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M Barria

Publications and source records attributed to M Barria.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Lingual thyroid: report of three cases.

Lingual thyroid is a rare developmental disorder and is more frequent in women. The pathogenesis is unclear but may be related to the presence of maternal blocking autoantibodies against the thyroid. Treatment of this disorder includes the use of levothyroxine in order to correct the hypothyroidism, which is very frequent and to induce the shrinkage of the gland. When symptoms of obstruction or bleeding appear, ablative therapy by means of surgery or radioiodine is warranted. We report three cases and discuss the approach to diagnosis and a strategy for management.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Age-related capacity of neuroendocrine factors to differentiate T cells in vitro.

The present report shows the capacity of hypothalamic extract (HE) to differentiate bone marrow cells to Thy-1+ cells in vitro. A two-step short-term culture was used. In the first step thymus and pituitary were co-cultured in the presence of HE. Supernatant was then transferred to a bone marrow cell suspension and following a period of culture, the percentage of Thy-1+ cells was determined by a microcytotoxicity assay. Results indicated that: (a) HE from young mice show a very efficient differentiating capacity; (b) HE from young mice is equally efficient when old pituitary, thymus and marrow are used; (c) HE from old donors has no capacity to differentiate T cells; (d) there is a progressive age-related decline of this capacity; and (e) there is a feed-back mechanism involved in this process. It is concluded that hypothalamic factors can regulate the differentiation of T cells and that this effect operates through a mechanism involving pituitary and thymus.

Aging↗
PubMed1991

Rapid preoperative preparation in hyperthyroidism.

OBJECTIVE: We have evaluated an alternative method of preparation of hyperthyroid patients for surgery, using betamethasone, iopanoic acid and propranolol. DESIGN: Betamethasone (0.5 mg every 6 hours), iopanoic acid (500 mg every 6 hours) and propranolol (40 mg every 8 hours) were given orally for 5 days; thyroidectomy was performed on the 6th day. We analysed patient acceptability, clinical and hormonal effects, ease of surgery and final outcome. PATIENTS: Thirteen females and 1 male, aged 16-59 years, ten with diffuse goitre and four with nodular goitre were submitted to subtotal thyroidectomy because antithyroid drugs had failed to control thyrotoxicosis or because hyperthyroidism coexisted with other conditions (pregnancy, hypertensive disease). MEASUREMENTS: Daily clinical assessments were made together with T3, T4 and rT3 serum concentrations before and while on drug treatment, during the surgical procedure and post-operatively. RESULTS: Daily assessment showed progressive clinical improvement so that on day 5 the patients were considered clinically euthyroid. Serum levels of T3 (mean +/- SD) showed significant decrease (by 38.2 +/- 24.9%, P less than 0.01) as early as 24 hours after medication was started, reaching almost euthyroid levels on day 3; on the day of operation T3 had diminished by 64.5 +/- 16.6% (P less than 0.0001). Serum T4 concentration showed a slight but significant decrement only from day 4 on and never reached euthyroid levels. Serum rT3 values exhibited a brisk increment at 24 hours (+333 +/- 194%, P less than 0.0001) and remained elevated between 8 and 10 nmol/l until medication was stopped. Drug tolerance was considered as excellent since no serious side-effects were noted, even in pregnant patients. There were no anaesthetic incidents or postoperative complications and patients were discharged 48-72 hours after operation. The final outcome has been satisfactory and pregnant patients continued their pregnancies without incident, bearing normal children. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacological combination of betamethasone, iopanoic acid and propranolol has proved to be safe and effective and is of low cost. Provided there is adequate supervision of the patients, it may be used in patients requiring urgent thyroidectomy or in those who for reasons of non-compliance need a short preoperative regime.

Adolescent↗