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Biomedical subjects

D Rosborough

Publications and source records attributed to D Rosborough.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Reducing costs and length of stay and improving efficiency and quality of care in cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND: The present era of health care places major emphasis on significantly reducing cost and resource utilization while maintaining quality of care and patient satisfaction. Clinicians are being challenged to achieve this within the framework of a patient subset that is increasing in severity of disease and risk-adjusted mortality. The Brigham and Women's Cardiac Surgical Services Management Group was formed in 1987 to help accomplish these goals. METHODS: The principles we have followed involve protocols and people. The multidisciplinary group includes the chiefs of cardiac surgery and anesthesia, chief residents, physician assistants, perfusionists, intensive care unit nursing personnel, and case managers. Weekly meetings address every aspect of problems arising in the cardiac surgical service; separate weekly morbidity and mortality conferences are held. The Care Coordination Team establishes and monitors clinical pathways and recommends ways of improving all aspects of the service through a process of daily review on an individual patient basis. RESULTS: The volume of cardiac surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital has increased steadily. The length of stay overall has decreased about 15%, and similarly, cost and total charges have also decreased. In addition, patient satisfaction has increased to a level of about 95%. CONCLUSIONS: The goals of cost-containment with improved patient care and outcome are possible through the collaborative efforts of representatives of all the personnel involved in cardiac care, as well as leadership by the surgical faculty.

Administrative Personnel↗
PubMed1993

Familial unilateral renal agenesis and focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis.

Renal dysplasia and agenesis may be a familial disorder. We report the familial occurrence of unilateral renal agenesis and proteinuria that, at least in one case, was related to focal glomerulosclerosis. Whether these abnormalities are related to an intrinsic abnormality in the remaining kidney, hyperfiltration injury, systemic hypertension, or some other poorly defined factor is unclear at present. However, this report, along with previous case reports of familial renal agenesis, suggests that ultrasonographic screening of first-degree relatives of patients with renal agenesis is appropriate. Whether treatments such as dietary protein restriction, use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, or other therapeutic interventions will have a beneficial effect in asymptomatic individuals with unilateral renal agenesis remains to be determined.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Characterization of factors affecting the stability of frozen heparinized plasma.

The use of heparin rather than citrate as primary anticoagulant has been shown to significantly improve the initial activity, stability and recovery of factor VIII:C from human plasma, cryoprecipitates or factor VIII concentrates if the plasma was initially frozen at -80 degrees C and subsequently stored at this temperature. If frozen and stored at progressively warmer temperatures however, increasing amounts of insoluble protein aggregates, termed storage precipitates (SPs), were recovered in the thawed plasma and cryoprecipitate fractions. Plasma recovery by centrifugation at 7,000 g for 7 min [Method I (MI)], 2 x 10 min (MII) or 15 min (MIII) had little effect on SP formation after 1 month at any storage temperature. After 4 months at -20 degrees C, more SP was recovered from MIII plasma whereas at -40 degrees C, more SP was recovered from MI plasma. Also, the preparation method had little or no effect on factor VIII:C activity at equivalent storage times or temperatures. A trend towards improved factor VIII recoveries was noted at lower freezing and storage temperatures however. SP formation was associated with reduced fibrinogen levels in the recovered plasma without loss of antithrombin-III or increased fibrinopeptide-A. Western blots showed polymerization of A alpha or gamma-chains of fibrinogen. SP formation was reduced or eliminated with factor XIII inhibitors, antibody to the active factor XIII a subunit or adjustment of heparinized plasma to 5-10 mM sodium citrate before initial freezing and storage. Although plasma factor VIII:C recoveries were only slightly affected at these citrate concentrations under most conditions, its recovery in cryoprecipitates was substantially improved owing to the reduction or absence of SPs.

Blood Preservation↗
PubMed1993

Surgical myocardial revascularization in the 1990s.

Substantial changes in the practice of cardiology ultimately produce a change in the types of patients who become candidates for surgery. This has been especially true for patients with coronary artery disease. The primary goals of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery are to relieve symptoms, prolong survival, and improve the quality of life. Because of recent improvements in pharmacologic therapy and medical interventions, the criteria used to select patients for CABG surgery has changed secondary to the clinical characteristics of the patient population.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

Development of a heat-treated factor VIII/von Willebrand factor concentrate prepared from heparinized plasma.

A high yield, intermediate purity factor VIII concentrate derived from heparinized plasma has been developed which can be heat-treated at 60 degrees C, 68 degrees C or 80 degrees C/72 h to permit inactivation of viral contaminants which may be present. After cold reprecipitation of the heparinized cryoprecipitate (CRC), the resolubilized CRC precipitate was adjusted to 25-30 mg/ml protein and pH 6.35 +/- 0.1 and incubated for 1 h at 8 degrees C. After centrifugation to remove the precipitated fibrinogen and fibronectin, a factor VIII-rich supernatant can be recovered which contains greater than 500 units of VIII:C per liter of starting plasma (Method I product) at a purity of 1.5 U/mg protein. Adjusted to 50 mM glycine and pH 6.8, the product can be lyophilized and heat-treated at 60 degrees C/72 h without a significant loss of VIII:C activity. However, at 68 degrees C or 80 degrees C/72 h, temperatures now reported to be more effective in viral inactivation, the recoveries were reduced to 68 and 33% respectively. Significantly improved recoveries after heat-treatment (HT) at 68 degrees C or 80 degrees C/72 h were achieved if the 8 degrees C supernatant product was prepared by a modified procedure (Method II). This further reduces the fibrinogen content of the product while maintaining VIII:C yields greater than 500 U/l at a purity of 1.9 U/mg. When adjusted to 50 mM glycine and 1-2% (w/v) sucrose (pH 6.8), lyophilized and heat treated at 60 degrees C, 68 degrees C or 80 degrees C/72 h, the VIII:C recoveries of Method II product were 88-100%, 79-84% and 80-83% of pre-HT levels respectively. The yield of VIII:C was greater than 400 U/l at a purity of 1.6-1.4 U/mg at 1-2% (w/v) sucrose even after the severe heat-treatment at 80 degrees C. In addition, the von Willebrand factor multimers are similar in size and triplet pattern to those observed in routine cryoprecipitate preparations.

Chemical Precipitation↗
PubMed1971

Fatal fat embolism following replacement arthroplasty for transcervical fractures of femur.

Seven cases are reported of death in old people associated with transcervical fractures of the femur and occurring shortly after insertion of a Thompson prosthesis. They are compared with six fatalities following similar injury but not surgically treated and with three which followed internal fixation. Positive controls for massive fat embolism were selected from fatal cases of multiple and severe skeletal fractures due to road accidents.It seems likely that patients undergoing this operation are peculiarly susceptible to lethal fat embolism. The clinical features, diagnosis, pathological aspects, and prevention of fat embolism are discussed.

Age Factors↗