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Biomedical subjects

J M Reilly

Publications and source records attributed to J M Reilly.

44 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Evaluation of the occult blood test in screening for colorectal neoplasms. A prospective study using flexible endoscopy.

Survival rates from colorectal cancer will rise only when polyps and cancers are found at an earlier, curable stage. Consequently, the purpose of the present study was to compare the yield of colonic neoplasms from flexible sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy with that from occult blood testing. Results from 474 flexible sigmoidoscopies and 1,115 colonoscopies were prospectively recorded during a four-year study period. Colorectal polyps were found in 111 (23.4%) patients undergoing flexible sigmoidoscopy and 325 (29.1%) patients undergoing colonoscopy. Among the 436 patients with polyps, the occult blood test was negative in 282 (64.7%). Among the 51 patients with colorectal cancers, the occult blood test was negative in 20 (39.1%). Thus, testing for occult blood missed the majority of polyps and a large percentage of the carcinomas. These data indicate that lower gastrointestinal endoscopy is superior to occult blood testing as a screening test for detecting colorectal polyps or cancers. Furthermore, given the high incidence of neoplasia in this patient population, the authors suggest that colonoscopy become the screening test of choice for colorectal cancer.

Colonic Polyps↗

Small penis and the male sexual role.

We interviewed and examined 20 patients with the primary diagnosis of micropenis in infancy. The patients were divided into 2 groups: 8 prepubertal (10 to 13 years old) and 12 postpubertal (17 to 43 years old). All but 1 had been given human chorionic gonadotropin, testosterone or cortisone during childhood. Only 1 child in the prepubertal group had a stretched penile length above the 10th percentile. All postpubertal patients were below the 10th percentile. Puberty was delayed in only 2 patients in the older group. All patients were heterosexual and they had erections and orgasms. Eleven patients had ejaculations, 9 were sexually active and reported vaginal penetration, 7 were married or cohabiting and 1 had fathered a child.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Sexual function and fertility in patients treated for posterior urethral valves.

We interviewed 21 men treated in infancy for posterior urethral valves about their sexual function. Of the men 10 provided semen samples (1 of which was incompletely analyzed) and 7 provided urine voided after masturbation. Erections and orgasm were normal in 20 men and 1 had lifelong impotence. Nine men had slow or dry ejaculation. There was no evidence on urinalysis of retrograde ejaculation except in 1 patient. Semen counts were within the fertile range. Of 9 patients 5 had viscous semen with a pH of more than 8.0. Three patients had initiated pregnancies.

Adult↗

Incidence and etiology of abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Unlike coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease, the incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysms has increased dramatically over the past three decades. There appears to be a correlation between both hypertension and smoking and the development of aneurysms, and there is a substantial predominance of white men among the patients. Recent studies have also documented a strong genetic component to this disease. Several biochemical abnormalities have been noted in those with aortic aneurysms, including increased proteolysis (elastolysis and collagenolysis). At present, the precise etiology of aneurysmal disease remains unclear, but it will most likely turn out to be a heterogenous disease with several molecular forms.

Aorta, Abdominal↗

A circulating myocardial depressant substance is associated with cardiac dysfunction and peripheral hypoperfusion (lactic acidemia) in patients with septic shock.

Using spontaneously beating rat myocardial cells as an in vitro model of myocardial depression, recent studies demonstrated that septic shock patients' sera frequently contain a myocardial depressant substance (MDS) that is associated with a reversible decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). To further characterize MDS, 50 consecutive patients with possible septic shock were studied serially from shock onset until recovery or death. Thirty-four patients had criteria diagnostic of septic shock, and 16 had a nonseptic critical illness. Of the 34, 14 met strict criteria for circulating MDS, with a mean inhibition of 35 percent (range 20 percent to 62 percent). Compared with those patients not exhibiting significant MDS activity, the 14 MDS-positive patients had a lower mean minimal EF (28 percent vs 39 percent, p less than 0.01), a greater mean decrease in EF (22.1 percent vs 8.8 percent, p = 0.002), a higher pulmonary artery wedge pressure (16.8 vs 11.9 mm Hg, p less than 0.01), greater LV dilatation (162 vs 118 ml/m2, p = 0.02), and a higher circulating mean peak lactic acid (6.9 vs 2.7 mmol/L, p less than 0.01). In the 14 MDS-positive patients, the in vitro myocardial cell depression had a negative correlation with the in vivo EF (r = -060, p less than 0.05). These findings suggest that a circulating MDS is a cause of the myocardial depression frequently accompanying human septic shock.

Adolescent↗

Frequency of myocarditis, left ventricular dysfunction and ventricular tachycardia in the acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

To evaluate possible relations between clinical and histopathologic cardiac findings in patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), 58 consecutively autopsied AIDS patients were reviewed retrospectively. Twenty-six (45%) had histopathologic myocarditis. Fifteen of these 26 (58%) had greater than or equal to 1 clinical cardiac abnormalities: 6 had congestive heart failure or left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, or both, 4 had ventricular tachycardia (VT), 10 had electrocardiographic abnormalities and 4 had pericardial abnormalities. Of the 32 patients without myocarditis, 6 (19%) had pericardial or electrocardiographic abnormalities, or both, but none had congestive heart failure, LV dysfunction or VT. Overall, clinical cardiac abnormalities were found in 21 patients (36%). Patients with myocarditis had a significantly higher incidence of clinical cardiac abnormalities than patients without myocarditis (58 vs 19%, p less than 0.01). All patients with congestive heart failure, LV dysfunction or VT had myocarditis. Thus, serious clinical cardiac abnormalities were common in patients with AIDS and were associated with myocarditis.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Prevalent myocarditis at necropsy in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

The prevalence of myocarditis was retrospectively evaluated in 71 consecutive necropsy patients who died from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) between 1982 and 1986. Myocarditis was found in 37 cases (52%). Biventricular dilation at necropsy was present in seven cases (10%) and was accompanied by myocarditis in each case; fatal congestive heart failure occurred in four of these seven cases. Although viral, protozoan, bacterial, fungal and mycobacterial opportunistic pathogens were present in myocardial sections of 7 of 37 myocarditis cases, the etiology of myocarditis in the majority of these patients with AIDS remained idiopathic. Thus, myocarditis is a frequent finding at necropsy in patients with AIDS and may contribute to the development of biventricular dilation.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗