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Biomedical subjects

L M Carvalho

Publications and source records attributed to L M Carvalho.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Determination of drug levels and the effect of diazepam on the growth of necrophagous flies of forensic importance in southeastern Brazil.

Larvae of Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) and Chrysomya putoria (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) were reared on tissues from rabbits administered twice the lethal dosage of diazepam in order to study the effects of this drug on the development of these two species. The rabbits were given 50mg of diazepam via ear vein infusion. From 18 to 54h, larvae feeding on tissues containing the drug developed more rapidly than larvae from the control colony for both fly species. The time required for pupariation and adult emergence was significantly greater for colony fed on tissues from diazepam dosed rabbits than for the control ones. These differences are significant for they are large enough to alter the estimate of postmortem interval based on fly development. The presence of diazepam could be detected through gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) in all rabbit samples and in almost all diptera samples in this experiment.

Analysis of Variance↗

[Rhythmic profiles of the late phase of acute myocardial infarction as a function of age].

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias in the late phase of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to compare it with the following clinical parameters: age, sex, AMI localization, ventricular function (Killip classes), maximal creatinokinase (CK max) and the presence of sinus tachycardia. DESIGN: Prospective study, during a period of 31 months, of a non-selected group of patients with AMI. SETTING: Coronary Care Unit (UTIC-Arsénio Cordiero). PATIENTS: Non-selected group of 153 patients with acute myocardial infarction who survived the second week of disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 24-hour Holter ECG performed between the 4th and the 25th day of AMI. The patients were divided into two groups according to the hourly frequency of premature ventricular beats (PVB): less than 3 per hour (PVB less than 3/h) and 3 or more per hour (PVB greater than or equal to 3/h). RESULTS: PVB greater than or equal to 3/h occurred in 36 patients (24%). There was no differences in the occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias between sex, AMI localization, AMI size evaluated by CK max, and the presence of sinus tachycardia. Patients in Killip class III had more ventricular arrhythmias (67%) than patients in Killip class I (23%) (p less than 0.005), in Killip class II (18%) (p = 0.007), and in Killip IV (0%) (p = 0.017). In patients with serious left ventricular failure (classes III + IV) the ventricular arrhythmias were not significantly higher (40%) than in patients without serious left ventricular failure (classes I + II) (22%) (chi 2 = 2.5; p less than 0.25 NS). Patients with less than 41 years old had less PVB greater than or equal to 3/h (4%) than patients between ages 41-69 (24%) (p less than 0.05), and than patients over 70 years old (47%) (p = 0.00075). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of patients (76%) showed a low risk rithmic profile (PVB less than 3/h) in the late phase of AMI. Among all parameters the age of the patients was the one best related to the occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias. Sex, AMI localization, AMI size, and the presence of sinus tachycardia were not related to the presence of PVB. A slight tendency was found in patients with heart failure to have more PVB. On the other hand the elder group carried a statistically significant risk factor for a higher occurrence of ventricular premature beats.

Adult↗

[Malaria treatment with artesunate (retocaps) in children of the Brazilian Amazon].

We evaluated the clinical and therapeutic response to artesunate retocaps in 32 children admitted to the Fundação de Medicina Tropical do Amazonas (Amazon Foundation of Tropical Medicine) with clinical characteristics of moderate and severe malaria. Of these, 29 were infected with P. falciparum and 3 with P. vivax. They improved clinically 24 hours after the beginning of therapy, with 33. 3% of patients without fever, and after 48 hours, 77.2% of the children had no fever. The monitoring of asexual forms of the parasites showed that on D2 (day 2 of treatment) 58.6% of children with P. falciparum infection had no more parasites in the blood stream, on D4 all children had negative slides both for P. falciparum and for P. vivax infection. In a long-term follow up, we found 66.6% recrudescence in P. falciparum patients. The results enabled the conclusion that artesunate retocaps are efficient in practice and their use rapidly reduces the parasitemia and improves the patients' clinical picture. However, in P. falciparum malaria the recrudescence rate was very high. We observed no side effects from this drug.

Antimalarials↗

A checklist of arthropods associated with pig carrion and human corpses in southeastern brazil.

Necrophagous insects, mainly Diptera and Coleoptera, are attracted to specific stages of carcass decomposition, in a process of faunistic succession. They are very important in estimating the postmortem interval, the time interval between the death and the discovery of the body. In studies done with pig carcasses exposed to natural conditions in an urban forest (Santa Genebra Reservation), located in Campinas, State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil, 4 out of 36 families of insects collected - Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, Muscidae (Diptera) and Dermestidae (Coleoptera) - were considered of forensic importance, because several species were collected in large numbers both visiting and breeding in pig carcasses. Several species were also observed and collected on human corpses at the Institute of Legal Medicine. The species belonged to 17 different families, 6 being of forensic importance because they were reared from human corpses or pig carcasses: Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, Muscidae, Piophilidae (Diptera), Dermestidae, Silphidae and Cleridae (Coleoptera). The most important species were: Diptera - Chrysomya albiceps, Chrysomya putoria, Hemilucilia segmentaria, Hemilucilia semidiaphana (Calliphoridae), Pattonella intermutans (Sarcophagidae), Ophyra chalcogaster (Muscidae), Piophila casei (Piophilidae); Coleoptera - Dermestes maculatus (Dermestidae), Oxyletrum disciolle (Silphidae) and Necrobia rufipes (Cleridae).

Animals↗