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Biomedical subjects

L E Fazen

Publications and source records attributed to L E Fazen.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1986

Acute poisoning in a children's hospital: a 2-year experience.

In a 2-year retrospective review, 90 patients were treated in a children's hospital for acute overdoses. In 90%, the history was the most important indicator of poisoning. On physical examination, 64% of patients were found to have altered sensorium, and 69% of cases were confirmed with a routine qualitative toxicology screening test. Accidental overdoses were most frequently due to ingestion of petroleum distillates, digoxin, carbamazepine, and theophylline. Suicidal patients ingested alcohol, barbiturates, tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and aspirin. The majority of children with accidental overdoses received medical attention within 2 hours, but suicidal patients presented significantly later. Appropriate treatment with gastric lavage or emesis was used for 85% of patients on an emergency basis prior to admission. The inpatient therapy is based on continued gastrointestinal decontamination, basic organ system support, and monitoring for toxic effects and complications of therapy. Specific antidotes were available for only 10% of patients. In this study, 50% of patients were able to be discharged to their homes after one day of hospitalization. Pediatric patients treated in the intensive care unit incur less morbidity than adults in a similar setting. Adolescents who attempt suicide and are treated in the intensive care unit are likely to take prescription drugs in a similar manner as their adult counterparts.

Accidents↗
PubMed1982

Baby walker injuries.

In a study of 49 children between the ages of 8 and 14 months, parents were surveyed with a written questionnaire and a follow-up phone interview to determine the utilization of baby walkers and the frequency and severity of baby walker injuries. Most respondents (86%) placed their children in various types of baby walkers between 4 months and 1 year of age. Half of the 42 infants who used walkers experienced at least one accident involving a tip over, a fall down stairs, or finger entrapment. Two of those accident resulted in injuries serious enough to require medical management. Both infants sustained head and neck injuries after falling down stairs in a walker. Whereas stairway and finger entrapment accidents occurred before the age of 7 months, tip overs were much more likely to occur after the age of 8 months. Injuries are more common but less severe than previously reported. Pediatricians and other child health advocates can inform parents about the health risks, encourage regulatory agencies to improve product labeling, and stimulate manufacturers to adjust the product to age and weight specifications of the growing infant.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed1977

Some observations on complement fixation in onchocerciasis in Guatemalans.

Recent investigations of infections with Onchocerca volvulus in Guatemala presented the opportunity to study some aspects of complement fixation (CF) antibody titers. An extract of adult O. volvulus obtained from nodules excised from patients was used as antigen. Serum was procured from individuals whose intensity of infection was determined by skin snip counts of microfilariae. In general there was an inverse relationship between intensity of infection and CF titers. This correlation was significant in men 40 years and older. The CF titer of women was greater than that of men with the same intensity of infection.

Antibodies↗
PubMed1976

Clinical and laboratory changes consequent to diethylcarbamazine in patients with onchocerciasis.

This controlled study assesses the effect of a single oral dose of diethylcarbamazine (DEC) in a Guatemalan population with light infections of Onchocerca volvulus. From 8 to 24 hours after DEC, microfilariae were found with increased frequency in the urine, blood, and sputum, while the number of microfilariae per mm2 of skin decreased. The onset of signs and symptoms of reaction coincided with the appearance of microfilariae in the body fluids. Motile microfilariae were noted in the anterior chamber of the eye after the administration of diethylcarbamazine. Medication with corticosteroids appeared to reduce the symptoms of reaction without changing the laboratory results.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Onchocerciasis in Guatemala. I. Epidermiological studies of microfilaruria.

Microfilariae of Onchocerca volvulus were detected in the urine of 65 residents of three coffee plantations near Yepocapa, Guatemala. In this area the prevalence of microfilaruria is estimated to be between 17% and 30% of the population 10 years of age and older. Almost all of the people examined had clinical manifestations of onchocerciasis and 80% of them had microfilariae in skin snips. The frequency of microfilaruria is associated with the number of microfilariae in the skin. Within each age group those who had lived longer on the coffee plantations were more likely to have microfilariae in a skin snip and more likely to have microfilariae in their urine. The presence of subcutaneous nodules or history of prior nodulectomy did not reduce the incidence of microfilaruria nor did the presence of subcutaneous nodules increase the incidence of microfilariae in the urine.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Onchocerciasis in Guatemala. II. Microfilariae in urine, blood, and sputum after diethylcarbamazine.

Guatermalan volunteers with onchocerciasis were given a dose of diethylcarbamazine to learn if this caused migration of microfilariae of Onchocerca volvulus into urine, blood, and sputum. In 5 of the 10 volunteers, the num0ers of microfilariae in the urine increased considerably following the drug. In the same 5, relatively large numbers of microfilariae were observed in the blood and sputum specimens. Response in the remaining 5 was negligible. Four controls given a placebo did not respond. Interestingly, however, 2 control subjects had onchocercal microfilariae in their concentrated blood specimens and 3 control subjects had microfilariae in the sputum. Therefore, we believe that microfilariae, if searched for, may be found in other parts of the patient not normally associated with the infection.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1975

Onchocerciasis in Guatemala. III. Daytime periodicity of microfilariae in skin.

Periodicity of microfilariae of Onchocerca volvulus in the skin was not believed to exist until investigators in Africa recently demonstrated diurnal periodicity. Interestingly, this maximal density of microfilariae in the skin has been shown to coincide with the peak biting time of the Simulium vector. The current study was performed as part of other studies in Guatemala. Maximal density of microfilariae in the skin was at 1000 hours or shortly therafter. This peak is earlier than reported in Africa. The most active feeding period of Simulium ochraceum, believed to be the principal vector in Guatemala, had been previously shown to be from 0800 to 1000 hours. The current report lends support to other findings indicating that Onchocerca volvulus microlilariae have a diurnal periodicity. In addition, the occurrence of peak vector biting time at the same time as maximal numbers of microfilariae in the skin strengthens a hypothesis that these synchronous cycles have a biological significance.

Adolescent↗