PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

J K Harness

Publications and source records attributed to J K Harness.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

Training obstetrics-and-gynecology residents to manage breast disease. Incorporation into a breast care clinic.

The American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently issued a directive that education in breast disease be incorporated into all residency training programs. At the University of Michigan Medical Center, the Comprehensive Breast Care Center (BCC) provides the vehicle for the education and training of residents in the area of breast disease. The department of obstetrics and gynecology is fully integrated and participates actively in the care of patients in the BCC.

Ambulatory Care Facilities

Flow cytometric measurements of nuclear DNA and ploidy analysis in Hürthle cell neoplasms of the thyroid.

Nuclear DNA content and nuclear DNA ploidy were measured in 36 Hürthle cell neoplasms (HCNs) to better define their potential roles in predicting the clinical behavior of these lesions. An EPICS V flow cytometer (Coulter Electronics, Hialeah, Fla) was used. Measurements were taken from paraffin-embedded tissue. Isolated nuclei were stained with propidium iodide. The study was conducted in a blinded fashion. Observed NDC and PDY patterns were classified as diploid, aneuploid, or suspicious. Twenty-nine lesions (81%) were diploid and seven (19%) were aneuploid. Twelve (33%) HCNs were malignant, 23 (64%) were benign, and one (3%) was indeterminate. Eight (67%) of 12 malignant HCNs were diploid and four (33%) of 12 were aneuploid. In comparison, 20 (87%) of 23 benign lesions were diploid and three (13%) of 23 were aneuploid. The indeterminate neoplasm was diploid. There were three deaths in this group of patients; all three had aneuploid neoplasms, and all had locally recurrent disease with distant metastases. There was a significant cross correlation between histologic features and DNA content with regard to outcome. These preliminary data suggest that NDC and PDY are not helpful in distinguishing histologically benign from malignant HCNs; however, they may be useful in determining prognosis.

Adenoma

Developing a comprehensive breast center.

In 1985 the University of Michigan Medical Center established a multidisciplinary breast care center (BCC) to provide comprehensive diagnosis and treatment for patients with benign and malignant breast disease. Ninety-eight per cent of the first 500 new patients were women and 2 per cent were men. One-hundred thirty-one women (26.7%) and no men had breast cancer. Of the remaining 359 women, 75.3 per cent had some element of fibrocystic disease. Patients who had breast cancer were evaluated during their initial visit to the BCC by a nurse, general surgeon, radiation therapist, and oncologist. Ninety-five per cent of all patients were given a definitive treatment plan or a second opinion at the conclusion of their one visit to the center. Patient and physician satisfaction with the center concept has been high. The center emphasizes patient education and choice between mastectomy and breast-sparing procedures and radiation therapy for the control of primary cancers. Adjuvant chemotherapy or hormonal therapy is given to all nodal-positive patients. Establishment of multidisciplinary centers, such as the BCC, requires the commitment of all physician specialty groups, nursing and hospital administration. High quality patient care can be provided in such centers in a more efficient and coordinated manner than in the non-center setting. The center can serve as a source of increased patient referrals and research opportunities.

Adolescent

Radionuclide evaluation of bile leakage and the use of subhepatic drains after cholecystectomy.

Our study addresses the question of efficacy of drainage after cholecystectomy by evaluation of the leakage of radiolabeled bile. Based on our data, drains placed at the time of surgery do not appear to reliably remove bile or to decrease morbidity. Our study reveals that bile leakage after cholecystectomy is frequent, cannot be accurately predicted at operation, is not related to the experience of the operating surgeons, and does not necessarily correlate with morbidity. The shorter postoperative hospital stay in the group of patients with subhepatic bile leakage compared with the group without evidence of leakage after cholecystectomy is not statistically significant. However, this trend does suggest that there is no increase in morbidity associated with bile leakage per se. A large, clinically significant bile leak can easily be treated by modern interventional radiologic techniques if drainage is indicated. A larger, double-blind study is necessary to further evaluate the issues surrounding bile leakage and drainage after cholecystectomy.

Adult

Symptomatic biliary tract disease in the elderly patient.

Acute symptomatic biliary tract disease in the elderly is usually associated with a tenfold increase in operative morbidity and mortality when compared to the disease in non-elderly patients. Over a 10-year period 118 elderly patients with a mean age of 77.2 years (range 65 to 98 years) were operated on for benign biliary tract disease. Acute cholecystitis was found at operation in 33 patients (28%), empyema in nine (7.6%), gangrene of the gallbladder in three (2.5%), and 24 patients (20.3%) were found to have common bile duct stones. Seventy-three patients had chronic cholecystitis. Complications occurred in 29 patients (24.6%), with pneumonia and wound infection as the two most common. Fifteen patients died, making the overall mortality rate 12.7 per cent. The mean age of the patients who died was 81.5 years. Two patients died following elective operations (mortality rate 1.7%), while the remainder died after emergent or urgent operations (11%). Elective biliary tract surgery in the elderly for symptomatic disease is safe and will reduce postoperative morbidity and mortality.

Age Factors

Multiple adenomas of the parathyroids: do they exist?

Since Cope's original description of chief cell hyperplasia in 1958, there has been general agreement that this entity is the most common cause of multiple parathyroid enlargement. Whether or not multiple adenomas of the parathyroid glands ever occur has been seriously questioned. Criteria are proposed for defining the entity of multiple parathyroid adenomas in contrast with hyperplasia. With the use of these criteria, five patients with multiple adenomas were found in our last 300 cases of primary hyperparathyroidism.

Adenoma

Management of severe hypercalcemia caused by primary hyperparathyroidism.

Hypercalcemic crisis is a rare but often fatal complication of hyperparathyroidism (HPT). The reported mortality of 60% has been related to delay in diagnosis and appropriate treatment. During a 16-year period (1961 to 1977), 29 patients with severe symptomatic hypercalcemia caused by primary HPT were treated at the Surgical Service at the University of Michigan Hospital. This group represents 6% of the patients with primary HPT treated during this period. All but one patient had an exploration of the neck when the serum calcium level had been decreased to 12 mg/100 ml by intravenous hydration with saline, furosemide diuresis, and mithramycin when a hypocalcemic agent was required. One comatose patient died of irreversible shock. All of the 28 patients who had parathyroidectomies survived the early postoperative period. One patient died three weeks later of a myocardial infarction. This study demonstrates that emergent nonoperative care of parathyroid crisis, followed promptly by parathyroidectomy, can be successful in nearly all cases.

Adult

Differentiated thyroid carcinoma in children and adolescents.

From 1936 to 1990, 89 children and adolescents (72 girls and 17 boys) were treated for differentiated thyroid carcinoma at the University of Michigan Medical Center; 58 of these patients were first reported in 1971. Thirty (34%) patients had previously received external irradiation to the head and neck, although only 1 (3%) patient of the last 33 patients seen had this history. Patients first presenting from 1971 to 1990 had less advanced disease than those seen earlier. Also, during this time period, the rate of initial palpable cervical adenopathy fell from 63% to 36%, local infiltration of primary cancer from 31% to 6%, and initial pulmonary metastases from 19% to 6%. The incidence of cervical nodal metastases has remained 88% for 54 years. Papillary or the follicular variant of papillary carcinoma was found in 93% of all patients. Seventy-nine (89%) patients had total or completion total thyroidectomy. Surgical management of lymphatic metastases varied from regional excision of nodes to radical neck dissection. The overall rate of permanent accidental recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and hypoparathyroidism was 4.5%, although neither has occurred in a child or adolescent undergoing surgery at the center in the past 25 years. The most recent 33 patients had a low rate of local/regional persistence or recurrence. Cervical nodal persistence occurred in 21%; there were no thyroid recurrences. Eighty-two percent of patients received 131I. The long-term mortality rate was 2.2%. We continue to advocate total thyroidectomy, cervical lymph node dissection, and postoperative 131I therapy as the most conservative treatment regimen for children with differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma