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Biomedical subjects

L C Ford

Publications and source records attributed to L C Ford.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Advanced nursing practice.

Advanced OR nursing practice is emerging and the roles, responsibilities, relationships, and rewards are spread over preoperative, operative, and postoperative work units. The roles of the nurse in advanced practice are multidimensional: clinical, collegial, educative, investigatory, and administrative. Though the primary allegiance of the ANP is to nursing, she has a commitment and the skills to work collaboratively with other nurses and disciplines on the surgery team.

Ambulatory Surgical Procedures

Effects of cefotetan disodium, cefoxitin, cefazolin, and cefotaxime in vitro on polymorphonuclear leukocytes from patients with leukopenia and severe pelvic inflammatory disease.

The effects of cefotetan, cefoxitin, cefazolin, and cefotaxime on polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemotaxis and chemiluminescence were determined in 10 patients with pelvic inflammatory disease and 10 oncologically treated patients. It was found that cefotetan enhanced both chemotaxis and chemiluminescence, with the favorable effects more pronounced in the oncologically treated patients with leukopenia. Cefotaxime depressed polymorphonuclear leukocyte functions. Cefoxitin and cefazolin had no significant effects. It would be logical, when treating empirically, to choose a regimen that enhances and not depresses host defenses in all patients but more expressly in leukopenic and other immunologically compromised patients.

Cefazolin

Determination of estrogen and androgen receptors in Trichomonas vaginalis and the effects of antihormones.

Trichomonas vaginalis, a common genital pathogen, was found to possess both specific estrogen and specific androgen receptors. These 4.3 S macromolecules were proteinaceous in nature. Both metronidazole-resistant and metronidazole-sensitive strains possessed both types of sex hormone-binding proteins. The estrogen receptor binding was competitively inhibited by the antiestrogen tamoxifen citrate, and the androgen binding was competitively inhibited by the antiandrogen cyoctol. The presence of these specific receptors may allow the use of hormonal and antihormonal manipulation in the treatment of infections caused by these organisms.

Androgen Antagonists

Cost-effective use of antibiotic prophylaxis for cesarean section.

Clinical experience has indicated that the prophylactic use of antibiotics reduces infectious morbidity in patients undergoing cesarean section. Several factors must be considered (for instance, in vivo and in vitro efficacy, patient allergies, side effect profiles, status of host defenses, the total cost of therapy, and the risk of selecting resistant organisms that cause superinfections) before prescribing prophylactic antibiotic drugs for this indication. Moreover, medical-legal consequences associated with potential postpartum infections must be considered in assessing the costs and impact of a prophylactic regimen. Results of comparative antibiotic trials in indigent patients undergoing cesarean section demonstrated differing rates of successful antibiotic prophylaxis: piperacillin, 98%; cefoxitin, 91%; cephalothin and ceftazidime, 82%; cefotaxime, 80%; and ampicillin, 77%. Although the acquisition costs of antibiotics vary greatly, these costs are dwarfed by the substantial cost savings that can be realized by use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, which, in our hands, have resulted in reduced laboratory and pharmacy expenses and decreased hospital stays for both mother and neonate. Controlled studies designed to investigate microbiologic as well as clinical efficacy of antibiotics are indicated. Further refinements in individualizing antibiotic regimens according to patient population should be sought.

Anti-Bacterial Agents

A double-blind, controlled comparison of piperacillin and cefoxitin in the prevention of postoperative infection in patients undergoing cesarean section.

Data are presented from a randomized, double-blind multicenter trial (six study sites, involving 346 patients) in which piperacillin was compared with cefoxitin as a prophylactic agent for patients undergoing cesarean section. One hundred and sixty-nine patients received piperacillin and 177 received cefoxitin; in each instance, the total dosage was 6 grams. Strict criteria were used to evaluate safety and efficacy. The courses of all of the patients were evaluable for safety and 183 courses were evaluable for efficacy (136 efficacy-evaluable courses were from patients treated with piperacillin and 147, from those treated with cefoxitin). Postoperative infection was prevented in 89 per cent of the patients treated with piperacillin and in 93 per cent of the those treated with cefoxitin. The difference was not statistically significant. The data from each of the individual study sites, as well as the pooled data, indicated that the short term perioperative administration of piperacillin in patients undergoing a cesarean section was as safe and effective as cefoxitin with regard to prophylactic response, duration of hospitalization and the usage of other systemic antibiotics.

Adolescent

A comparison of piperacillin, cephalothin and cefoxitin in the prevention of postoperative infections in patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy.

A randomized, double-blind, multicenter trial was initiated to compare the safety and efficacy of piperacillin, cephalothin and cefoxitin in the prophylactic treatment of patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy. The total dose of each antibiotic was 6 grams given in three equally divided doses. A satisfactory prophylactic response was obtained in 143 of 151 (95 per cent) patients treated with piperacillin, in 82 of 87 (94 per cent) patients treated with cephalothin and in 57 of 60 (95 per cent) patients treated with cefoxitin. The pooled data indicated that the piperacillin treatment group did not differ from the combined cephalosporin treatment groups with respect to prophylactic response, presence of febrile morbidity, fever index, duration of postoperative hospitalization and incidence of reported adverse experiences.

Adult

Polysiloxane vaginal rings and cylinders for physiologic endometrial priming in functionally agonadal women.

17 beta-estradiol (E2)-and/or crystalline progesterone (P)-impregnated polysiloxane vaginal rings and cylinders were tested as a system for endometrial priming in functionally agonadal women awaiting donor embryo transfer. Endometrial tissue was obtained by a transcervical biopsy procedure on simulated cycle day 26. The adequacy of the replacement regimen was judged by endometrial histologic dating, scanning electron micrographs, receptor content, and circulating E2 and P serum concentrations. Endometrial dating was consistent with cycle day 26. Electron micrographs showed normal surface characteristics. E2 and P receptor concentrations were within the normal range. Serum E2 levels were midfollicular, 105 +/- 12.8 pg/ml (mean +/- SEM), and midcycle, 254 +/- 28.6 pg/ml. P levels during the simulated follicular phase were undetectable (less than 0.2 ng/ml) but rose to a mean peak level of 17.3 +/- 1.8 ng/ml. The steroid-impregnated polysiloxane vaginal ring and cylinder system provided continuous and sustained hormone release, morphologically and endocrinologically normal endometrium, serum levels of E2 and P within the normal range for the entire menstrual cycle, and a convenient and physiologic therapeutic alternative to oral, vaginal, or intramuscular steroid replacement.

Adult

Antiandrogen and antineoplastic effects of a novel drug, CPC10997.

CPC10997 was found to be effective in vitro as an antiandrogen without effects on either the estrogen or the progesterone receptors in carcinomas of the breast, ovary and prostate as well as in malignant melanomas. Using the clonogenic assay of Salmon et al. [Cancer Treat. Rep. 65: 1-12, 1981], CPC10997 was found to be more effective against carcinomas of the breast, the kidney, the ovary and the prostate than conventional antineoplastic agents in the majority of tumors tested. In view of the very favorable toxicology profiles and in vitro efficacy, further trials using CPC10997 as an antineoplastic agent are indicated.

Androgen Antagonists

An acquired cell-directed inhibitor of neutrophil chemotaxis and hypogammaglobulinemia.

An unusual combination of host defense abnormalities was demonstrated in an adult male with recurrent pulmonary infections due to a variety of microorganisms. Polymorphonuclear neutrophil chemotaxis was defective. Other neutrophil and T-lymphocyte function tests were normal. The patient's serum also showed a severe deficiency of IgG, no detectable IgA, IgM, or IgD, and increased IgE. The chemotactic defect was shown to be due to a cell-directed inhibitor in the patient's serum. The effect of the inhibitor on chemotaxis could be antagonized by factors in normal serum. The chemotaxis defect persisted for several months, but eventually returned to normal.

Adult

Identification of a bactericidal factor (B-lysin) in amnionic fluid at 14 and 40 weeks' gestation.

Amnionic fluid (AF) specimens from 40 normal obstetric patients at 14 to 16 weeks' gestation and at 37 to 40 weeks' gestation were found to contain both lysozyme and a bactericidal substance identified as B-lysin. The concentrations of both lysozyme and B-lysin were significantly higher in the AF at 40 weeks' than at 14 weeks' gestation. B-lysin concentration in AF were also found to be significantly higher than in either cord or maternal blood.

Amniotic Fluid