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Biomedical subjects

J Cahill

Publications and source records attributed to J Cahill.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

New horizons.

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Ambulatory Surgical Procedures

The right approach to carcinoma of the cardia: preliminary results.

Surgical treatment of carcinoma of the lower oesophagus and cardia can be compromised by technical difficulties associated with inadequate exposure of the operative field. This may lead to anastomotic failure or local recurrence. A simultaneous right abdominothoracic approach to the oesophagogastric junction without division of either the costal margin or diaphragm facilitates access, allowing radical resection and the performance of a safe anastomosis without the necessity of redraping the patient part way through the procedure. Maintaining the costal margin and diaphragm reduces the pulmonary problems associated with a conventional abdominothoracic incision. Thirty two consecutive patients who have been operated upon between 1983 and 1990 using the synchronous right abdominothoracic approach and who have had a stapled anastomosis have been reviewed. The post-operative complication rate was low and the 5 year survival figure is 17%.

Adenocarcinoma

Surgical options for left-sided large bowel emergencies.

Current choices of operation for left-sided large bowel emergencies have been established by a questionnaire sent to 218 consultant surgeons asking which operation they would perform under varying circumstances for obstructing sigmoid carcinoma and diverticular disease. A 92% response rate was obtained. Hartmann's procedure (with or without a mucus fistula) is the most popular operation for all conditions. Sigmoid colectomy with primary anastomosis is performed by 40% of surgeons for obstructing carcinomas, but less commonly in other situations. On-table lavage is rarely used, and the majority of anastomoses are not protected by a proximal stoma. Subtotal colectomy is very seldom employed, except when caecal perforation results from an obstructing carcinoma. Some surgeons perform a defunctioning colostomy alone even in the presence of a perforation.

Attitude of Health Personnel

Temperature dependence of rat diaphragm muscle contractility and fatigue.

The diaphragm is a skeletal muscle of mixed fiber type that is unique in its requirement to maintain contractile function and fatigue resistance across a wide range of temperatures to sustain alveolar ventilation under conditions of hypo- or hyperthermia. The direct effect of temperature (15-41 degrees C) on rat diaphragm isometric contractility and fatigue was determined in vitro. As temperature decreased from 37 to 15 degrees C, contraction and relaxation times increased, and there was a left shift of the diaphragm's force-frequency curve, with decreased contractility at 41 and 15 degrees C. Fatigue was induced by 10 min of stimulation with 30 trains/min of 5 Hz at a train duration of 900 ms. Compared with 37 degrees C, fatigue resistance was enhanced at 25 degrees C, but no difference in fatigue indexes was evident at extreme hypothermia (15 degrees C) or hyperthermia (41 degrees C). Only when the fatigue program was adjusted to account for hypothermia-induced increases in tension-time indexes was fatigue resistance evident at 15 degrees C. These findings indicate that despite the diaphragm's unique location as a core structure, necessitating exposure to in vivo temperatures higher than found in limb muscle, the temperature dependence of rat diaphragm muscle contractility and fatigue is similar to that reported for limb muscle of mixed fiber type.

Animals

Cardiac amyloidosis causing ventricular tachycardia. Diagnosis made by endomyocardial biopsy.

In patients with malignant ventricular arrhythmias, endomyocardial biopsy may be helpful when all other findings from the workup are negative. A case of nonsustained polymorphic ventricular tachycardia is presented. The findings from an echocardiogram, coronary angiogram, and cardiac catheterization were negative. An electrophysiologic study showed inducible nonsustained ventricular tachycardia. A right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy was diagnostic of cardiac amyloid. The findings from a workup for systemic amyloidosis were negative. Primary cardiac amyloidosis should be considered in patients with malignant arrhythmias and no documented heart disease, and endomyocardial biopsy is helpful in making this diagnosis.

Amyloidosis

Sutures for inguinal herniorrhaphy--a comparison of monofilaments with PTFE.

Polybutester (Novafil, Davis & Geck) and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene PTFE (Gore-tex, W L Gore) were compared with nylon (Ethilon, Ethicon UK) for elective inguinal herniorrhaphy. PTFE had the best handling characteristics, but is expensive, and increased wound sepsis attended its use. Polybutester had significantly better handling characteristics, and is an attractive alternative to nylon for hernia repair.

Adult

Laparoscopic general surgery.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has become the treatment of choice for symptomatic gallstones. The success of this procedure has prompted surgeons to explore the possibility of performing other procedures laparoscopically. This article describes some of these new techniques and discusses the merits of a minimally.

General Surgery