PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Moreira

Publications and source records attributed to M Moreira.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Results of 132 hepatectomies for living donor liver transplantation: report of one death.

AIMS: Liver transplant is the primary therapy for patients with end-stage liver disease. Its high success rates have lead to a broadening of the indications for liver transplantation, resulting in an increasing shortage of donors. Living donor liver transplantation has become an option to overcome waiting list mortality. We describe our experience with hepatectomy for living donor liver transplantation and report a case of death. METHODS: Patients (n = 132) underwent hepatectomy for living donor liver transplantation from June 2000 through June 2004. A 4-phase preoperative evaluation was performed on all patients, whose ages ranged from 13 to 54 years (mean = 29.7 +/- 8.1 years). Of the 132 patients, 76 patients (57.5%) underwent left lateral segmentectomy, 33 patients (25%) underwent left lobectomy, and 23 patients (16%) underwent right hepatectomy. In 2 other patients (1.5%), a monosegment (segment II) was obtained after left lateral segmentectomy. RESULTS: Twenty patients (15%) experienced a complication, the most common being incisional hernia, pneumonia, and biliary fistulae. On the seventh postoperative day, 1 patient developed a fatal cerebral hemorrhage while recovering from mild liver dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Although living donor liver transplantation is generally safe, serious and fatal complications may occur.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Transhepatic biliary catheterization before graft implant in living donor liver transplantation.

AIM: Despite the evolution in surgical technique, the biliary anastomosis remains the technical Achilles' heel of liver transplantation, especially in living donor liver transplantation. Interventional radiology or endoscopic procedures constitute the most common options to treat complications from the biliary anastomosis. We report a novel technique to prevent biliary complications following the transplant. METHODS: During the donor procedure a wire guide was introduced in the severed duct, left or right, in retrograde fashion. The liver surface was then perforated and the wire guide exposed. A 4F catheter was then attached to the wire guide and pulled into the bile duct passing through the end-to-end duct-to-duct anastomosis or hepaticojejunostomy. RESULTS: This technique was performed in six living donor grafts: one right lobe, two left lobes, and three left lateral segments. All patients had no complications from the stent placement, biliary strictures, or leaks. One developed a hepatic artery thrombosis on the posttransplant day 14 with no major biliary complications.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Multilocation trial of ceftiofur for treatment of postpartum cows with fever.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of ceftiofur for treatment of postpartum cows with fever. DESIGN: Multilocation randomized complete block design trial. ANIMALS: 330 cows. PROCEDURE: Cows with rectal temperature > or = 39.5 C (103.1 F) during the first 10 postpartum days were randomly assigned to a treatment (ceftiofur; 1 mg/kg [0.45 mg/lb] of body weight daily for 3 days) or untreated control group. Cure (no additional or alternative antimicrobial treatment used, rectal temperature < 39.5 C, and no other concurrent clinical signs of disease when evaluated at 9 or 10 days after enrollment), milk production, and rectal temperature were evaluated. RESULTS: Ceftiofur-treated cows were significantly more likely to be cured than control cows (56.0 vs 28.9%, respectively), with an odds ratio of 3.14 when vaginal discharge (a factor with moderate interaction with treatment) was present at enrollment. Among cows that had an abnormal calving (a significant interaction factor), treated cows had first milking yield 2.27 kg (5 lb) greater than control cows. Treated cows had a significantly greater reduction in rectal temperature (1.19 C [2.14 Fl), compared with control cows (1.04 C [1.87 F]). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Parenteral administration of ceftiofur significantly improved cure rate, milk yield, and rectal temperature in postpartum cows with fever and vaginal discharge or dystocia. These findings provide information to determine appropriate treatment for postpartum cows, which for years has been debated in the dairy industry.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Technological properties of milks fermented with thermophilic lactic acid bacteria at suboptimal temperature.

In the present work the synergistic relationship between different strains of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus was studied at optimal (44 degrees C) and suboptimal temperatures (30 degrees C). Acidification, viscosity, whey syneresis, and bacterial concentration of the final product were evaluated on single-strain and mixed cultures after 24 h at 30 degrees C and 6 h at 44 degrees C. Three pairs of strains (LBB + CP2, LBP + CP2, and LBR + CP2) showed synergistic effect, which was reflected by the viscosity and syneresis of the coagulum. These results were more significant when cultures were incubated at 30 degrees C, reaching apparent viscosity values of 19 to 28 mPa x s. On the other hand, lactobacilli cultures enhanced the growth of two streptococci strains (CP2 and CP4). These results were confirmed by cultures of streptococci supplemented with supernatants of culture of lactobacilli. Those supernatants stimulate the viscosity produced by CP2 and CP4 strains and reduce the syneresis of all cultures of streptococci. Neither the increase of viscosity nor reduction of syneresis could be attributed to a decrease of pH.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Argon-lead isotopic correlation in mid-atlantic ridge basalts

Step-heating analyses for Mid-Atlantic Ridge glass samples show that maximum 40Ar/36Ar values correlate with 206,207,208Pb/204Pb. These correlations hold for the whole Atlantic Ocean and therefore are unlikely to result from shallow-level contamination processes. Instead, they are taken as mixing hyperbolae between the degassed-depleted upper mantle and a recycled component characterized by high 206Pb/204Pb ratios (19 to 21) and low 40Ar/36Ar ratios (300 to 1000). These relations imply that argon may also be a tracer of mantle recycling.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Use of cheese whey as a substrate to produce manganese peroxidase by Bjerkandera sp BOS55.

Manganese peroxidase, MnP, is one of the major ligninolytic enzymes produced by a number of white-rot fungi. The ability of this enzyme to degrade lignin by the fungus Bjerkanderasp BOS55 has opened its application to related bioprocesses such as recalcitrant-compound degradation and effluent decolorization. The medium reported to induce MnP production is composed of chemical grade reagents, all with relatively high costs for application to detoxification purposes. The use of inexpensive sources for MnP production can bring its implementation closer. For this purpose, dairy residues from cheese processing were considered. MnP production obtained using crude whey as the sole substrate reached appreciable levels, around 190 U L-1, values comparable to those found with synthetic media (between 175-250 U L-1). Thus, this cheese-processing byproduct can be used as an inexpensive alternative for the large-scale production of MnP.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

Rare gas systematics in popping rock: isotopic and elemental compositions in the upper mantle

New experimental data on the isotopic variations of neon, argon, and xenon in a popping rock imply that the 40Ar/36Ar ratio of the upper mantle is less than 44,000 and that the 129Xe/130Xe ratio is less than 8.2. The elemental abundance pattern of rare gases is chondritic-like and is quite distinct from the solar pattern. These data imply that Earth accreted from planetesimals that probably underwent a transformation of their rare gas budget from solar- to chondritic-like, leaving the isotopic composition unchanged from the solar pattern.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

[Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and herpes virus. Report of an unusual case: a cause or casual association?].

OBJECTIVE: To present a curious case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). CASE: A forty-seven year old man claimed of paresis in the arms since four years. The electrical study of the muscles and nerves diagnosis was ALS, type Vulpian-Bernardt. The cerebrospinal fluid study revealed an inflammatory process and the positivity of immulogical reactions for Herpes simplex I. The blood-brain barrier study showed the possibility that immunological response for Herpes simplex I was produced in the spinal fluid space. A magnetic resonance suggested cystic myelopathy of cervical spinal cord expanding from C2 to C4. The patient received endovenous acyclovir for 21 days. Until two months after the medication we did not submit the patient to other subsidiary examinations. DISCUSSION: Until now there is no specific drug treatment for ALS. The notion that there is a "syndrome of ALS" related with various causes may help to treat some patients.

Acyclovir↗
PubMed1995

A two-year study on the efficacy and tolerability of policosanol in patients with type II hyperlipoproteinaemia.

This is a report of the results of a two years' randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study of the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of policosanol administered at 5 mg twice-a-day in the treatment of type II hyperlipoproteinaemia. The study included 69 patients from both sexes, in whom total cholesterol and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were not controlled sufficiently by diet. The treatment effect on total cholesterol and LDL-C was maintained during the 2-year follow up. Thus, percent reductions 24 months after therapy were 25% (LDL-C) and 18% (cholesterol). All comparisons with placebo were significant. Similarly, ratios of LDL-C to HDL-C and cholesterol to HDL-C were significantly reduced and such decreases were maintained during the study. Policosanol raised significantly the values of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) during the study and maximal increases were reached 12 months after therapy (+21%). From this time the increases mildly declined to +14% and +11.2% respectively at 18 and 24 months after therapy. No significant changes in triglycerides were observed as compared with baseline or placebo. No patient withdrew from the study because of adverse effects. No drug-related clinical or biochemical adverse side-effects were observed. Any adverse experiences reported were mild and transient; moreover, no significant differences were obtained when compared with those reported by the placebo group. The results indicate that policosanol administered for two years to patients with type II hypercholesterolaemia shows a maintained efficacy as well as very good safety and tolerability.

Anticholesteremic Agents↗
PubMed1991

[Adult non-insulin-dependent diabetic: limitation of articular mobility and soft tissue involvement].

Periarticular involvement and joint mobility were investigated in 100 non insulin dependent diabetic patients, compared to 100 healthy control subjects of similar age and sex. Periarticular involvement was much more common in diabetics (p < 0.01) including limitation of joint mobility (hands) (40% vs 9%), Dupuytren (29% vs 2%), palmar synovitis (59% vs 7%) and capsulitis (16% vs 1%). Diabetic patients with limitation of joint mobility had more neuropathy (80% vs 56%), retinitis proliferans (35% vs 17%) and alterations of the skin of the hands, compared to diabetics without limitation of joint mobility. Diabetes should be investigated in subjects with periarticular manifestations such as those described in this paper. Also, a more advanced stage of diabetes may be suspected in diabetics with such manifestations.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Effect of nosocomial bacteremia caused by oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on mortality and length of hospitalization].

OBJECTIVES: To identify the attributed mortality rate of bloodstream hospital infection by Staphylococcus aureus resistant to methicillin (MRSA) and its effect on length of hospital stay. DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: Hospital São Paulo da Universidade Federal de São Paulo, a 660-bed, tertiary-care teaching hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. PATIENTS: Seventy one adults patients with hospital-acquired MRSA bacteremia diagnosed between January 1, 1991, and September 30, 1992, and 71 MRSA-free controls were matched by the following criteria: age, sex, underlying disease, surgical procedure, same risk time and admission date. RESULTS: The incidence of patients with hospital sepsis by MRSA accounted for 73.22% of the patients with hospital bloodstream infection by Staphylococcus aureus. The mortality rate of the cases was 56.33 (40/71) and 11.26 (8/71) of the controls. The attributable mortality rate was 45.07% (OR = 17.0; IC 95% = 3.58-202.26; p = 0.000001). The length of hospital stay median time was of 32.55 days for the cases and 29.75 for the controls (p = 0.32). CONCLUSION: A high level of sepsis by MRSA was observed in all the Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. The bloodstream hospital infection by MRSA itself does provide a high level of mortality independently from the patients base disease, without however, increasing their hospital length of stay.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Acute acalculous cholecystitis.

Thirty-two patients with acute acalculous cholecystitis are presented. The age of the patients ranged from 1 to 80 years, with an average of 46.3 years. Acute acalculous cholecystitis occurred during the postoperative period in only four patients. Three patients were receiving total parenteral nutrition and 16 patients had one or more associated medical diseases. One patient had acute acalculous cholecystitis due to mechanical obstruction of the cystic duct caused by a diaphragmatic hernia. The most frequent signs and symptoms were right upper quadrant abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, abdominal mass, and jaundice. All patients were subjected to cholecystectomy. Nine (28.1%) gallbladder specimens had gangrene. Pericholecystic perforation was observed in four patients (12.5%) free perforation in one patient (3.1%), and empyema of the gallbladder in one patient (3.1%). Bacteria were cultured from 18 of 24 bile specimens. E. coli was the most common organism isolated. The overall postoperative mortality and complication rates were 15.6% and 40.6% respectively. The average hospital stay was 16.4 days.

Acute Disease↗