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Biomedical subjects

J Malouf

Publications and source records attributed to J Malouf.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

A reappraisal of the prevalence and clinical importance of left ventricular false tendons in children and adults.

The prevalence and clinical importance of false tendons were studied in 488 consecutive patients referred for echocardiography. Two hundred and eighty three (58%) patients had acquired heart disease, 91 (19%) had congenital heart disease, and 114 (23%) had normal hearts. Sixty six patients with normal hearts had innocent systolic murmurs and one had recurrent ventricular tachycardia. The overall prevalence of false tendons was 25% compared with 1.6% in a retrospective analysis of 763 cross sectional echocardiograms. When patients with innocent murmurs were excluded from statistical analysis, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of these tendons between children and adults, boys and girls, men and women, or between patients with acquired or congenital heart disease and normal patients. The prevalence of false tendons in patients with dilated left ventricles (57%), however, resembled that seen in necropsy studies. The prevalence of false tendons in patients with an innocent systolic murmur was 76% in children and 40% in adults, with an overall prevalence of 52%. False tendons are a common echocardiographic finding of no clinical importance except for their possible role in the genesis of innocent murmurs and ventricular arrhythmias. The echocardiographic detection of false tendons increases considerably when these structures are specifically sought and in conditions that result in left ventricular chamber dilatation.

Adolescent

Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia in siblings.

We present two sisters with tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary valve atresia. Both had identical anatomical findings as seen at cardiac catheterization and angiography and verified operatively, with, in particular, identical bronchial circulation and pulmonary valve structure. The parents are first cousins and there is no history of other affected relatives. We suggest that this is a specific, recessively inherited type of tetralogy of Fallot.

Child

Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in a father and daughter.

Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is described in a father and his daughter. In both, identical segments of the left ventricle were involved by the hypertrophic process with differing degrees of severity. We suggest that the morphologic findings described are due to a single gene with an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance.

Adolescent

Foreign-body pneumonitis associated with tracheostomy.

Foreign-body aspiration in adults is usually associated with asphyxiation after aspiration of food particles. The present report documents a case of foreign-body aspiration that resulted from poor tracheostomy care in an alcoholic patient, and caused fulminant pneumonitis.

Bronchi

Emergency valve replacement during acute carditis--case reports.

Two patients are described with acute rheumatic carditis and severe heart failure who failed to respond to aggressive medical treatment with steroids, salicylates, inotropic agents and afterload reduction. In both cases, cardiac catheterization revealed severe aortic and mitral regurgitation with preserved myocardial contractility. Emergency double valve replacement was successfully performed with marked improvement in both patients. The diagnosis and evaluation of the condition, as well as the unique problems confronted in the post-operative course are discussed.

Acute Disease

Long-term maintenance of psoriatic human skin on congenitally athymic (nude) mice.

Transplantation of involved psoriatic and nonpsoriatic human skin onto congenitally athymic (nude) mice has been performed successfully. Although biopsies at selected intervals demonstrate that the excess glycogen deposition normally seen in psoriasis is no longer consistently present, the psoriatic grafts did retain the usual characteristic histologic differences throughout the life of the animal, up to 11 weeks. This grafting procedure potentially represents a useful method whereby the study of psoriasis can be made in a nonhuman, living system.

Animals