PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Sangster

Publications and source records attributed to G Sangster.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Diaphragmatic rupture: a frequently missed injury in blunt thoracoabdominal trauma patients.

In the US and Western Europe, trauma is the fourth most common cause of death and the leading cause of death in the population less than 45 years of age [Mullinix and Foley, J Comput Assist Tomogr 28(Suppl 1):S20-S27, 2004]. Diaphragmatic injuries occur in 0.8 to 8% of patients after blunt trauma (Gray H, The muscles of the thorax. Anatomy of the human body. Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia, 1918) and may be a predictor of severity of injury in the blunt trauma patient [Worthy et al., Radiology 194(3):885-888, 1995]. The clinical diagnosis of diaphragmatic rupture (DR) is difficult and is missed in anywhere from 7 to 66% of patients [Cantwell, Radiology 238(2):752-753, 2006]. The accurate diagnosis and prognosis of this pathology depend on a complete knowledge of the clinical and radiological presentation. Computed tomography is the imaging modality of choice in the assessment of patients with clinical or radiographic findings suggestive of DR.

Abdominal Injuries↗
PubMed2003

[Virtual Colonoscopy. Experience in 500 patients].

OBJECTIVE: To show our experience and results in Virtual Colonoscopy (VC). MATERIAL AND METHOD: Five hundred patients with personal or familial history of colorectal carcinoma and/or adenomas, or any kind of coloproctologic symptoms were studied. VCs were practiced using a helical CT scanner (300 patients) and a multislice CT scanner (200 patients) a few hours after Conventional Colonoscopy (CC), considered the gold standard. The patients were evaluated in a prospective blind study, to determine sensitivity and specificity of VC. Findings were classified as: 1) normal studies; 2) studies with pathological findings. This one was subdivided into: 2a) Lesions below 5 mm., 2b) Lesions between 5-9 mm., 2c) Lesions above 9 mm. RESULTS: VC detected 253 normal studies whereas CC only detected 233. The sensitivity and specificity for each subgroup were: 2a) 87.8% and 86.9%; 2b) 95.6% and 91.4%; 2c) 100.0% and 100.0% respectively. CONCLUSION: VC is a feasible and useful method for evaluating the entire colon. It is well tolerated, it has no complications and a high sensitivity and specificity for elevated lesions, especially the ones above or equal to 5 mm.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

[Virtual gastroscopy. Preliminary experience].

OBJECTIVE: To define the role of virtual gastroscopy (VG) in the detection of elevated lesions comparing its results with conventional endoscopy (CE) as the gold standard method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between December 2000 and July 2001, 19 patients were evaluated. The age ranged between 41 and 72 (mean 58.8 years old). VG and CE were performed in all the patients during the same week. VG were carried out with a multislice CT scanner (Mx 8000, Marconi Medical Systems). The technical parameters used were 3 mm with slices and 1.5 mm reconstruction intervals. The acquisition time was 22 seconds. Images were sent to a workstation (MxView, Marconi Medical Systems) where they were reprocessed in three different ways: 1) Bidimensionally 2) Tridimensionally 3) Virtual Endoscopy Findings of VG were compared with CE. RESULTS: VG detected 39 lesions, whereas CE detected 40 lesions. There were 39 true-positive findings, 2 true-negative findings, 0 false-positive findings and 1 false-negative findings. The Sensitivity (Se) was 97.5%; Specificity (Sp) was 100%, positive predictive value 100% and Negative predictive value 66%. CONCLUSIONS: VG is a new non-invasive method with high Se and Sp in the detection of elevated lesions. The actual role of VG consist in identification of gastric lesions and possibility to diagnose gastric disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Disability and the diagnostic quality of barium meals in elderly patients.

It is often assumed that the diagnostic quality of a barium meal is likely to be impaired in elderly or disabled patients. We related the technical and diagnostic quality of 76 consecutive barium meals to the physical and mental status of the elderly patients undergoing the investigation. Fifty-three (70%) of the examinations were of good or excellent diagnostic quality and we found no association between diagnostic quality of the barium meal and the patient's age, mobility score, activities of daily living score or mental test score.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1989

Treatment of refractory and relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with ifosfamide, methotrexate and etoposide.

The combination of ifosfamide, etoposide and methotrexate was evaluated in 22 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) whose disease had relapsed or was resistant to first-line adriamycin-containing treatment. Only 4 of the 22 patients underwent remissions, 3 of which were complete and 1, partial. Two of the complete remissions occurred in patients with "high-grade" histology who received IMVP-16 after first-line treatment had induced only a partial remission. Bone marrow suppression was the limiting toxicity of this regime, which may be of value in the salvage therapy of selected patients with NHL.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Adriamycin, vincristine and mitomycin C as first and second line therapy for advanced breast carcinoma.

Forty-three patients with advanced breast cancer were treated with adriamycin, vincristine and mitomycin C at 6 week intervals. Adriamycin 40 mg m-2 and vincristine 1 mg m-2 were given on days 1 and 22: patients treated early in the study received 10 mg m-2 mitomycin C, but in view of repeated treatment delays the dose was reduced to 6 mg m-2. Thirty-two women had received prior hormone therapy and 24 previous chemotherapy. Responses were seen in 15 of 38 evaluable patients (40%) with a further 9 (24%) achieving disease stabilization. Median duration of response was 10 months and of disease stabilization was 5 months. Overall median survival for the whole group was 8 months, but 16 months for the 15 responding patients, five of whom survived beyond 2 yr. Responses were seen more frequently in patients who had received no prior chemotherapy. Myelosuppression may have contributed to three of the five early deaths in the non-pretreated group. Other significant side effects were alopecia, gastrointestinal toxicity and malaise.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Effects of magnesium supplementation in testicular cancer patients receiving cis-platin: a randomised trial.

The concentration of magnesium in serum has been shown to fall to potentially dangerously low levels after several courses of treatment with cis-diamminedichloroplatinum II (cis-platin). The aims of this study were to examine the effects of magnesium supplementation on predicted outcome of treatment, rate of response to treatment and toxicity of treatment. Sixteen patients with testicular cancer were studied in detail over a 14 month period. One patient with an ovarian dysgerminoma was also included in the study. Eight patients were randomised to receive magnesium supplements both intravenous and oral; nine did not. The non-supplemented group showed significantly greater renal tubular damage as assessed by urine N-acetyl-B-D-glucosaminidase (NAG). There was a trend towards a reduction in treatment delays due to neutropenic episodes in the supplemented group, and serum magnesium concentrations remained significantly higher. Neither group showed differences in tumour growth rates or outcome. These results show that magnesium supplements are of considerable benefit and show no harmful effects in patients receiving cis-platin treatment. It is is suggested that magnesium supplements should be a routine part of the treatment regime, and that these should comprise both i.v. supplements during treatment and oral supplements between courses.

Acetylglucosaminidase↗
PubMed1986

Benign and malignant (B cell) focal lymphoid aggregates in bone marrow trephines shown by means of an immunogold-silver technique.

A series of 36 iliac crest trephines, previously shown to contain follicular lymphoid aggregates, were examined using the immunogold-silver staining technique. This showed the presence of kappa and lambda surface immunoglobulin in paraffin sections of the specimens. In those trephines from patients known to be suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia there was distinct monoclonality for expression of either kappa or lambda surface light chains on the lymphocyte cell surfaces in and usually between the lymphoid nodules. In specimens containing aggregates, which had previously been diagnosed as benign on morphological and clinical criteria, both kappa and lambda chains were expressed. A small number of trephines containing aggregates of uncertain nature were also examined; these all showed monoclonal expression of either kappa or lambda chains and subsequently proved to be clinically malignant. Dendritic reticulum cells, shown by staining for surface immunoglobulin, were observed only in benign aggregates.

B-Lymphocytes↗
PubMed1986

Ultrasound diagnosis of portal vein thrombosis following splenectomy.

We present a case of clinically unsuspected portal vein thrombosis occurring soon after splenectomy in a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Ultrasound provided a means of easy and accurate diagnosis and allowed frequent reassessment of the thrombus during the period of its resolution under conservative management.

Humans↗
PubMed1985

A randomised trial of tamoxifen versus tamoxifen with aminoglutethimide in post-menopausal women with advanced breast cancer.

Sixty-six post-menopausal women with metastatic breast cancer were randomised to receive tamoxifen or tamoxifen with aminoglutethimide. The women in the tamoxifen group were virtually free of toxicity, whilst 45% of patients in the aminoglutethimide group had toxicity and 13% discontinued the drug because of this. Responses were seen in 19% of patients receiving tamoxifen alone and 23% of those receiving both drugs. There is no indication that the increased toxicity seen with the addition of aminoglutethimide to tamoxifen in this situation is justified by an increased response rate.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Cells which contain S-100 protein in Hodgkin's disease: a quantitative study.

Paraffin sections from a series of 50 lymph nodes affected by Hodgkin's disease were examined by means of the unlabelled primary antibody peroxidase-antiperoxidase method to detect those cells which contained S-100 protein. In addition, 15 lymph nodes showing reactive follicular hyperplasia were studied. A simple enumeration procedure (eyepiece graticule) was used to count the number of such cells in 20 standard 25 X microscope fields. In the specimens of nodular sclerosing Hodgkin's disease many cells positive for S-100 protein were present, in contrast to the other Rye subtypes, which showed a relative paucity. By comparison, the lymph nodes showing reactive follicular hyperplasia contained a similar number of cells containing S-100 to those seen in the nodular sclerosing lymph nodes affected by Hodgkin's disease.

Cell Count↗
PubMed1984

Advanced gastric cancer: experience in Scotland using 5-fluorouracil, adriamycin and mitomycin-C.

Eighty-four patients with advanced gastric cancer treated in four centres in Scotland between June 1980 and December 1982 were reviewed following treatment with 5-fluorouracil, adriamycin and mitomycin-C (FAM). Eighty-one patients were evaluable. Twenty-eight patients (35 per cent) responded (four complete) with a median duration of response of 10.5 months and median survival of 17 months. Ten are still alive. Response was associated with an improvement in performance status. Eight patients (10 per cent) had stable disease with a median survival of 10 months. Forty-five (55 per cent) had progressive disease with a median survival of 4.5 months; one patient remains alive. Analysis of prognostic variables indicated that the presence of hepatic metastases had a negative influence on response to FAM (P less than 0.001). Treatment was well tolerated on an outpatient basis. FAM offers good palliative therapy in a proportion of patients with this disease, especially those without overt liver metastases.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1984

Treatment of advanced ovarian cancer with combination chemotherapy using cyclophosphamide, adriamycin and cis-platinum.

Fifty-four patients with advanced ovarian cancer have been treated with combination chemotherapy using cyclophosphamide, adriamycin and cis-platinum. The toxicity of the regimen was manageable but few patients were prepared to tolerate more than 6 months of treatment. Those in complete clinical remission at that time were offered second-look laparotomy and if apparently free of disease, therapy was discontinued. Forty-seven patients could be assessed of whom 33 had had no previous therapy. Twenty-two of these were clinically free of disease after completion of chemotherapy of whom 12 had no detectable disease at second-look laparotomy. Of 14 patients who had failed previous therapy only one remains clinically free of disease. The results in the untreated patients demonstrate the primary importance of bulk reduction at initial laparotomy. The use of the regimen in patients who have failed on previous treatment or in patients with bulk disease seems to be palliative and the toxicity should be assessed in this context.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Sequential methotrexate plus 5-FU in advanced breast and colorectal cancers: a phase II study.

Fifty-two patients with advanced breast or colorectal cancer have been treated with methotrexate (MTX) (50 mg/m2) followed 6 hours later by 5-FU (600 mg/m2). The mean serum MTX level immediately prior to 5-FU administration was 1.37 mumols/L (1.37 X 10(-6) M). Of 29 evaluable patients with breast cancer (six of whom had received prior chemotherapy), one achieved a complete response and five achieved a partial response (total response rate, 21%). Among 16 evaluable patients with colorectal cancer (three of whom had received prior chemotherapy), there were no objective responses. Although hematologic toxicity was generally mild, mucositis occurred in 20 patients (severe in three), and at least one early death was attributable to toxicity. These results indicate that at doses of MTX and 5-FU which are in general use in combination chemotherapy for breast cancer, sequential treatment does not have a therapeutic advantage. In colorectal cancer, the same combination is inactive.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1983

Oral levonantradol in the control of cancer chemotherapy-induced emesis.

A dose-ranging study with oral levonantradol was performed in 20 cancer patients. The optimum oral dose which attenuated vomiting accompanying chemotherapy was 1 mg 4-hourly. Side-effects comprised dizziness, confusion, euphoria, drowsiness, and difficulty in concentrating. There was no cardiovascular toxicity. Overall toxicity appeared to be dose-related and was mild and acceptable.

Antiemetics↗
PubMed1983

A randomised multicentre single blind comparison of a cannabinoid anti-emetic (levonantradol) with chlorpromazine in patients receiving their first cytotoxic chemotherapy.

One hundred and eight patients selected to receive combinations of highly emetic cytotoxic chemotherapy for malignant disease were included in a study of anti-emetic therapy. The patients were randomly allocated to receive levonantradol (0.5, 0.75 or 1 mg) or chlorpromazine (25 mg) prior to receiving their first course of cytotoxic therapy. The appropriate anti-emetic was administered 2 hr prior to the start of chemotherapy, 2 hr after chemotherapy and subsequently at 4-hourly intervals for a further 8 hr. The extent of anorexia, nausea and vomiting along with other side-effects were assessed at regular intervals by physicians and nursing staff during the 24 hr following chemotherapy. In addition, a self-assessment questionnaire was completed by the patients. Levonantradol (0.5 mg) was superior to chlorpromazine (25 mg) as an anti-emetic. Both were reasonably well tolerated, although at this dose of levonantradol 22% of patients experienced dysphoric reactions. At higher doses of levonantradol the proportion of patients experiencing these reactions rose to 50%, but without a concomitant increase in antiemetic activity. Neither drug achieved satisfactory control of vomiting in patients receiving combinations containing cis-platinum. We conclude that levonantradol (0.5 mg) is a more effective anti-emetic than chlorpromazine (25 mg) in patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy. However, its use cannot be recommended due to its high incidence of unacceptable central nervous system side-effects.

Adolescent↗