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Biomedical subjects

E Beller

Publications and source records attributed to E Beller.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Improved quality of life with megestrol acetate in patients with endocrine-insensitive advanced cancer: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Australasian Megestrol Acetate Cooperative Study Group.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of two doses of megestrol acetate (MA) compared with placebo on quality of life (QoL) and nutritional status (NS) in patients with advanced endocrine-insensitive cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred forty patients were randomised to double-blind MA 480 mg/day, MA 160 mg/day, or matching placebo for 12 weeks. Nutritional status (including weight, skinfold thickness and midarm circumference) and QoL (using 6 linear analogue self-assessment (LASA) scales) were assessed at randomisation and after four, eight and 12 weeks. A QoL ranking incorporating QoL and death was also used ranging from 1 = dead to 5 = much better QoL. RESULTS: One hundred seventy-four patients were assessable at week four, 136 at week eight and 103 patients at week 12. Patients receiving MA reported substantially better appetite (P = 0.001), mood (P = 0.001) and overall quality of life (P < 0.001), and possibly less nausea and vomiting (P = 0.08) than patients receiving placebo, based on a test for trend. A larger benefit was seen with the higher dose which (unlike the lower dose) was significantly better in pairwise comparisons with placebo for appetite, mood and overall QoL (each P < or = 0.001). Despite some missing data on QoL scores, QoL ranking was available on 227 (95%) of patients with significantly higher QoL ranking associated with MA (P = 0.002). Improvements in QoL occurred early within four weeks and were sustained. No statistically significant differences were observed in NS measurements, including weight (P = 0.29). Side effects of therapy were minor and did not differ significantly across treatments. CONCLUSION: Megestrol acetate given at 480 mg/day is useful palliation in patients with endocrine-insensitive advanced cancer. It improves appetite, mood and overall quality of life in these patients, although not through a direct effect on nutritional status.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

A syndrome of hypotonia, psychomotor retardation, seizures, delayed and dysharmonic skeletal maturation, and congenital fibre type disproportion.

Three unrelated Puerto Rican boys, ranging in age from 3 to 4 years, had marked, central, non-progressive hypotonia, chronic constipation, severe psychomotor retardation, seizures or abnormal electroencephalograph or both, abnormal dermatoglyphics, delayed bone age, dysharmonic skeletal maturation, and preponderance and larger size of type 2 muscle fibres. Additional findings included narrow, high arched palate, prominent nasal root, long philtrum, distended abdomen, and drooling from open mouth. Two of the three patients also had undescended testes, hypertelorism, and tapered fingers. Birth weight, postnatal physical growth, and head size were average. Family and gestational histories and laboratory evaluations were normal. The combination of features observed in the three boys appears to be distinct and to represent a new syndrome.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1993

Dynamic balanced randomization for clinical trials.

Common methods of treatment allocation for multi-centre and/or stratified randomized clinical trials can result in substantial differences between the number of patients allocated to each treatment arm. This can occur in the overall trial for a permuted block design or within individual institutions/strata when using a minimization scheme. This may lead to a bias in the result. Also, these procedures can be predictable, with the possibility of an investigator-introduced selection bias. An easily implemented method of randomization is proposed which attempts to overcome these problems by balancing treatment allocations both within strata and across the trial as a whole. The method keeps a running tally on total treatment allocation numbers at all stratification levels. When a patient accrues a hierarchical decision rule is applied, and the allocation is deterministic if certain pre-defined limits are exceeded, and random otherwise. The method is an extension of the big stick design of Soares and Wu, and is related to both Zelen's key number randomization methods and the schemes of Nordle and Brantmark. Simulation studies are used to demonstrate that major imbalances possible with other schemes do not occur using this method, and that the potential for selection bias is much reduced.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1990

The cycling of combination antirheumatic drug therapy in rheumatoid arthritis.

In this open pilot study a combination of hydroxychloroquine, prednisolone and alternating months of treatment with sulphasalazine or oral weekly pulse methotrexate has been investigated in 16 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) refractory to a total of 67 disease suppressive medications. Results at 3 months indicated significant improvements in visual analogue score for pain, joint count, Ritchie index, scale of disability related to activities of daily living, ESR, rheumatoid factor and C-reactive protein. This degree of improvement, however, was not maintained 6 and 12 months after commencement of treatment. Pain score, Ritchie index and ESR were the only parameters demonstrating significant improvement at 12 months. Therapy was terminated in eight patients, half due to lack of efficacy and half because of side effects.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1985

Abnormalities in offspring associated with prenatal marihuana exposure.

5 newborn infants, whose mothers acknowledged steady use of marihuana prior to and during pregnancies, displayed symptoms of intrauterine growth retardation, neurological problems, and abnormal morphogenesis. These findings fit in with the experimental studies and surveys of pregnant human populations which have indicated that cannabis products have teratogenic potential, though rigorous proof must await further information.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1979

Ring chromosome 17 in a mentally retarded boy.

A six-year-old boy was found to have a ring chromosome 17. In addition to psychomotor retardation, speech delay and seizure disorders, his abnormal phenotypic features included epicanthal folds, broad depressed nasal bridge, protruding thick upper and lower lips, micrognathia, narrow high arched palate, short fifth fingers with a mild degree of clinicodactyly, multiple café-aui-lait spots, and abnormal dermatoglyphics.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗