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Biomedical subjects

L M Turner

Publications and source records attributed to L M Turner.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Design and evolution of the data management systems in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial.

This paper describes the design and evolution of the data management systems developed in support of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. These systems span platforms from stand-alone computers to distributed systems on local area networks to mainframes. Allowing all of these systems to share appropriate information electronically introduces integration, synchronization, testing, and support challenges. For each platform, applications were developed to handle data entry, editing, trial management, reporting, telecommunications, and data sharing. Approaches to issues such as level of data access, integration with other, existing applications, and handling the expansion of the protocol are discussed.

Colorectal Neoplasms↗
PubMed2000

Use of alternative medicine by patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Complementary and alternative medicine may influence cardiac surgical care by inducing coagulopathies and interacting with perioperative medications. We evaluated the significance of complementary and alternative medicine use in an acutely ill cardiac surgical population and assessed the willingness of patients to reveal these activities to their physicians and surgeons. METHODS: A total of 376 consecutive patients undergoing preoperative or postoperative cardiothoracic surgical evaluations at an urban academic medical center were approached to complete a survey regarding use and attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine. All surveys were administered and collected between March and May 1998. RESULTS: Completion rate was 70% (n = 263). Respondents were predominantly male (72%), white (76%), and well educated (59%). The overall rate of complementary and alternative medicine use was 75%, but excluding prayer and vitamins, which are often not considered complementary and alternative medicine therapies, the rate was 44%. There was no correlation between the use of complementary and alternative medicine and the parameters of gender, age, race, or education level. Only 17% responded that they had discussed complementary and alternative medicine with their physicians, and 48% responded that they did not want to discuss the topic at all. CONCLUSIONS: Complementary and alternative medicine is used as frequently in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, as in the general population. Physicians and surgeons should be aware that patients have no inherent predisposition toward or against using complementary and alternative medicine, but that they are unlikely to volunteer their experience with it. The unwillingness of patients to discuss complementary and alternative medicine with physicians has serious implications for their safety, especially in acute care situations.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Vaginal bleeding during pregnancy.

The treatment of vaginal bleeding during pregnancy may require little more than careful evaluation of the patient. Sometimes, however, the emergency physician must perform the highest resuscitative skills. In either case, the fears and concerns of the mother for herself and the fetus are considerable. This article describes, in four broad categories, how to diagnose and treat bleeding in pregnancy.

Female↗
PubMed1990

Neurobehavioral and immunological effects of prenatal cocaine exposure in rat.

Time-pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were injected subcutaneously with 20 mg/kg of cocaine HCl or 0.9% saline daily from gestation days 15 through 21. Maternal plasma levels of approximately 720 ng/ml of cocaine did not alter maternal weight gain during treatment, duration of pregnancy, any of the litter variables or several indices of maternal behavior. Offsprings' body weight from birth to 30 days of age and physical maturation were not generally affected by prenatal cocaine exposure. While the development of surface righting, cliff avoidance, and the startle response was accelerated in cocaine-exposed offspring, acquisition of a preference for a social odor was unaltered. Prenatal cocaine also attenuated the locomotor response of the offspring to d-amphetamine and cocaine at PND 15; at PND 30 both of these catecholaminergic agonists increased activity in prenatal saline and prenatal cocaine offspring. However, the difference in plasma levels of cocaine at PND 30 suggests a possible down-regulation of adrenergic receptors following prenatal cocaine exposure. Decreased thymus/body weight ratios and splenomegaly were observed in prenatal cocaine animals at 55 days of age. Although complete neutralization of herpes simplex virus-type 1 was not observed, sera from prenatal cocaine offspring showed an increased rate of appearance of cytopathic effect, while sera from animals given cocaine postnatally showed a reduction in the rate at which viral infectivity was expressed in culture. These results indicate that prenatal cocaine exposure can alter neurobehavioral ontogeny and humoral immune responsitivity in the offspring.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

A comparison of epinephrine and methoxamine for resuscitation from electromechanical dissociation in human beings.

Electromechanical dissociation (EMD) is an organized electrical depolarization of the heart without synchronous myocardial fiber shortening and, therefore, without cardiac output. Patients in EMD have a poor prognosis for resuscitation and long-term survival. The beneficial effect in resuscitation of epinephrine, the adrenergic agent currently recommended, has been shown to depend on stimulation of alpha-adrenergic vasoconstriction. The beta-adrenergic inotropic and chronotropic effects of epinephrine are theoretically detrimental by increasing myocardial oxygen consumption and subendocardial ischemia. The purpose of our study was to determine whether the pure alpha agonist methoxamine was superior to epinephrine in human beings in EMD as determined by survival at one hour. These two agents were compared in a prospective, randomized, and double-blinded study involving 80 patients with EMD of various causes seen in the emergency department and internal medicine inpatient service. The advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) algorithm (current at the time of our study) for resuscitation from EMD was used, with the blinded study drug (epinephrine 1 mg or methoxamine 10 mg) administered where the algorithm calls for epinephrine. Calcium and isoproterenol also were used in the majority of cases according to ACLS standards but never prior to the use of methoxamine or epinephrine. Survival data are summarized as: survival less than one hour, 22 patients receiving methoxamine, 22 receiving epinephrine; one to six hours, 15 patients receiving methoxamine, 13 patients receiving epinephrine; six to 12 hours, one patient receiving epinephrine; more than 24 hours but not surviving to discharge, three patients receiving methoxamine, two patients receiving epinephrine; and survival to discharge, one patient receiving epinephrine.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Necrotizing enterocolitis: an unusual cause of rectal bleeding in a term infant.

A 5-day-old term infant presented to the emergency department with a seven-hour history of rectal bleeding. He had had an uncomplicated prenatal course with no significant risk factors during the third trimester or perinatal period. The infant presented in minimal distress but was admitted for further workup and evaluation. The workup revealed necrotizing enterocolitis, which ultimately required surgical management. The infant was discharged with a colostomy, and then was readmitted ten weeks later for reanastomosis.

Ampicillin↗
PubMed1986

Surgical correction of eyelid disfigurement in a stumptailed monkey (Macaca arctoides).

Self-aggression in an adult male stumptailed monkey (Macaca arctoides) resulted in severe lower eyelid distortion, conjunctivitis and epiphora. The behavior ceased with a change in environment, but the eyelid defect, conjunctivitis and epiphora persisted, requiring corrective surgery. Surgical correction was partially successful, although the animal died due to unrelated medical problems before final correction could be accomplished.

Animals↗