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Biomedical subjects

M Condon

Publications and source records attributed to M Condon.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Pregnancy related complications in women with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether pregnancy is well tolerated in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. SETTING: Referral clinic. DESIGN: The study cohort comprised 127 consecutively referred women with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Forty (31.5%) underwent clinical evaluation before pregnancy. The remaining 87 (68.5%) were referred after their first pregnancy. All underwent history, examination, electrocardiography, and echocardiography. Pregnancy related symptoms and complications were determined by questionnaire and review of medical and obstetric records where available. RESULTS: There were 271 pregnancies in total. Thirty six (28.3%) women reported cardiac symptoms in pregnancy. Over 90% of these women had been symptomatic before pregnancy. Symptoms deteriorated during pregnancy in fewer than 10%. Of the 36 women with symptoms during pregnancy, 30 had further pregnancies. Symptoms reoccurred in 18 (60%); symptomatic deterioration was not reported. Heart failure occurred postnatally in two women (1.6%). No complications were reported in 19 (15%) women who underwent general anaesthesia and in 22 (17.4%) women who received epidural anaesthesia, three of whom had a significant left ventricular outflow tract gradient at diagnosis after pregnancy. Three unexplained intrauterine deaths occurred in women taking cardiac medication throughout pregnancy. No echocardiographic or clinical feature was a useful indicator of pregnancy related complications. CONCLUSIONS: Most women with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy tolerate pregnancy well. However, rare complications can occur and therefore planned delivery and fetal monitoring are still required for some patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Magnesium oxide augmentation of verapamil maintenance therapy in mania.

The authors compared the antimanic effects of a verapamil-magnesium oxide (V-M) combination with a verapamil-placebo combination (V-P) in patients pretreated with verapamil. BPRS scores and serum magnesium levels were compared. The V-M combination was found to be significantly more effective than V-P in reducing manic symptoms (P=0.015). Serum magnesium levels were significantly higher in the V-M group (P<0.04). These data suggest that magnesium may increase antimanic efficacy of verapamil by mechanisms which may operate at the intracellular level. The magnesium-verapamil combination may have clinical application as an adjunct to verapamil in the maintenance therapy of mania.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Acute ketamine intoxication treated by haloperidol: a preliminary study.

In an open, double-blind study of phencyclidine intoxication, 21 white male subjects were later found to have instead ingested ketamine. These subjects were divided into two cohorts, one treated with 5 mg intramuscular haloperidol and the second with an active placebo. Assessment with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale revealed significant reduction in symptoms with haloperidol.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Use of tangential visual symbols to increase the long-term learning process: applications of linkage in teaching pharmacological principles of addiction.

Medieval and Renaissance teaching techniques using linkage between course content and tangentially related visual symbols were applied to the teaching of the pharmacological principles of addiction. Forty medical students randomly divided into two blinded groups viewed a lecture. One lecture was supplemented by symbolic slides, and the second was not. Students who viewed symbolic slides had significantly higher scores in a written 15-question multiple-choice test 30 days after the lecture. These results were consistent with learning and semiotic models. These models hypothesize a linkage between conceptual content and perception of visual symbols that thereby increases conceptual retention. Recent neurochemical research supports the existence of a linkage between two chemically distinct memory systems. Simultaneous stimulation of both chemical systems by teaching formats similar to those employed in the study can augment neurochemical signaling in the neocortex.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

A mutant of Mycobacterium smegmatis defective in dipeptide transport.

A mutant of Mycobacterium smegmatis unable to use the dipeptide carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-histidine) as a sole carbon or nitrogen source was isolated. Carnosinase activity and the ability to grow on beta-Ala and/or L-His were similar in the mutant and the wild type. However, the mutant showed significant impairment in the uptake of carnosine. This study is the first description of a peptide utilization mutant of a mycobacterium.

Biological Transport↗
PubMed1996

Thalidomide inhibits TNF response and increases survival following endotoxin injection in rats.

Sepsis is a leading cause of death following major trauma and complicated abdominal surgery. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) is believed to be a central mediator in the inflammatory response syndrome. Numerous methods of blunting the TNF response in sepsis have been attempted with suggestion of increased survival and decreased organ injury. Thalidomide, shown in vitro to selectively inhibit TNF production, has been used clinically in states of chronic TNF elevation with encouraging results. In this study, we examined the effect of thalidomide administration in a rat model of acute septic shock. Femoral artery cannulation was performed and baseline TNF measured. Dose response was determined by giving varying doses of thalidomide by gavage. Rats were injected intraarterially with endotoxin and serial samples drawn. TNF was measured by ELISA. For survival, thalidomide was given by gavage and endotoxin injected intraperitoneally. Serum TNF elevation occurred after endotoxin injection with peak levels at 90 min. Thalidomide treated rats had lower TNF levels at all time points (P = <0.01 at 90 and 120 min), with the inhibition being dose dependent. Survival in treated rats exceeded that of untreated rats (53% vs 19%, P = <0.05) at 48 and 72 hr. In conclusion, we found that thalidomide administration leads to increased survival following acute endotoxemia, which may be due to the observed TNF inhibition.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1995

A comparison of survival at different degrees of hemorrhagic shock in germ-free and germ-bearing rats.

We have previously reported superior survival after one level of hemorrhagic shock in germ-free (GF) rats compared with germ-bearing (GB) rats. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the GF state on survival at different degrees of hemorrhagic shock. GF and GB rats were bled to a mean arterial blood pressure of 30 mmHg. Shock was terminated after 10, 20, 40, or 80% of the maximum shed blood volume was reabsorbed spontaneously. Both shock time and time to decompensation were significantly longer in GF rats (p < .05). Comparative survival was greater for GF rats at most levels of shock (p < .01). This superiority in survival was greatest at moderate shock levels and decreased at severe shock levels. There may be several reasons for the increased tolerance of GF animals to hemorrhagic shock such as metabolic or immunologic variations. It is hard to avoid the fact, however, that the most notable difference between the GF and GB rat is the presence or absence of bacteria.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Auditory brainstem responses and clinical follow-up of high-risk infants.

Auditory brainstem response (ABR) evaluations were performed on 667 high-risk infants from an infant special care unit. Of these infants, 82% passed the ABR. Those infants who failed the ABR were classified into two groups, those who failed at 30 dB hearing level and those who failed at 45 dB hearing level. All of the infants were encouraged to return for otologic/audiologic follow-up in 1, 3, or 6 months, depending on the initial ABR results. All of the infants with severe hearing impairments came from the group who failed at 45 dB hearing level. The incidence of severe sensorineural hearing impairment in this population was estimated to be 2.4%. For the group that failed at 30 dB hearing level, 80% of those who were abnormal at follow-up were considered to have conductive hearing disorders and 20% had mild sensorineural hearing impairments. In addition, infants enrolled in a parent-infant program for hearing impaired by 6 months of age were from the ABR program; however, several infants entered the parent-infant program at a relatively late age because they did not meet the high-risk criteria, they were from other hospitals, or they were not detected by the ABR program.

Brain Stem↗
PubMed1982

Application of biological markers in depression secondary to thyrotoxicosis.

Biological markers of affective disorders have not been studied intensively in patients with secondary depression. An elderly woman with severe delusional depression secondary to thyrotoxicosis was monitored with weekly dexamethasone suppression tests (DSTs) and three sleep electroencephalography (EEG) evaluations. She received treatment only for her thyrotoxicosis, but her depression resolved completely. The serial DSTs were normal throughout her depression, consistent with the specificity of this test for primary endogenous depression. The sleep EEG erroneously suggested a diagnosis of primary depression but effectively monitored clinical improvement. Biological markers may have applicability in evaluating and monitoring patients with secondary depression.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Central auditory processing ability in children with ADHD with and without learning disabilities.

A few studies have shown more central auditory processing deficits in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than in nondisabled children. Because these studies failed to screen participants with ADHD for learning disabilities (LD), it is not clear whether these deficits are correlates of ADHD or LD or both. In the present study, the central auditory processing ability of children with ADHD, ADHD with LD, and no disabilities was examined. Results indicated lower central auditory processing ability, and significant correlations between reading and ADHD symptoms and reading and central auditory processing ability in the ADHD with LD group compared with the other two groups. These findings suggest that central auditory processing deficits are more likely to be associated with LD than ADHD.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hepatitis A outbreak in an institution.

In February 1996, four serologically confirmed cases of hepatitis A virus (HAV) occurred in one household. Investigation showed that the source was a family member with sub-clinical HAV who attended a Unit for Learning Disabilities. Reports of two further cases in the institution followed and control measures were instigated. Contacts were unwilling to accept human normal immunoglobulin (HNIG). Following salivary antibody and serological testing, hepatitis A vaccine was offered to the non-immune. An investigation found that sub-clinical infection was significantly associated with being less than 5 years old (RR = 6.07, p < 0.005) and being in one particular classroom (RR = 6.21, p < 0.0005). None of the staff in the institution became infected. In all, 31 cases of hepatitis A (18 clinical and 13 subclinical cases) occurred. This paper (a) describes an outbreak of hepatitis A (b) refers to the use of a salivary antibody test (assay performance to be published elsewhere) (c) identifies factors associated with the acquisition of HAV and (d) endeavours to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine to contain the outbreak.

Academies and Institutes↗