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Biomedical subjects

H S Stern

Publications and source records attributed to H S Stern.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Bilateral adrenal hemorrhage during ACTH treatment of ulcerative colitis. Report of a case and review of the literature.

Adrenal hemorrhage is uncommon and usually associated with severe stress, sepsis, or anticoagulant therapy. The association of adrenal hemorrhage and acute ulcerative colitis is rare, and is probably related to exogenous therapy with ACTH. The case of a 29-year-old woman who was hospitalized with severe ulcerative colitis, treated with ACTH, and who developed bilateral adrenal hemorrhage is presented. The difficulties of diagnosis and management are discussed. A review of the relevant literature concerning the pathophysiology of adrenal hemorrhage is presented also.

Adrenal Gland Diseases↗

Electrical basis of excitation and inhibition of human colonic smooth muscle.

Excitation and inhibition of electrical activities of the musculature of the human colon and the consequent changes in motor activities were studied in vitro. The mechanisms of excitation and inhibition were very different from those of the small intestine and colons from animal models. Carbachol increased spiking activity and the frequency of bursts of electrical oscillations in longitudinal muscle. Each longitudinal muscle contraction was related to a burst of electrical oscillations. Carbachol induced one of three patterns of activity in circular muscle: (a) continuous electrical oscillatory activity (14-24 cpm) with spikes, associated with tonic contraction; (b) bursts of such electrical activity, associated with broad phasic contractions; or (c) prolonged membrane potential depolarizations (frequency 1-3 cpm) with superimposed intense spiking activity, associated with phasic contractions. Isoproterenol inhibited all electrical and mechanical activities in both muscle layers. These results may provide a better understanding of (a) the origins of the variable patterns of electrical and motor activities and (b) the relationship between electrical and mechanical activities of the human colon musculature.

Action Potentials↗

The Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and colonic perforation. Report of a case and physiologic assessment of underlying motility disorder.

The Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a genetically determined disorder of connective tissue which is generally known for its features of fragile, hyperextensible skin, hypermobile joints, and tissue fragility. Less commonly, colorectal complications can occur, including bleeding, prolapse, and diverticulitis. A rare case of colonic perforation associated with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is presented. Additionally, in vitro electromyographic studies of the colonic tissue were performed which suggested a possible link between abnormal myogenic activity and the colonic perforations. The authors recommend that treatment be either a permanent colostomy or a subtotal colectomy with anastomosis to the rectum for similar cases.

Adult↗

Electrophysiologic control of motility in the human colon.

Characteristics of electrical activities, and the relationship between electrical and motor activities, were studied in circular and longitudinal (taenia) muscle of the human colon that was obtained from 21 individuals. Recordings were obtained with suction electrodes, the sucrose-gap method, and microelectrodes. The circular muscle electrical activity consisted of oscillatory activity of relatively low amplitude, with a frequency range from 4.5 to 60 cycle/min. Spiking activity was present on most oscillations. Contractile activity was associated with individual oscillations at frequencies below 12 cycle/min. Contractions related to periods of oscillations at frequencies above 12 cycle/min showed summation resulting in prolonged contractions. In these periods, oscillations were either of relatively high amplitude, or had superimposed spiking activity. Longitudinal muscle activity consisted of slow electrical oscillations at frequencies between 24 and 36 cycle/min with spiking activity superimposed on most oscillations. Contractions were related to bursts of such activity. These findings provide the electrophysiologic basis for short and prolonged phasic contractions and for sustained contractions of the human colon muscle layers. Activities in both muscle layers were myogenic in nature, were very sensitive to stretch, and could be initiated or modulated by nervous activity.

Colon↗

Rectal prolapse in scleroderma: case report and review of the colonic complications of scleroderma.

Scleroderma of the colon is commonly associated with constipation, as was the case in a 70-year-old woman with rectal prolapse described by the authors. The chronic constipation in this patient may have been the cause of her rectal prolapse, but the onset of the prolapse and scleroderma at about the same time suggest that the scleroderma may have been a causative factor. A Ripstein repair of the prolapse was carried out. The authors discuss some of the complications of colonic scleroderma, which include megacolon, transverse and sigmoid colonic volvulus, telangiectasia, stenosis and diverticula and stercoral ulceration.

Aged↗

Radiation dose estimates for oral agents used in upper gastrointestinal disease.

Radiation dosimetry was calculated for a number of orally administered radiopharmaceuticals used for study of upper gastrointestinal function. These include: Tc-99m sulfur colloid in water, in a cooked egg, and in chicken liver labeled in vivo; In-111 DTPA; Tc-99m DTPA; In-113m DTPA; Tc-99m ovalbumin in cooked egg; and In-111 colloid in chicken liver labeled in vivo. Radiation burdens to the stomach, small intestine, upper and lower large intestine, ovaries, testes, and total body are calculated for each preparation.

Administration, Oral↗

Inhibition of leukocyte locomotion by tocainide, a primary amine analog of lidocaine: at study with 111indium-labeled leukocytes and scanning electron microscopy.

The ability of tocainide (a primary amine derivative of lidocaine, 2-amino 2, 6-propionoxylidide) to inhibit leukocyte adhesion to and invasion of canine jugular veins was investigated. Leukocyte adhesion and migration were quantitated by use of 111indium-labeled leukocytes, and the morphologic characteristics of leukocytes and vessel lumen were studied by scanning electron microscopy. The morphologic characteristics of adhering and migrating 111indium-labeled leukocytes were similar to leukocytes that had not been manipulated, thus establishing their suitability for use as a marker for flammation. Exposure of leukocytes to 200 micrograms. per ml. of tocainide in autologous plasma in vitro inhibited adhesion and migration by 68 per cent. When labeled leukocytes were returned to the donor and exposed to intravenously infused tocainide the extent of reduction in adhesion and migration depended on whether tocainide infusion was started before or after neck dissection. Inhibition was only 46 per cent when dissection and injection of 111indium-labeled leukocytes preceded the start of infusion of tocainide but was 87 per cent when tocainide infusion was started before dissection and injection of leukocytes. The plasma level ranged from 25 to 47 microM over the 3 hour, 20 minute-infusion period, being 35 to 40 microM for the last hour. Migration of leukocytes across interendothelial junctions and their accumulation between the endothelial sheet and the basement membrane caused extensive damage to the endothelial lining of these veins. This was reduced when leukocyte migration was reduced. These observations suggest that the leukocyte-induced damage occurring in some sterile inflammations might be reduced by the use of local anesthetic drugs.

Anilides↗

Passage of extravascular tracers into canine jugular veins and carotid arteries.

Biologically active substances arising in the interstitial space (cell-fiber matrix) of a medium-sized blood vessel or in surrounding tissue might reach the lumen by diffusion. Substances so delivered to the vessel wall-blood interface would be situated to effectively influence the endothelium and to initiate deposition of blood elements on the luminal surface of vessels, thereby contributing to thrombosis and atherosclerosis. This study showed that 125I, 125I-albumin and 125I-fibrinogen passed across the walls of segments of canine jugular veins and carotid arteries that were maintained under 20 cm H2O presure while being suspended in solutions containig the radioactive substances. The ratio of 125I to 125I-protein (albumin, fibrinogen) was predictably greatly increased by diffusion across the vessel wall. Frozen sections cut parallel with the luminal surface of flattened segments of vessels showed a gradient of radioactivity from adventitial to luminal surface of the vessels. Part of the fibrogen (but no albumin) that had reached the inside of the vessel had been broken down into fragments. These observations show that ions and proteins originating in perivascular fluid transverse the wall of medium-sized veins and arteries, presumably by diffusion across complex water-filled channels. Thus biologically active substances arising in perivascular tissue or in the vessel wall itself can be expected to reach the luminal surface of the vessel wall where they can influence endothelium and/or initiate deposition of blood elements on the vessel wall. Furthermore, the action of proteolytic enzymes on protein molecules such as zymogens might give rise to active substances not previously present.

Animals↗

Metacarpal shortening.

A case of Psoriatic Arthritis with disabling flexion deformities at the metacarpo-phalangeal joints of the fingers is described. Skeletal shortening decreased the deformity and improved the function.

Adult↗