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Biomedical subjects

M M Rothburn

Publications and source records attributed to M M Rothburn.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Tuberculous otitis media -- a diagnostic dilemma.

Tuberculous otitis media can provide a diagnostic challenge even to the most astute and experienced clinician. The rarity of the condition and its propensity to masquerade as commoner otological conditions further delays diagnosis and treatment. We present the case of a 22-year-old female who presented with chronic aural discharge, unilateral hearing loss and recurrent hemifacial paralysis. The paper highlights the difficulty in diagnosis and stresses the need for a high index of suspicion in cases resistant to the common methods of treatment.

Adult↗

Phlebotomy in inoculation risk patients: a questionnaire survey of knowledge and practices of hospital doctors in Liverpool.

To assess the knowledge of hospital doctors about patients at increased risk of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis B virus, and the precautions they took during phlebotomy in such patients, an anonymous postal questionnaire was sent to all 307 hospital doctors working at two District General Hospitals in Liverpool, UK. Two hundred and thirty-eight (77.5%) of the questionnaires were returned. More than 90% of respondents considered a history of male homosexuality, intravenous drug abuse, prostitution or a child of a prostitute to indicate an inoculation risk. There was uncertainty about a previous prison sentence in the 1980s, residence in a home for the mentally handicapped, previous residence in the tropics and hospital treatment in the tropics. Thirty-eight percent of doctors would never enquire about sexual preference, 54.1% about a previous prison sentence and 15.7% about intravenous drug abuse in their clinical history. Although 97.4% of doctors would sometimes or always wear gloves during phlebotomy of an inoculation risk patient, 25.5% always resheathed the needle after phlebotomy and 20.8% would never take the sharps box to the patient. More effort is required to identify accurately inoculation risk patients and greater care is needed in phlebotomy techniques.

Blood Specimen Collection↗

Vitamin status in treated patients with cystic fibrosis.

The water-soluble (B1, B2, B6, C, folic acid) and fat-soluble vitamin (A, carotene, E, and D) status of 36 patients with cystic fibrosis was assessed and compared with a control group of 21 age-matched normal children. Twenty-seven of the patients were receiving vitamin supplements (except folic acid and vitamin E) at the time of investigation. Vitamin B1, B2, and B6 status was adequate in all patients, and there was little evidence of folic acid deficiency. Vitamin C stores might not have been adequate in some of these patients, despite daily supplements with 50 mg of the vitamin. Steatorrhoea, often severe, was present in most of them. Serum carotene and vitamin E concentrations were low in over 90% of patients and were related to the severity of steatorrhoea. Vitamin A was low in over 40% of the patients despite daily vitamin supplements of 4000 IU and correlated with the serum retinol-binding protein level. Serum 25-OH cholecalciferol was low in some patients whether or not they were receiving a daily supplement of 400 IU vitamin D. In a short-term supplementation trial with water-miscible preparations of vitamin A and E in 14 patients, the serum levels of both vitamins responded well to 2 weeks of treatment with 50 mg vitamin E and 4000 IU vitamin A. Except for serum vitamin A, which was lowest in patients with the poorest clinical grading, the other vitamins were not influenced by the clinical grade of the patients.

Adolescent↗