective study was done on 326 nulliparous women who ceased oral contraception. Follow-up was obtained on 311. The mean age was 20.3 years (S.D. 2.5). Eighty-nine per cent began menstruating within 60 days after stopping therapy, and only 7 took 180 days or longer to menstruate. Late menarche strongly correlated with post-pill amenorrhea (PPA), but continous length of time on oral contraceptives and type of oral contraceptive showed no significant relationship. The incidence of PPA was 2.2 per cent. All women did eventually menstruate spontaneously, the longest period of amenorrhea being 540 days.

Adolescent↗