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Biomedical subjects

H P Ojiambo

Publications and source records attributed to H P Ojiambo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1985

T-lymphocyte subsets in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) is a common clinical problem in Africa. To determine if there is a defect of immune regulation in patients with IDC, the percentage of total T-cells (OKT3 positive), helper/inducer cells (OKT4 positive) and suppressor/cytotoxic cells (OKT8 positive) were measured using monoclonal antibodies in 20 patients with IDC and in 20 age-matched normal control subjects. The percentage of helper/inducer cells was significantly higher in the IDC patients (45 +/- 2% mean +/- standard error) than in the normal subjects (33 +/- 2%) and 8 of the 20 IDC patients had a helper/suppressor cell ratio (OKT4/OKT8) higher than the normal range. Of the 8 patients with this abnormality, 7 were studied within 3 months of the onset of their illness. Results suggest that an excessive immune reaction is part of the pathogenesis of IDC in Africans.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Left ventricular function in severe pure mitral stenosis as seen at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

Twenty-one consecutive Black African patients with severe pure mitral stenosis were evaluated hemodynamically. It was found that advanced mitral stenosis presents itself in Kenya at a very young age (22.9 +/- 9.6 years, mean +/- S.D.), with all but three patients under thirty. Left ventricular angiography demonstrated significant impairment of left ventricular function with 50% of patients having abnormally low valves (mean ejection fraction 0.50 +/- 0.11). This diminished ejection fraction was related primarily to diffuse hypokinesia and an increased endsystolic volume. There was a significant deterioration of ejection fraction with increasing age which could not be correlated to increased severity of mitral stenosis or pulmonary hypertension. It is proposed that the diffuseness of the myocardial involvement and its progression with age in a young population without coronary artery disease represents the resolution of the acute inflammatory process of rheumatic fever in diffuse fibrosis of the myocardium and/or an occlusive vasculitis.

Adolescent↗