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Biomedical subjects

G Webster

Publications and source records attributed to G Webster.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Acute tonsillectomy in the management of infectious mononucleosis.

Life-threatening upper airway obstruction can be caused by tonsillopharyngitis secondary to infectious mononucleosis (IM). The administration of corticosteroids, emergency tracheostomy and acute tonsillectomy have been advocated as ways of managing this problem. In a series of 25 patients admitted over a five-year period with IM, 15 were judged to have symptoms severe enough to warrant the administration of corticosteroids. Six of these 15 patients had little improvement in their condition and thus underwent acute tonsillectomy. There were no significant complications of this surgery. A further three patients who received corticosteroids required tonsillectomy for recurrent tonsillitis later in the study period. By contrast, only one of the ten patients who did not receive corticosteroids subsequently required tonsillectomy. Acute tonsillectomy is of value in selected cases of IM tonsillopharyngitis. It may decrease the morbidity of recurrent tonsillitis after IM, in addition to averting the immediate risk of respiratory obstruction.

Acute Disease

Treatment of Paget's disease with intermittent low-dose infusions of disodium pamidronate (APD).

Disodium pamidronate (APD) is a potent inhibitor of bone resorption, with less risk of defective mineralization than earlier bisphosphonates. We assessed the response to six spaced low-dose intravenous infusions of APD given at intervals of approximately 6 weeks followed by weekly infusions if bone turnover remained abnormal. Three groups of 10 patients were studied, each group receiving infusions of 15, 30, or 45 mg. Hydroxyproline excretion fell by 62% and alkaline phosphatase was reduced by 72%, with no difference between the dose levels. A total of 21 patients (70%) achieved normal levels of bone turnover, indicating that low-dose infusions of APD are a safe and effective treatment for Paget's disease.

Alkaline Phosphatase

An investigation of bulk tank milk selenium levels in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

We evaluated selenium determination of bulk milk tank samples as an alternative to testing blood selenium for evaluating herd selenium status in DHIA dairy herds in the San Joaquin Valley of California. A method of determining milk selenium levels using inductively coupled plasma spectrometry is described. Mean bulk tank milk selenium levels were 0.0224 mg/L (Range 0.0126-0.0418 mg/L). No statistically significant relationships were found between bulk tank milk selenium levels of a herd and calving interval, days open or log somatic cell counts. Mean herd blood and milk levels were directly proportional to bulk tank milk selenium levels. Within a herd milk selenium levels of a cow were directly proportional to the cow's blood selenium level. Herd selenium levels were not significantly related to soil selenium levels. Determination of bulk tank milk selenium levels has the potential to be a low cost, non-invasive means of evaluating herd selenium levels in order to determine selenium deficiency. Further studies with this technique in areas which are deficient in selenium may provide estimates of the sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of bulk milk tank selenium for determining selenium deficiency in dairy herds.

Analysis of Variance