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Biomedical subjects

G Sheridan

Publications and source records attributed to G Sheridan.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Parasitic procrastination: late-presenting ovale malaria and schistosomiasis.

A 29-year-old woman with ovale malaria (most likely contracted, together with asymptomatic schistosomiasis, in East Africa two years previously) had fever, nausea and confusion, jaundice, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, hyponatraemia and hypokalaemia. She was initially diagnosed with and treated for blood-smear-positive vivax malaria. Because of the unusual clinical presentation, blood was analysed by a malaria species-specific nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay which identified Plasmodium ovale as the only infecting species. This case illustrates (i) that a detailed travel history remains a vital part of clinical assessment, (ii) ovale malaria can have an exceptionally long incubation period and features of a moderately severe acute infection, and (iii) PCR assay may prove a valuable adjunct to blood film examination in the diagnosis and speciation of malaria.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Cytochromes P450, oxygen, and evolution.

The role of the cytochrome P450 superfamily of heme-thiolate enzymes in oxidative metabolism is discussed in the context of evolutionary development. Concordances between the rise in atmospheric oxygen content, elaboration of the P450 phylogenetic tree and the accepted timescale for the emergence of animal phyla are described. The unique ability of the P450 monooxygenase system to activate molecular oxygen via the consecutive input of two reducing equivalents is explored, such that the possibility of oxygen radical generation and its toxic consequences can be explained in mechanistic terms, together with an appreciation of the ways in which this oxygen activating ability has been utilized by evolving biological systems in their adaptation to an increasing atmospheric oxygen concentration over the past two billon years.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cardiac screening of children with Down's syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the role of clinical and laboratory investigation of the cardiovascular system in children with Down's syndrome. DESIGN: Prospective evaluation; examiners blinded to results of laboratory studies. SETTING: Tertiary pediatric referral centre. PATIENTS: Fifty consecutive children with Down's syndrome presenting to a regional genetic centre. Children less than six weeks of age or with known heart disease were excluded. MEASURES: Following independent examinations by a geneticist and a pediatric cardiologist, an electrocardiogram (ECG) and two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiograms were carried out. RESULTS: Assessment by the geneticist yielded two false positives and five false negatives (sensitivity 67%, specificity 88%). Addition of an ECG to clinical evaluation increased the sensitivity to 80% and specificity to 90%, a rate comparable with clinical assessment by a cardiologist. No lesion requiring surgical correction was missed by this combination. CONCLUSIONS: Where expertise in pediatric echocardiography is not readily available, careful clinical assessment coupled with the interpretation of an ECG is adequate and appropriate screening of the child with Down's syndrome.

Down Syndrome↗