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D F Levine

Publications and source records attributed to D F Levine.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

A method for studying the actions of drugs on motility of vascularly perfused segments of human colon.

The isolated, vascularly perfused human colon is a novel method for investigating drug action on this organ. Measurement of the integrated motility of the muscle layers and the facility for administering drugs via the blood supply represent advances over muscle strip studies. Viability of the specimens was improved by addition of Dextran 70 to the perfusion fluid to minimise oedema. Changes in motility were recorded with small, water-filled intraluminal balloons. Measurements were made for 10 min periods immediately before and after drug administration using a linear displacement method. Both neostigmine (1.0-3.0 micrograms/ml) and bethanechol (1.0-5 micrograms/ml) significantly increased motility of the segments, while morphine (10-50 micrograms/ml) did not.

Bethanechol Compounds↗

Habitual rumination: a benign disorder.

Nine patients who habitually ruminated after meals underwent clinical tests and psychological questioning. Barium meal radiography showed no abnormalities. In one patient oesophageal manometry detected an abnormally large gastric pressure wave 20 minutes after food. Although four patients had family psychiatric histories and three histories of overdose, anorexia nervosa, and mild reactive depression, none had any present serious psychiatric disorder. Behavioural therapy to reduce rumination was successful in one patient. Most patients responded to reassurance that the habit was harmless. Since the condition is a distinct clinical syndrome it may be recognised early with minimal investigations if doctors are aware of its existence.

Adolescent↗

Trial of three-day and ten-day courses of amoxycillin in otitis media.

A randomised double-blind controlled trial compared three-day and 10-day courses of amoxycillin (25 mg/kg daily) in children with otitis media. Seventeen doctors from five centres admitted 84 children between the ages of 2 and 10 years. Symptoms and signs were measured on admission to the trial, on day 3, and on day 15. Mother's observations were recorded daily for 10 days. Audiograms were performed at four and 12 weeks after the end of the trial. The treatment groups showed little difference in the speed of resolution of symptoms and signs, the numbers of primary treatment failures, or the frequency of recurrent ear infections. There were no complications in either group. Most children with otitis media can probably be successfully and safely treated with no more than a three-day course of amoxycillin providing their progress is reviewed about the fifth or sixth day after treatment started. This policy could save over 1 million pounds annually in antibiotic costs.

Amoxicillin↗

The urinary sodium: potassium ratio and response to diuretics in resistant oedema.

Nineteen patients with severe oedema due to either cirrhosis of the liver or to congestive cardiac failure, who had failed to respond to previous diuretic therapy, were treated with either increasing doses of frusemide (Group A), or with frusemide in a fixed dose of 80 mg daily and increasing doses of spironolactone (Group B). In Group A there was an inverse correlation between the baseline 24-hr urinary sodium: potassium (Na : K) ratio and the 24-hr urinary potassium excretion during diuresis, and a direct correlation between the urinary Na : K ratio before and after diuresis. Thus, in patients of this group during diuresis, there was a significantly higher urinary potassium excretion in those with a baseline urinary Na : K ratio of less than 1, as compared with those with a ratio of greater than 1. In Group B a satisfactory diuresis was achieved without marked urinary potassium loss in those patients with a baseline urinary Na : K ratio of less than 1, whereas no diuresis was obtained in the two patients with a baseline urinary Na : K ratio of greater than 1. These results suggest that the measurement of the baseline urinary Na : K ratio is of help in determining the potential value of spironolactone in patients with resistant oedema.

Adult↗