PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

J Buch

Publications and source records attributed to J Buch.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Intramedullary nailing of unstable forearm shaft fractures in children].

Forearm diaphyseal fractures in children are commonly treated by conservative management. In about 5% of cases, however, unstable fractures occur and require surgical intervention. We prefer the intramedullary pinning procedure, which has already been published in a similar version in 1913 by Schöne and in 1947 by Bsteh. 41 patients were followed up between 1979 and 1988. One instance with a severe infection of a second-degree open fracture required two reoperations and was completely restored with a very good result. An overall assessment of our collective yielded 31 patients with findings rated as very good, four patients rated as good, five as satisfactory and one as moderate.

Adolescent

Functional properties in vitro of systemic small arteries from rabbits fed a cholesterol-rich diet for 12 weeks.

1. Recent evidence has suggested that the impairment of endothelium-dependent cholinergic relaxation in vitro, which is seen in atherosclerotic large arteries of animals and man, could be part of a general deleterious effect to the endothelium of hypercholesterolaemia. 2. This possibility has been investigated in vitro by measuring the response to acetylcholine, sodium nitroprusside, 5-hydroxytryptamine and noradrenaline in segments of aorta and of femoral, mesenteric and cerebral small arteries (internal diameter approximately 200 microns) from control rabbits (n = 12) and from rabbits fed a 1% (w/w) cholesterol and 3% (w/w) coconut oil diet (n = 12) for 12 weeks. 3. Thoracic aorta segments from the control rabbits exhibited a maximal relaxation in response to acetylcholine of 64 +/- 11% compared with 10 +/- 5% (P less than 0.01) for thoracic segments from cholesterol-fed animals. Cerebral, femoral and mesenteric small arteries exposed to acetylcholine (10(-9)-10(-4) mol/l) relaxed to the same degree as arteries from control rabbits. The responses to sodium nitroprusside and bradykinin of the small arteries from the cholesterol-fed rabbits remained unaffected. 5-Hydroxytryptamine evoked comparable contractions in the small arteries, while the sensitivity to noradrenaline of the femoral small arteries was significantly decreased and the response of cerebral small arteries to noradrenaline in cholesterol-fed rabbits slightly increased compared with control rabbits. 4. Aorta from the cholesterol-fed rabbits had extensive atheromatous lesions. Morphological measurements and histological examination showed unchanged thickness and light microscopic appearance of intima and media of small arteries from cholesterol-fed animals compared with control animals. 5. The present study indicates that hypercholesterolaemia in this rabbit model is followed by atherosclerotic lesions and changed function of large arteries, but that both function and structure of systemic small arteries are largely unaffected.

Animals

[Radiographic examination of the thorax, fluoroscopy and echocardiography in cardiac calcification].

The value of radiographic examination of the thorax, fluoroscopy and echocardiography in demonstration and localization of intracardiac calcifications were compared in an investigation of 40 patients with valvular heart disease prior to planned cardiac catheterization or operation. Radiographic examination of the thorax revealed only the most severe calcifications. By means of echocardiography it proved possible to undertake a simple semi-quantitative characterisation of the calcified tissue with acceptable intra- and inter-observer variation. Echocardiography and fluoroscopy were found to be of equal value in demonstration of the degree of calcification of the heart. Echocardiography was, however, superior to fluoroscopy in fine localization of the calcifications. The relative and additive values of the methods could be illustrated employing Bayes' theorem and could be represented graphically provided that the observations carried out with the three methods could be considered independent of one another. It is concluded that radiographic examinations of the thorax is unsuitable for screening for cardiac calcifications. Fluoroscopy can no longer be considered to be the method of choice in assessing lesions of this type but should be employed in cases where echocardiography does not provide sufficient information or is not available. The greatest certainty in demonstration of calcifications is obtained with combined employment of fluoroscopy and echocardiography.

Adult

[Conservative treatment of calcaneus fracture versus repositioning and percutaneous bore wire fixation. A comparison of 2 methods].

From 1976 to 1985 we treated 236 patients with fractures of the calcaneum without additional injuries to the legs or pelvis. Among 129 patients, 22 female/107 male, with an average age of 50 and 42 years, respectively, we performed a total of 141 fractures of the calcaneum. The average post-traumatic follow-up was 6 years. For 62 fractures we performed conservative therapy with immobilization in plaster and for 79 fractures, reduction and percutaneous drill wire fixation. The fractures were classified according to Boehler, Watson Jones, and Essex Lopresti, and on the basis of the tuber joint angle (Boehler's angle). The resulting groups, however, were not homogeneously structured. Of 82 intraarticular fractures with fragment dislocation, 19 were treated conservatively and 63 surgically. Boehler's angle at trauma was 14 degrees in the conservative group and 2 degrees in the surgical group. The more severe types of fractures were thus treated by surgery. There were two Sudeck's dystrophies with conservative and three with surgical treatment. Inadequate surgical technique (drill wires extending greater than 2 mm over the bone and insufficient compression) led to the following complications: 10 drill wire perforations without subsequent complications, 8 drill wire migrations, 2 deep infections. In four patients drill wires had to be shortened, and in 1 patient drill wires had to be shortened, and in 1 patient drill wires were misplaced and had to be corrected. Surgically treated fractures were followed by arthrodesis in 2 patients, medialization of the lateral wall of the calcaneum in 1 patient, and peroneal tendon revision in 1 patient.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult

Long-term follow-up of right ventricular function after Mustard operation for transposition of the great arteries.

As development of right ventricular (RV) failure is a potential risk after Mustard operation for transposition of the great arteries, 17 patients were reexamined 5-13 years postoperatively. Comparisons were made with healthy controls. There were no clinical signs of heart failure. Echocardiographically determined RV end-diastolic diameter was increased to 2.5 +/- 0.8 cm (controls: 1.5 +/- 0.4 cm, p less than 0.001). Comparison of RV systolic time intervals (STI) in patients with normal left ventricular (LV) STI revealed decreased RV function, with RPEPI 165 +/- 19 msec (controls 126 +/- 12, p less than 0.001) and RPEP/RVET 0.484 +/- 0.096 (controls 0.284 +/- 0.045, p less than 0.001). Nuclear angiography demonstrated decreased RV ejection fraction (EF), viz. 42.8 +/- 6.6% (normal RV 53 +/- 6%, LV 68 +/- 9%, p less than 0.001). Only two patients showed normal (5%) rise in RV-EF during exercise. There was no evidence of deterioration with passage of time. The results do not justify use of anatomic repair at our center, since the perioperative mortality might then be higher than in the Mustard or Senning procedures.

Angiography

[Aseptic bone necroses in leukemia patients in childhood and adolescence].

Four children with leukemia (1.6% of all leukemia patients) treated between 1979 and 1984 developed aseptic bone necroses, all of them at multiple sites. The average time from starting chemotherapy to developing bone necroses has been 19 months (range 9 to 28 months). This is a well known complication of corticoid therapy, but corticoids may not be the only aetiological factor. Other antineoplastic agents and leukemia for itself have been associated with aseptic bone necroses. Bone and joint pain caused by aseptic bone necroses can mimic leukemic relapse, so the diagnosis may be difficult. The increasing number of long term survivors in childhood leukemia, who underwent aggressive polychemotherapy, could make this problem more common in the near future.

Adolescent

Systolic time interval. Heart rate relationship during atrial or ventricular pacing.

In order to evaluate the relative importance of heart rate (HR) and A-V synchrony during pacing, 16 patients with VVI pacemakers were compared with 8 patients with AAI pacemakers using systolic time intervals. The patients were examined at rest at increasing HR with increments of 10 beats/min until a maximum of 150 beats/min was reached or for AAI pacing until 2 degrees A-V block occurred. The slopes of the linear regression equations for PEP versus HR and PEP/LVET versus HR were used. To compensate for differences in baseline values, delta PEP% versus delta HR% and delta PEP/LVET% versus delta HR% were also calculated and used to evaluate the response to the two different pacing modes. PEP seemed in this situation to be less dependent on HR than expected from earlier data concerning spontaneous differences in heart rate. This is probably due to a lower catecholamine level during pacing. During AAI pacing the slopes were slightly more normal than during VVI pacing, but the differences did only reach statistical significance using PEP/LVET versus HR (p less than 0.05). At heart rates above 80 blood pressure had a tendency to be higher during AAI pacing, a trend which was only significant for the diastolic blood pressure at HR from 130-150. These results support the view, that the ability to increase heart rate is more crucial for left ventricular function than A-V synchrony in these patients.

Adult

[Posterior shoulder dislocation].

Posterior dislocations of the shoulder can be caused by various mechanisms, the most common one, being epileptic seizures. Therefore many patients or their relatives hesitate to admit, how the injury has actually occurred. Spängler et al. published in 1975 several reasons why the diagnosis of "posterior subluxation of the humeral head" is often missed. Usually very typical errors in the evaluation of the clinical findings lead to misinterpretation of the radiograms. In spite of the fact that long-term results of untreated posterior subluxations can be surprisingly good, reduction must be achieved as soon as possible. Deep impression-fracture of the humeral head are the cause of recurrent dislocations. Various methods have been described to treat this condition by filling the defect with subscapularis tendon or cancellous bone. Avulsion-fractures of the posterior rim of the glenoid can successfully be refixed with small screws. In case of dislocation fractures through the anatomical neck, prosthetic replacement of the head leeds to satisfying results. So-called habitually dislocations are more common in boys and do usually not require surgery, as the inclination to dislocate becomes less frequent in later years. Only in adults operation may be indicated. Posterior apposition of a bone graft can be recommended.

Adult

Different patterns of hemodynamic abnormalities in patients with ischemic heart disease compared with patients with congestive cardiomyopathy.

48 patients with chest pain or unexplained heart failure were examined with exercise test, systolic time intervals, apexcardiogram and left- and right-sided heart catheterization including coronary arteriography. The 23 patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) and 19 patients with congestive cardiomyopathy (COCM) could as groups be separated by several of the parameters. Two major patterns of change were present when using the whole range of parameters, probably reflecting that the heart and circulation had compensated for left ventricular dysfunction in different ways in IHD and COCM. Comparing patients with the same ejection fraction (EF), preejection-period index (PEPI) pre-ejection-period/left ventricular ejection time (PEP/LVET) and systolic blood pressure/left ventricular end systolic volume index (SBP/LVESVI), were all more abnormal in patients with COCM than with IHD at most EF levels. The best separation between the diseases was obtained using exercise capacity in combination with PEP/LVET. The correlations between invasive and noninvasive parameters underlined that no single parameter can satisfactorily characterize the circulatory function in patients with individual differences in preload, afterload, pulse rate, cardiac volumes, compliance and contractility. No or poor correlations were found between exercise capacity and the different function parameters used.

Adult

Late infections of pacemaker units due to silicone rubber insulation boots.

Early in 1980, there was an increase at our hospital of late infections of pulse generator pockets not due to perforation. No source of contamination could be found; then, late in 1981, the infection rate decreased. The only change in procedure during this period was the introduction of silicone rubber boots around the pacemaker unit to prevent muscle pacing. The risk of late infection was 13.8%, when using a rubber boot, while otherwise it was only 2.6% (p less than 0.001). The infections were usually caused by ordinary skin bacteria. The authors believe that the infections were due to bacteria introduced inside the rubber boot, where they were practically out of reach of the ordinary defense mechanisms. The decrease in infection rate occurred after the introduction of silicone-coated pacemakers.

Bacterial Infections

The value of serum fibrinogen degradation products in the differential diagnosis between acute myocardial infarction and pulmonary embolism.

Serum-FDP was measured in 148 patients with AMI or pulmonary embolism within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms or within 48 hours of the admission to hospital. Within 48 hours of the hospitalisation 14.6% of the patients with AMI Rand 81.8% of the patients pulmonary embolism showed a serum-FDP elevation to over 10 units/ml. The use of the analysis is limited by the time which elapses until the result is available, by the short duration of the serum-FDP elevation and by the lack of specificity of the examination.

Adult

Canrenoate--a spironolactone metabolite. Acute cardiac effects in digitalized patients.

Canrenoate (Soldactone)--a spironolactone metabolite for intravenous use--has recently been suggested as a specific antidote in patients suffering from digitalis intoxication. Theoretically, this would imply that canrenoate could counteract the effect of digoxin. The influence of canrenoate on inotropy in 12 digitalized patients was investigated by measurement of sytolic time intervals. Canrenoate improved the left ventricular contractility, since both preejection period (PEP) and the ratio between PEP and left ventricular ejection time (PEP/LVET) decreased significantly. The maximal changes in controlled atrial fibrillation, canrenoate had no effect on ventricular rate, whereas atropine increased the ventricular rate significantly.

Aged

Serum digoxin and empiric methods in identification of digitoxicity.

A prospective study of consecutive patients admitted to a medical service was undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of cardiac digitalis toxicity and the relative diagnostic values of serum digoxin versus an empiric method, based on calculations of digoxin dose in relation to kidney function and body weight. Of 711 patients admitted, 109 were treated with digitalis on admission. Sixteen of the patients developed cardiac arrhythmias consistent with digitalis intoxication. Five of these, none with serum digoxin above 1.6 ng/ml, were not toxic. The remaining eleven patients, all with serum digoxin levels above 1.6 ng/ml, were either definitely or possibly toxic. A similar borderline between intoxicated and nonintoxicated patients could not be established on the basis of calculations based on body weight and renal function. In all cases in which suspicion of digitalis intoxication was raised, serum digoxin measurements could discriminate between the toxic and the nontoxic patients.

Aged