PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

D T Combs

Publications and source records attributed to D T Combs.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

The contribution of echocardiography to the community practice of cardiology. A prospective study.

The utility of echocardiography in a clinical office practice was assessed by prospectively studying 93 patients. Each patient was examined by a cardiologist and a diagnosis and management plan was outlined. An M-mode and 2D echocardiogram was then obtained and interpreted by a second cardiologist without knowledge of the clinical findings. Patients were then categorized as follows: group 1, clinical and echo diagnosis agree, management unchanged (67 patients); group 2, clinical and echo diagnosis agree, management changed (two patients); group 3, clinical and echo diagnosis disagree, management unchanged (16 patients); and group 4, clinical and echo diagnosis disagree, management changed (eight patients). Echocardiography significantly altered management of 11 percent of patients, provided additional important information in 48 percent, and confirmed the clinical impression in 74 percent of patients. It was particularly helpful in determining left ventricular structure and function, valvular anatomy, and in the diagnosis of clinically unsuspected idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Combined intracardiac and extracardiac repair of scimitar syndrome with anomalous pulmonary veins to both cavae.

Anomalous pulmonary venous drainage from the right lung to the inferior vena cava (scimitar syndrome) is a rare finding. This paper briefly discusses this syndrome and presents a case of anomalous pulmonary venous return to both the superior and the inferior cavae, which was corrected with a combined extracardiac and intracardiac approach. Polytetrafluoroethylene was utilized for reconstruction of pathways to the left atrium. To our knowledge, this is the first time this technique has been used to correct this anomaly.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Hemodynamic responses to combined therapy with captopril and hydralazine in patients with severe heart failure.

The hemodynamic benefits and safety of combined therapy with captopril and hydralazine were studied during invasive hemodynamic monitoring in 14 patients with severe heart failure. In eight patients, the individual effects of both drugs were evaluated before the administration of combined therapy, whereas hydralazine was added to maintenance captopril therapy in the other six patients. In the first group, captopril alone produced a marked decrease in pulmonary wedge pressure (28 +/- 4 to 18 +/- 5 mm Hg) and mean arterial pressure (85 +/- 20 to 69 +/- 13 mm Hg) (both p less than 0.001) without a significant increase in cardiac index. Hydralazine alone produced a marked increase in cardiac index (1.6 +/- 0.4 to 2.7 +/- 0.5 liters/min per m2) (p less than 0.001), but with a minimal decrease in pulmonary wedge pressure (28 +/- 4 to 23 +/- 4 mm Hg) (p less than 0.05) and without a significant change in mean arterial pressure. The combination of captopril and hydralazine produced an increase in cardiac index similar to that of hydralazine alone and decreases in pulmonary wedge pressure and mean arterial pressure similar to those with captopril alone. Most important, when hydralazine was added to captopril in the entire group of 14 patients, cardiac index increased markedly with little additional decrease in mean arterial pressure and no significant increase in heart rate. The one patient who experienced symptomatic hypotension with combination therapy also had dizziness with captopril alone. Seven of the nine patients maintained on long-term treatment experienced symptomatic improvement. Thus, in patients with severe chronic heart failure, the combined use of captopril and hydralazine is feasible and produces acute hemodynamic improvement superior to that from either drug alone.

Aged↗