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Biomedical subjects

J B Cunningham

Publications and source records attributed to J B Cunningham.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Bed occupancy and turnover interval as determinant factors in MRSA infections in acute settings in Northern Ireland: 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2003.

The following data were obtained from annual hospital statistics in Northern Ireland and from the Communicable Diseases Surveillance Centre (CDSC) Northern Ireland for 2001-2002 and 2002-2003: bed turnover interval (TI), percentage bed occupancy (PO) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus rates per 1000 bed-days of patient episodes [MRSA (PE)]. A significant negative correlation was established (r=-0.854; P<0.01) between TI and MRSA (PE) in 2002-2003. A significant positive correlation for PO and MRSA (PE) (r=0.679; P<0.05) was also found for the same year. The correlation for TI and MRSA (PE) in 2001-2002 was r=0.621 (P<0.05), but no significant correlation was established for PO and MRSA (PE) in the same year. Partial correlation indicated that the influence on MRSA (PE) rates was greater for TI than for PO. These results infer that a rapid turnover of patients is an important factor influencing MRSA rates within acute hospitals.

Bed Occupancy↗
PubMed1994

After a treatment breakthrough: a comparison of trial and population-based data for advanced testicular cancer.

PURPOSE: To determine to what extent the benefits of cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy have been disseminated to all American men diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred seventy-two advanced testicular cancer cases from five population-based registries of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program diagnosed from 1978 to 1984 were compared with 133 diagnostically comparable cases from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) vinblastine, dactinomycin, and bleomycin (VAB) regimens 7 through 9. Exclusions were made in both series for cases with elevated markers only, abdominal disease only, or extragonadal tumors. Ratings of extent of disease using the Indiana University system (minimal/moderate or advanced) were available for the MSKCC cases, and were determined retrospectively on the SEER cases based on information abstracted from medical records. RESULTS: Among the SEER cases, 89% reported receiving chemotherapy, and 95% of these received cisplatin-containing regimens. Survival among the MSKCC patients was significantly better than for the SEER cases in the minimal/moderate extent of disease category (95% and 73% 3-year survival rate, respectively); however, the difference for advanced cases was only marginally significant (52% and 40% 3-year survival rates, respectively). Survival did not vary significantly by year of diagnosis in either series. CONCLUSION: Although most of the patients in the SEER series received cisplatin-based chemotherapy, this alone did not produce results equivalent to that in the MSKCC series. Since the patients were selected to be as diagnostically comparable as possible at baseline, remaining differences in survival may be due to adherence to a fixed regimen and level of dose-intensity, adequacy of diagnostic work-up, implementation of salvage therapies and debulking surgery, and unknown factors related to who is willing and able to travel to a tertiary care center for treatment. Whatever the reason for not achieving optimal results in the SEER series, the very modest survival improvements over the time period 1978 to 1984 indicates that the differences in outcome between the two series were basically stable over the study period.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Evaluation of renal masses by ultrasound and computed tomography: a preliminary study.

Computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound were performed on fifty-two patients with renal masses. Both modalities were able to correctly demonstrate the renal mass with an equal degree of accuracy. Since renal ultrasound is a well established, economical and noninvasive technique, it should be the diagnostic procedure of choice to determine whether or not a mass demonstrated by intravenous urography is cystic or solid. However, if faster scanning times as well as lower patient cost could be accomplished, more widespread use of CT as a diagnostic modality for differentiation of renal masses could result.

Humans↗
PubMed1978

Comparison of computed tomography and ultrasound for abdominal aortic aneurysms: a preliminary study.

Computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound were equally effective in measuring the external diameter of atherosclerotic abdominal aortic aneurysms in 20 patients. Ultrasound was superior for determining the true lumen caliber and detecting mural thrombi. CT was superior for demonstrating aortic wall calcifications, but no more so than a plain film abdominal radiograph. Ultrasound should be the method of choice in the diagnosis, serial evaluation and management of a patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Aorta, Abdominal↗