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Biomedical subjects

F Cardellach

Publications and source records attributed to F Cardellach.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Prophylaxis of gastrointestinal tract bleeding in patients admitted to a general hospital ward. Comparative study of sucralfate and cimetidine.

Gastrointestinal bleeding prophylaxis is well known in patients admitted to intensive care units, but only a few reports have analyzed this problem in patients admitted to a general hospital ward. In a previous study we demonstrated that close to 20% of such seriously ill placebo-treated patients bled. We conducted a prospective, randomized trial comparing cimetidine in a single dose of 800 mg and sucralfate at a dose of 1g/6h in a group of 139 patients from a cohort of 2010 patients consecutively admitted during a 10-month period to a department of internal medicine at a teaching hospital. The severity of their illness was assessed by the simplified acute physiologic score (SAPS). Gastrointestinal bleeding was assessed at the beginning of the study and daily during the hospitalization by means of Hemoccult paper tests or when frank hematemesis or melena occurred. Two of the 71 patients assigned to cimetidine and 2 of the 68 assigned to sucralfate presented with acute gastrointestinal bleeding, which was more severe in the sucralfate group. The drugs had similar safety profiles and were well tolerated, but the easier administration of cimetidine in a single dose, together with its low cost (25% less than sucralfate) argues in favor of cimetidine to prevent gastrointestinal bleeding in seriously ill patients admitted to general hospital wards.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Oxidative metabolism in muscle mitochondria from patients with chronic alcoholism.

We investigated the effect of long-term ethanol intake on the function of skeletal muscle mitochondria from 30 human alcoholics. Mitochondrial studies included (1) oxidative phosphorylation, (2) the activity of the individual complexes of the respiratory chain, and (3) the cytochrome content. State 3 and state 4 oxidation rates with glutamate-malate, succinate, tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine-ascorbate, and acetylcarnitine-malate, the activity of the individual complexes of the respiratory chain, and the concentration of mitochondrial cytochromes were comparable in control subjects and alcoholic patients, and also in myopathic and nonmyopathic alcoholic patients. These results demonstrate that alcoholic myopathy is not associated with a deficiency in mitochondrial energy supply.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Adult-onset mitochondrial myopathy.

Mitochondrial diseases are polymorphic entities which may affect many organs and systems. Skeletal muscle involvement is frequent in the context of systemic mitochondrial disease, but adult-onset pure mitochondrial myopathy appears to be rare. We report 3 patients with progressive skeletal mitochondrial myopathy starting in adult age. In all cases, the proximal myopathy was the only clinical feature. Mitochondrial pathology was confirmed by evidence of ragged-red fibres in muscle histochemistry, an abnormal mitochondrial morphology in electron microscopy and by exclusion of other underlying diseases. No deletions of mitochondrial DNA were found. We emphasize the need to look for a mitochondrial disorder in some non-specific myopathies starting in adult life.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Maintenance of structural and functional characteristics of skeletal-muscle mitochondria and sarcoplasmic-reticular membranes after chronic ethanol treatment.

The effect of long-term ethanol intake on the structural and functional characteristics of rat skeletal-muscle mitochondria and sarcoplasmic reticulum was investigated. Functionally, skeletal-muscle mitochondria were characterized by a high respiratory control index and ADP/O ratio and a high State-3 respiration rate with different substrates. These parameters were not significantly different in preparations from control and ethanol-fed rats, except for a small increase in the rate of oxidation of alpha-oxoglutarate/malate in the latter. In submitochondrial particles from the two groups of animals there was no significant difference in cytochrome content, ATPase activity or the activity of respiratory-chain complexes. Mitochondrial membranes from untreated and ethanol-fed rats showed no difference in the baseline e.s.r. order parameter, and both preparations were equally sensitive to disordering by ethanol in vitro. Similarly, sarcoplasmic-reticulum preparations were not significantly affected by long-term ethanol feeding with respect to Ca2(+)-ATPase activity or in baseline order parameter and susceptibility to membrane disordering by ethanol in vitro. These membranes were also equally sensitive to degradation by exogenous phospholipase A2. Ethanol feeding did not alter the class composition of mitochondrial or sarcoplasmic-reticulum membrane phospholipids, nor the acyl composition of individual phospholipid classes. Specifically, the changes in acyl composition that characteristically occur in liver microsomal phosphatidylinositol and liver mitochondrial cardiolipin were not observed in the corresponding phospholipids from skeletal-muscle membranes. In experiments where membrane preparations from liver and skeletal muscle from the same ethanol-fed animals were compared, the liver membranes developed membrane tolerance, with the muscle membranes retaining normal sensitivity to disordering effects by ethanol. It is concluded that: (a) different tissues from the same animals differ in their susceptibility to ethanol; (b) the tissue-specific lack of development of membrane tolerance correlates with a lack of chemical changes in the phospholipids and with a retention of normal function of mitochondria and sarcoplasmic reticulum; (c) effects of chronic ethanol intake on muscle function are not due to a defect in the mitochondrial energy supply.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1989

Iatrogenic illness in a department of general internal medicine: a prospective study.

The incidence and causes of iatrogenic illness in a department of internal medicine were studied prospectively in 1,176 patients admitted from 1 January 1986 to 31 December 1986. A total of 295 patients (25.1%) developed 367 episodes of iatrogenic illness. Phlebitis occurred most frequently (75.2% of all iatrogenic events), followed by drug reactions (10.7%), contusion (4.6%), and urinary tract infections (1.4%). Nineteen patients developed life-threatening events (in 2 it was the cause of death). Etiologic agents included intravenous catheter (79% of all adverse reactions), drugs (9.5%), falls from bed (5.4%), diagnostic procedures (3.3%), and urinary catheterization (1.6%). Risk factors associated with iatrogenic illness were hospital stay longer than 12 days, female sex, poor general medical status on admission, intravenous catheterization, and intravenously administered antibiotics and anticoagulants. We conclude that in our hospital (a) 25% of the inpatient admissions to the general medicine service resulted in iatrogenic illness, (b) most iatrogenic illnesses were not severe (phlebitis), but 2 of 19 patients with life-threatening events died, and (c) the probability of developing iatrogenic illness generally depended on long hospital stay, poor general status at admission, and the use of both intravenous catheters and medication. In our patients, a reduction of hospital stay and a rational limitation of these procedures may diminish the rate of complications.

Aged↗