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Biomedical subjects

L Briggs

Publications and source records attributed to L Briggs.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

A single i.v. dose of ondansetron 8 mg prior to induction of anaesthesia reduces postoperative nausea and vomiting in gynaecological patients.

The effect of a single intravenous dose of ondansetron in preventing postoperative nausea and emesis (retching and vomiting) (PONV) was investigated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre, international study. Women of ASA class I-III, requiring gynaecological laparotomy, vaginal hysterectomy, or major vaginal surgery were selected for study. Two hundred and thirty-five received placebo, 231 received 1 mg ondansetron, 228 received 8 mg ondansetron and 229 received 16 mg ondansetron, as an infusion over five minutes before the induction of anaesthesia. A standardized balanced anaesthetic technique was employed. This consisted of premedication with either diazepam or temazepam, thiopentone induction, maintenance with nitrous oxide in oxygen supplemented with enflurane or isoflurane, intraoperative analgesia with fentanyl, neuromuscular blockade with any choice of agent and reversal with neostigmine and atropine. Postoperative analgesia was achieved with morphine, and prochlorperazine or metoclopramide were given if a rescue antiemetic was required. A greater percentage of patients in the 8 mg and 16 mg ondansetron groups experienced no postoperative emesis (44% and 39% respectively) than in the placebo and 1 mg ondansetron groups (29% and 28% respectively) for the first 24 hr postoperative period (8 mg vs placebo and 1 mg: P < or = 0.001; 16 mg vs placebo: P < 0.05; 16 mg vs 1 mg: P < 0.05). Similarly, the percentage of patients who did not experience postoperative nausea were 20%, 26%, 31% and 28% for the placebo, 1 mg, 8 mg and 16 mg ondansetron treatment groups, respectively (8 mg and 16 mg vs placebo P < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent

Effects of a chiropractic adjustment on changes in pupillary diameter: a model for evaluating somatovisceral response.

The relationship between a cervical chiropractic adjustment, in subluxated vs. unsubluxated subjects, and autonomic response monitored as change in pupillary diameter was evaluated in 15 subjects. The results indicate that: a) a successful adjustment elicits either a parasympathetic or sympathetic response; b) the vertebral level at which the adjustment is administered has undetectable specificity for the parasympathetic or sympathetic input to the pupil; c) unsubluxated subjects generally exhibit no change in pupillary diameter following a sham adjustment and d) subluxated subjects exhibit variable preadjustment pupillary diameters, with significant pupillary diameter changes in response to an adjustment. These data suggest that autonomic input to the pupil may be influenced by subluxation, as well as the magnitude and direction of force exerted during the chiropractic adjustment. An anatomical pathway through which the observed responses may occur is proposed.

Adult

Effect of erythrocyte storage and oxyhemoglobin affinity changes on cardiac function.

Storage of blood can depress erythrocyte 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (DPG) levels and thereby increase oxyhemoglobin affinity and potentially decrease capillary-to-tissue oxygen transport. We measured myocardial function and metabolism in isolated rabbit hearts with fixed coronary flow under basal conditions and during isoproterenol stress at 37 and 30 degrees C, comparing high and low oxyhemoglobin affinity (OHA) erythrocytes. The high OHA state resulted from standard storage conditions, which caused depressed values of DPG and P50 (the oxygen tension at which hemoglobin is 50% saturated). The low OHA erythrocytes were initially stored and then underwent biochemical treatment to restore the DPG and P50 values to normal. The low OHA cells released more oxygen, and myocardial oxygen consumption and contractile function were increased relative to the high OHA cells during both the basal and stress states at both 37 and 30 degrees C. These observations may be relevant for patients with limited coronary flow when such patients receive large transfusions of stored blood.

Animals

Transient focal ischemia in subhuman primates. Neuronal injury as a function of local cerebral blood flow.

Unilateral, transient (30, 60, and 120 minutes (min)) middle-cerebral-artery (MCA) occlusion was induced via transorbital craniotomy in 11 waking subhuman primates. Local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) was calculated from hydrogen clearance curves obtained through the use of intracerebral platinum microelectrodes. Unilateral MCA occlusion decreased LCBF in the territory of the ipsilateral MCA. Within minutes of the arterial occlusion all monkeys developed contralateral neurologic deficits that began disappearing three hours (h) after reopening the MCA. Regional ischemia, followed by 24 h of reperfusion, produced varying degrees of tissue vacuolation which correlated (r = 0.60, p less than 0.01, n = 49) with the percent reduction in LCBF multiplied by the occlusion time. Neurons were classified according to the structural features of their perikaryon. A plot of neuron types versus percent vacuolation suggested that normal neurons become increasingly scalloped under increasingly severe ischemic conditions. The number of scalloped neurons decreased precipitously in areas of marked sponginess coincident with the appearance of irreversibly damaged neurons. Local tissue edema values exceeding 30% correlated with irreversible injury to all neurons in the same area. Regional cerebral ischemia of increasing severity was acompanied by increasing numbers of lethally injured neurons.

Animals

A cytochemical and radioautographic study of human tissue culture cell nucleoli.

Fine structural aspects of human tissue culture cell nucleoli were studied by cytochemical and radioautographic methods. Ribonuclease and pepsin digestions were carried out on glutaraldehyde-fixed cells that, in some instances, were labeled with thymidine-(3)H prior to digestion. Double digestion by ribonuclease and pepsin revealed a fine fibrillar reticulum that appears to be the supportive structure of nucleolonemal threads. The nature of the reticulum remains to be determined. The question of whether it may represent a dispersed form of chromatin was raised. Structural findings suggested such an hypothesis but the results of radioautographic studies do not support it. The reticulum showed a striking absence of radioactive labeling following a 3 hr incorporation of thymidine-(3)H. Only few silver grains were observed occasionally in the fibrillar nucleolonema that may or may not be significant. The radioautographic results are believed to be inconclusive for the various reasons discussed. The possibility that the reticulum is composed of proteins has to be considered. It appears that basic proteins can resist pepsin digestion in aldehyde-fixed cells. Individual chromatin fibrils were found to be associated with the nucleolar reticulum. It is possible that these alone represent the dispersed genetically active chromatin of nucleoli.

Adenocarcinoma

Innervation of brain intraparenchymal vessels in subhuman primates: ultrastructural observations.

Sympathetic innervation of intraparenchymal blood vessels in the basal ganglia was demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy in arteries, arterioles, and capillaries of the subhuman primate brain. Small arteries (40-120 micron) and some arterioles (12-40 micron) are innervated only at branching sites. However, arterioles occasionally may be innervated at points distal to their origin. Capillary innervation was very infrequently observed.

Animals