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K Scully

Publications and source records attributed to K Scully.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Using a clinical data repository to estimate the frequency and costs of adverse drug events.

As a result of increased attention to medical errors, many institutions are contemplating increased use of information technology and clinical decision support. We conducted a retrospective analysis to estimate the frequency and cost of adverse drug events (ADEs) for inpatients at the University of Virginia. Applying published criteria for the detection of potential adverse events, we used a clinical data warehouse to identify patients and cases with potential ADEs. Again using published criteria, we then estimated the actual number of adverse drug events and preventable adverse drug events, as well as their attributable costs and excess length of stay. Our results showed a higher estimate (10.4-11.5 events per 100 admissions) for ADEs than seen in the ADE Prevention Study, highlighting the importance of considering the generalizability of published ADE studies to other settings. Our analysis demonstrates that retrospective analysis can be an efficient and powerful technique to evaluate rules and criteria used to detect ADEs and to assess their impact.

Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems↗

Transcriptional control of cell phenotypes in the neuroendocrine system.

A fundamental aspect of the development of complex organ systems is a requirement for precise temporal and spatial coordination in the genesis of tissues of distinct embryonic origins, in order to form functional units required for physiological homeostasis and survival. Such a requirement is particularly well exemplified in mammalian development in the formation of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. Neuronally expressed POU domain factors might exert effects on terminal differentiation events similar to those of Pit-1 in the maturation of anterior pituitary gland cell phenotypes. Neurons comprising the endocrine hypothalamus develop in tandem with their ultimate target, the pituitary gland, and arise from a primordium in which three related class III POU domain factors-Brn-2, Brn-4, and Brn-1-are initially co-expressed. These factors subsequently exhibit stratified patterns of ontogenic expression, correlating with the appearance of distinct neuropeptides that define three major endocrine hypothalamic cell types. Deletion of the Brn-2 genomic locus affects terminal differentiation and/or maintenance of hypothalamic neurosecretory neurons and development of the posterior pituitary gland. Thus, both neuronal and endocrine components of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis are critically dependent upon the action of specific POU domain factors at a penultimate step in the sequential events that underlie the appearance of mature cellular phenotypes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Early visual recovery after excimer laser surgery for myopia: the Melbourne OmniMed results.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Although the refractive outcome can change for months after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), early visual results are of particular importance during pre-operative counseling of prospective PRK candidates. The expected vision in the first week post-operatively, following 6.0 mm or larger zone photoablation for myopia with the Summit OmniMed (Apex) laser, has not been analyzed in the literature to date. This study is intended to provide an indication of the early visual acuity that may be experienced by a patient undergoing PRK for myopia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The visual acuity recorded for 123 consecutive patients, (79 low myopes [-1.00 to -5.90 diopters (D)], 44 high extreme myopes [-6.00 to -19.00 D]), one week after they had undergone PRK, was analyzed. All patients included in the study had undergone PRK with the Summit OmniMed (Apex) excimer laser, leaving small degrees of astigmatism uncorrected. RESULTS: One week after PRK, uncorrected visual acuity was better for low myopes than high myopes. Of the low myopes, 83.0% were 20/40 or better compared with high myopes of whom 61.4% were 20/40 or better. CONCLUSION: Patients can be counseled that functional vision will be present in the period immediately after re-epithelialization.

Adult↗

Hepar lobatum associated with chemotherapy and metastatic breast cancer.

Hepar lobatum is now a rarity in developed countries. In this article, we describe three cases with typical liver morphology associated with carcinoma of the breast metastatic to the liver, treated with combination chemotherapy. The pathogenesis of hepar lobatum in our cases is multifactorial with tumor-related desmoplasia and effects of chemotherapy, with resultant tumor necrosis and fibrosis playing a major role.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Solitary fibrofolliculoma.

We present a case of solitary fibrofolliculoma. Histopathologic findings of this entity are characteristic: in the dermis a central hair follicle is surrounded by a thick mantle of fibrotic and mucinous stroma, and numerous thin, anastomosing bands of follicular epithelium extend into this stroma. This entity has been described as occurring only multiply; to our knowledge, this is the first case report of a solitary fibrofolliculoma.

Facial Neoplasms↗

Mucinous syringometaplasia.

This is a clinicopathologic study of six patients with mucinous syringometaplasia, which was diagnosed histologically. Biopsies revealed a focal invagination of the epidermis lined by squamous epithelium, with one or several eccrine ducts leading into the vagination. The eccrine duct epithelium contained mucin-laden goblet cells, and there was mucinous syringometaplasia of the underlying eccrine coils. This histopathologic change was associated with two types of clinical lesions: (1) verrucous lesions, consistent with those described by previous authors, and (2) lesions suggestive of basal cell carcinoma, which have not been described with this pathologic entity in previous publications.

Adolescent↗

Drug-specific antibodies in human serum?

In view of the fact that all drugs possess the potential to stimulate an immunological response when administered to man, it was proposed that certain individuals in the general population may have developed high antibody titres to certain commonly used drugs. Human serum samples were incubated with radioactively-labelled drugs and the amount of IgG antibody present was determined by coprecipitation. Using the method outlined, we were unable to detect any antibodies specific for acetylsalicylic acid, ampicillin, erythromycin, lidocaine, penicillin, procainamide or tetracycline, and conclude that drug-specific immunoglobulins are not one of the major factors involved in the equilibrium between the free and bound drug forms.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Reliable fifteen-minute assay for theophylline.

We describe a reliable, rapid high pressure liquid chromatography assay for serum theophylline which can be performed on 0.5 ml or smaller samples. The procedure involves extraction, centrifugation and sampling all in the same disposable centrifuge tube. In the therapeutic range the coefficients of variation for within-day and day-to-day assays are 1.0% and 2.6%, respectively. The sensitivity of the method is better than 1 microgram/ml in serum. The minimum number of steps, rapid elution and use of only peak heights contribute to the reliability and rapidity of the assay.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

Combinations of tetrahydrouridine and cytosine arabinoside in mouse tumors.

Thirteen experimental mouse neoplasms were tested by cytidine (CR)-deaminase and deoxycytidine (dCR)-kinase levels. Four neoplasms, Sarcoma T241, Adenocarcinoma E0771, Lewis lung carcinoma (LL), and Sarcoma 180 Japan (S180J), considered to have high deaminase and sufficient dCR-kinase activities, were tested in vivo for combination chemotherapy with cytosine arabinoside (ara-C) and the CR-deaminase inhibitor, tetrahydrouridine (THU). THU did not significantly improve the growth inhibition of ara-C in a wide range of combinations in T241, E0771, LL, and the solid form of S180J, but more than doubled the survival time of the S180J ascites-bearing animals. Toxicity in the form of weight loss and toxic deaths was observed in some but not all groups, especially at high dosages of ara-C and THU. Tissue distribution of [3H]-ara-C and [14C]-THU in T241-bearing mice revealed an accelerated clearance of ara-C-derived radioactivity under the influence of THU in the tumor and five host tissues, but not in the small intestines. With the exception of the small intestines, clearance of THU-derived radioactivity was faster in all tissues studied compared to the clearance of [3H]-ara-C-derived radioactivity. Intracellular CR-deaminase levels were inhibited significantly, ie, dose dependent, in tumor and host kidney after a single ip injection of THU to E0771--bearing mice. In the solid S180J, with or without simultaneous ip administration of THU, [3H]-ara-C was not converted to 5'-di- and tri-phosphates at all. In mice bearing the ascites form of S180J, [3H]-ara-C was extensively converted to ara-C 5'-di- and tri-phosphates. THU increased both overall ara-C-derived radioactivity and the relative amounts of ara-C 5'-di- and tri-phosphates.

Adenocarcinoma↗