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Biomedical subjects

J Lima

Publications and source records attributed to J Lima.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Study of the capillary microscopy changes in scleroderma and their association with organ disease, clinical manifestations and disease progression].

BACKGROUND: The changes of nailfold capillaries detected by capillary microscopy is a characteristic frequently observed in systemic sclerosis. The relationship between the different capillary microscopic changes and clinical manifestation, organic disease and disease progression were studied. METHODS: Sixty-three patients were studied in whom capillary microscopy was performed and organic disease was determined by analytical and morphological examination. The presence of association between the capillary microscopic signs and clinical manifestation and disease progression were investigated by the chi-square and Fisher tests. RESULTS: Capillary microscopic alterations were found in 95% of the patients. The extense capillary loss was associated as statistically significant to the diffuse form of scleroderma. Statistically significant associations were not found between the different capillary microscopic signs and disease progression and organic disease (global and individual per each organ). CONCLUSIONS: Although capillary microscopic changes are present in most scleroderma patients they are not useful in the evaluation of organ involvement of the disease. The presence of extense capillary loss is linked to worse prognosis in its association to the diffuse form of scleroderma.

Adolescent

Treatment decisions in end-stage bladder cancer. Bilingual liaison rounds.

A bilingual conference was held in order to assist a Spanish-speaking patient and her physicians in planning for her care. The patient spoke only Spanish and her oncologists were primarily English-speaking. Her daughter, who was bilingual, did not attend the conference. One of the authors translated and served as interpreter and liaison between the patient and her other physicians. The patient was severely depressed and terminally ill with end-stage bladder cancer. Her depression and hopelessness complicated her care.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell

How can we combat excess mortality in Harlem: a one day survey of substance abuse in adult general care.

Our hypothesis was that a one-day survey of all patients hospitalized on Adult General Care would demonstrate a need for expanded addiction services in a municipal teaching hospital in East Harlem. We interviewed 276 patients in Adult General Care on February 16, 1990 to assess whether they abused drugs or alcohol or were hospitalized for reasons related to substance use. Of the 276 patients interviewed, 18 percent used alcohol alone, 14 percent used drugs alone, 17 percent used both drugs and alcohol and 2 percent were hospitalized for reasons related to substance use. One hundred forty or 51 percent of all patients were admitted because of substance use and its sequelae or as a result of violence associated with the buying or selling of drugs. The percentage was highest on one medical floor where 89 percent of the patients were substance users and on medical floors in general where the average was 60 percent. Forty patients or 14 percent were known to be HIV seropositive. Given the high mortality in Harlem, the results of our one-day survey indicate a need for expanded addiction services.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Platelet activation, endothelial cell dysfunction in the absence of anticardiolipin antibodies in systemic sclerosis.

The presence of anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL), von Willebrand factor activity and platelet function was studied in 35 patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) scleroderma and 22 healthy controls. aCL positivity was observed in no patient with SSc or controls, whereas beta-thromboglobulin and platelet factor 4 levels were significantly higher in patients with SSc (p less than 0.001 and p less than 0.002, respectively). Furthermore, plasma from patients with SSc had a greater degree of aggregation to adenosine diphosphate 1 microM (p less than 0.05) but not to collagen or arachidonic acid. The plasma of patients with scleroderma also had increased von Willebrand factor activity compared with controls (p less than 0.001). We conclude that aCL appears not to play a central role in the pathogenesis of vascular and hemostatic alterations in SSc.

Adult

Genetic aspects of familial multiple myeloma.

To elucidate the role of genetics in familial multiple myeloma, two sisters having plasma cell dyscrasia were studied. The women were 58 and 56 years old, and the diagnoses were made 22 months apart. Specific antisera for patient 1's lambda light chains produced in rabbits had no cross-reactivity with her sister's lambda light chains. Karyotypic analysis by G.T.G. banding revealed abnormalities in both patients, but no common abnormalities. HLA typing disclosed identical tissue types (AW24, A26, B13, BW55). An immunologic epidemiologic study performed on 26 family members, encompassing four generations, disclosed no additional cases of paraproteinemia.

Female

[Platelet function study in primary Raynaud's phenomenon and Raynaud's phenomenon associated with scleroderma].

We evaluated platelet function in 59 patients with Raynaud's phenomenon (RP): 24 had primary RP (PRP) and in 35 RP was associated with diffuse scleroderma (DS). In the group with PRP there were 10 males and 14 females, with a mean age of 43 +/- 12 years and a time of evolution of 5 +/- 5 years. In the group with RP associated with DS there were 31 females and 4 males with a mean age of 53 +/- 12 years and a time of evolution of 9 +/- 7 years. The control group consisted of 20 healthy individuals (14 males and 6 females with a mean age of 40 +/- 12 years). In all patients and controls beta-thromboglobulin (BTG) and platelet factor 4 (PF4) levels were measured in plasma, and platelet aggregation was evaluated in the presence of adenosine diphosphate (ADP), collagen and arachidonic acid. The patients with RP associated with DS had BTG and PF4 higher than those with PRP and controls (p less than 0.02). The BTG/PF4 ratio was also significantly greater in patients with DS (p less than 0.005). The platelets from patients with DS had a greater aggregation with ADP (1 microM and 0.5 microM) than those from PRP (p less than 0.03). We concluded that patients with RP associated with DS had in vivo activation and a greater aggregation of platelets, in contrast with the absence of these findings in the group with PRP and in controls.

Adult

Muscle biopsy findings in systemic capillary leak syndrome.

Two patients with systemic capillary leak syndrome (SCLS) were followed up clinically for 5 and 2 years, respectively. Muscle biopsy was performed 1 week after the end of an acute crisis in one patient, and after 3 years in the other. In both cases, muscle capillary basement membranes were extremely thick--more than 15 times thicker than normal. Capillary basement membrane enlargement appears to be a permanent lesion, probably limited to muscle vessels. This finding has not been previously reported in SCLS, and would appear to indicate a relationship with the pathogenesis and severity of the crisis.

Adult

Arthritis mutilans, tumoral calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon and Sjögren's syndrome.

We report a female patient who over 25 years developed a progressive deforming arthropathy involving both hands without anatomical or functional abnormalities of other joints. Raynaud's phenomenon, lung fibrosis and Sjögren's syndrome. She had multiple soft tissue and periarticular calcification particularly evident in the lower extremities, shoulders, hands, fingers and back.

Adult

Two- to four-year results of posterior cruciate-sparing condylar total knee arthroplasty with an uncemented femoral component.

One hundred fourteen hybrid Press-Fit Condylar total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) were reviewed an average of 2.8 years after surgery to determine if this method of implantation provided satisfactory results compared with conventional cemented TKAs. Ninety-three percent of the knees had good or excellent results, and 94% of the knees had at most only mild or occasional pain. One knee with a metal-backed patella was revised for mechanical failure of the patellar button. Roentgenographic analysis of the femoral component interface showed that 30% of knees had a radiolucent line in at least one zone. However, none of the lines was wider than 1 mm, and none was about the central stem. There were no signs of loosening about any of the components. It was concluded that hybrid TKA provides a good and predictable result that is comparable to cemented TKA.

Adult

Influence of site of regional ischemia on LV cavity shape change in dogs.

We assessed whether altering the location of acute ischemia produced differing and consistent changes in cavity shape in the canine left ventricle. Twenty anesthetized open-chest dogs underwent transient occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) or circumflex (Circ) artery, and cavity shape change was recorded in two-dimensional short-axis echocardiograms. The extent of injury was assessed by radiolabeled microspheres. Shape was analyzed by converting digitized endocardial contours into polar form and expressing the result as a Fourier series. Series terms reflected specific shape deformations, i.e., 2nd term would equal "elongation," 3rd term would equal "triangular." During LAD occlusions, 32.5 +/- 3.0% of the ventricle was hypoperfused compared with 29.8 +/- 2.9% during Circ occlusions (NS). Normal ventricular shape became more circular during ejection indicated by a reduction in the power in nearly all of the Fourier spectra components. During Circ occlusion, the chamber became more elongated, seen in a 63 +/- 16% rise in the 2nd component, and overall shape significantly less circular at end systole than at end diastole. LAD occlusion produced an entirely different pattern, one with no significant elongation but the development of a more triangular shape (86 +/- 27% rise in the 3rd term) by end systole. We conclude that there are characteristic and contrasting shape deformations in LV short-axis contours that depend on the site of ischemic injury. These changes may relate to site-specific geometry and loading, and they point to potential limitations of left ventricular models that do not account for regional inhomogeneity.

Animals

Neurohumoral profile in congestive heart failure: response to beta-blockade.

Beta-blockade has been reported to have beneficial hemodynamic effects in chronic congestive heart failure that may be related to alterations in the abnormal neurohumoral profile characteristic of this population. To determine the relationship of the neurohumoral profile to the hemodynamic response to beta-blockade in patients with chronic congestive heart failure, neurohumoral and hemodynamic variables were measured in 10 subjects having congestive cardiomyopathy at baseline and after administration of the beta-blocker pindolol. Baseline stroke index was noted to have an inverse curvilinear relation with plasma norepinephrine (r = -0.69) and renin (r = -0.71) concentration. Pulmonary vascular resistance demonstrated a direct logarithmic relation with plasma norepinephrine concentration (r = 0.68). Increases in norepinephrine, dopamine, and epinephrine concentrations after dosing were noted, with the most marked increase in norepinephrine concentration being coincident with a significant decline in stroke volume index. Two patients not tolerating beta-blockade were characterized by having baseline norepinephrine concentrations 3 SD higher than those of the remaining patients, more marked increases in epinephrine concentration after dosing, and the most profoundly decompensated heart failure at baseline, as defined by the relationship between neurohumoral and hemodynamic variables. These observations suggest that increases in catecholamines after dosing reflect a compensatory response to the adverse hemodynamic-inotropic effects of beta-blockade in congestive heart failure. The neurohumoral profile and the relationship of neuroendocrine to hemodynamic parameters may be useful in delineating patients at risk for adverse hemodynamic effects of beta-blockade.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists