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Biomedical subjects

P B Deverall

Publications and source records attributed to P B Deverall.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

A study of the stability of orientation in the CarboMedics bileaflet heart valve prosthesis.

A total of 25 CarboMedics bileaflet prostheses was studied in the immediate postoperative period and at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after surgery. No evidence of rotation was found on visual comparison of valve orientation and there were no significant differences between successive studies for the distance between the septum and either the anterior (P = 0.92) or posterior leaflet (P = 1.00) of valves in the mitral position. The possibility of spontaneous rotation is a potential drawback not only of the CarboMedics prosthesis, but also of designs currently being developed. This study suggests that major rotation does not occur commonly.

Adult

Double-outlet right ventricle: morphologic demonstration using nuclear magnetic resonance imaging.

Sixteen patients with double-outlet right ventricle, aged 1 week to 29 years (median 5 months), were studied with a 1.5 tesla nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging scanner. Two-dimensional echocardiography was performed in all patients. Thirteen patients underwent angiography, including nine who underwent subsequent surgical correction. Three patients underwent postmortem examination. Small children and infants were scanned inside a 32 cm diameter proton head coil. Multiple 5 mm thick sections separated by 0.5 mm and gated to the patient's electrocardiogram were acquired with a spin-echo sequence and an echo time of 30 ms. A combination of standard and oblique imaging planes was used. Imaging times were less than 90 min. The NMR images were technically unsuitable in one patient because of excessive motion artifact. In the remaining patients, the diagnosis of double outlet right ventricle was confirmed and correlated with surgical and postmortem findings. The NMR images were particularly valuable in demonstrating the interrelations between the great arteries and the anatomy of the outlet septum and the spatial relations between the ventricular septal defect and the great arteries. Although the atrioventricular (AV) valves were not consistently demonstrated, NMR imaging in two patients identified abnormalities of the mitral valve that were not seen with two-dimensional echocardiography. In one patient who had a superoinferior arrangement of the ventricles, NMR imaging was the most useful imaging technique for demonstrating the anatomy. In patients with double-outlet right ventricle, NMR imaging can provide clinically relevant and accurate morphologic information that may contribute to future improvement in patient management.

Angiography

Doppler evaluation of superior caval venous pathways after Mustard and Senning operations.

Doppler waveforms from the superior caval vein were analysed to evaluate the patency of superior caval venous pathways following venous redirection (Mustard and Senning) operations for complete transposition. The group consisted of 26 unselected survivors of Mustard (9 patients) and Senning operations (17 patients). Patients were examined a mean of 5.9 (range 0.1-15.3) years following operation and their age at study ranged from 0.4-25.3 years, mean 7.3 years. Doppler waveforms were correlated with digital subtraction angiograms, which were performed in every patient within 24 hours of the Doppler study. Totally occluded superior caval venous pathways were identified in 3 patients with digital subtraction angiography. The remaining patients had angiographically patent pathways. In the 23 patients with patent pathways, Doppler waveforms demonstrated an initial systolic peak smaller than a second diastolic peak. In the 3 patients with totally occluded pathways, the pattern of the waveform was reversed, with the systolic larger than the diastolic peak. Doppler examination of the superior caval vein is a quick and simple bedside method of accurately determining patency of superior caval venous pathways after atrial redirection procedures for complete transposition.

Adolescent

Normal and stenotic human aortic valve opening: in vitro assessment of orifice area changes with flow.

The ability to measure aortic valve area clinically has emphasized the need to understand the changes in aortic valve orifice area during flow. To compare the performance of normal and stenotic human aortic valves we used a pulsatile flow model that simulated in vivo flow conditions. Five normal autopsy specimens and 15 stenotic valves removed at operation were mounted into the model. Valve function was assessed by analysis of video recordings of valve leaflet motion during flow. Over the flow rates tested normal valves demonstrated a linear increase in orifice area. There was no resistance to leaflet opening and valve closure was rapid. The majority of stenotic valves demonstrated an increase in orifice area at low flow rates. No valve showed any increase in maximal area beyond flow rates of 3 l min-1. Increased leaflet resistance of these abnormal valves resulted in notably slower opening and closing rates. In patients with a high cardiac output and severe stenosis, overestimation of the anatomic orifice area derived by the Gorlin equation can result. This is not related to variability in maximal orifice area.

Aortic Valve

In vitro measurement of stenotic human aortic valve orifice area in a pulsatile flow model. Validation of the continuity equation.

Aortic valve orifice area estimation in patients with aortic stenosis may be obtained non-invasively using several Doppler echocardiographic methods. Their validity has been established by correlation with catheterization data using the Gorlin formula, with its inherent limitations, and small discrepancies between the methods are present. To evaluate these differences further, 15 patients with severe aortic stenosis (mean transvalvular gradient 70, range 40-130 mmHg) had aortic valve area estimations by Doppler echocardiography using two variations of the continuity equation. The intact valves removed at valve replacement surgery were then mounted in a pulsatile model and the anatomical area was measured (mean 0.67 +/- 0.17 cm-2) from video recordings during flow at 5.4 l min-1. Aortic valve area calculated using the integrals of the velocity-time curves measured at the left ventricular outflow tract and aortic jet (mean 0.65 +/- 0.17 cm2) correlated best with the anatomical area (r = 0.87, P less than 0.001). The area derived by using the ratio of maximum velocities from the left ventricular outflow tract and aortic jet (mean 0.69 +/- 0.18 cm2) also correlated well with the anatomical area (r = 0.79, P less than 0.001). The index between the left ventricular outflow tract and aortic jet maximum velocities was less than or equal to 0.25 in all. In patients with severe aortic stenosis the aortic valve area can be reliably estimated using Doppler echocardiography.

Adult

Balloon dilatation of the aortic valve in a pulsatile flow model: assessment of the mechanisms and the magnitude and duration of changes in valve area and gradient.

Eighteen stenotic aortic valves (17 removed at operation) mounted in a pulsatile flow duplicator were dilated with a balloon catheter. Sequential measurements showed that the valve area initially increased from a mean (SD) of 0.52 (0.16) to 0.78 (0.17) cm2. It was 0.73 (0.16) cm2 five minutes after dilatation and this was little changed at four weeks (0.70 (0.15) cm2). Initially the mean transvalvar gradient fell significantly from 54 (27) to 32 (8) mm Hg but increased to 35 (10) mm Hg at five minutes and to 40 (11) mm Hg at four weeks. In six valves stretching of the orifice was the only mechanism responsible for the changes while in the remainder there was tearing through commissures with a greater initial increase in area (0.31 v 0.18 cm2) and a smaller decrease in area at five minutes (0.03 v 0.08 cm2). Fractures of calcific deposits in non-commissural positions were seen in one valve only. This laboratory study of isolated aortic valves showed a significant but small increase in valve area after balloon dilatation, which was greater when commissural tearing had occurred. Recoil of the stretched orifice was complete at five minutes and there was little further change over the next four weeks.

Adult

Double outlet from chambers of left ventricular morphology.

This series of 5 cases with double outlet of morphologically left ventricular chamber includes 4 found during a review of 1700 heart specimens (incidence 0.23%) and 1 found at operation and successfully corrected. Abnormal atrioventricular connection precluding total correction was present in the 4 anatomical cases. Clinical diagnosis may be difficult and it is suggested that axial cineangiography may make anatomical diagnosis easier. Absence of the infundibular septum and aortic laevoposition are frequent. As some cases can be surgically corrected, accurate information is required on the size of the right ventricle, the morphology and function of the atrioventricular valves, the presence, size, and position of the ventricular septal defect, and the degree and type of outflow tract obstruction.

Heart

Levamisole and surgery in bronchial carcinoma patients: increase in deaths from cardiorespiratory failure.

Life table analysis of early entry to this randomised blind trial of 318 patients has shown a significantly poorer survival for resected lung cancer patients treated with levamisole for three days before operation and three days a fortnight thereafter than for placebo-treated controls. This excess was largely due to deaths that had been attributed to operation or other causes (non-cancer deaths), most occurring in the six weeks after operation. In the 99 resected patients treated with levamisole there was a 15% excess of deaths in this category, compared with the placebo-treated controls. Extensive analysis excluded maldistribution of patients between the groups as a cause of this difference. Many more died in respiratory distress, mostly without clear cause, in the levamisole group. Antibody (lgG) reacting with myocardial sarcolemma or sarcoplasm was found in the only serum samples available for testing which were drawn from patients during the syndrome. The findings are in keeping with a primary effect on the heart, possibly involving an autoimmune mechanism. The effect has not been noted in other trials.

Adenocarcinoma

Heparin administration during extracorporeal circulation: heparin rebound and postoperative bleeding.

The individual variations in heparin dose response and heparin activity decay have indicated limitations of the protocols based on body surface area and weight of the patients. In the present study the heparin levels and simpler clotting tests were monitored in a consecutive series of 71 patients undergoing standard cardiac operations. The clotting tests used were the Celite activated clotting time (Celite ACT) and the whole blood activated recalcification time (BART). Forty-four patients received a loading dose of heparin, 3 mg. per kilogram, a maintenance dose of heparin, 1.5 mg. per kilogram per hour, and 6 mg. of protamine sulfate per kilogram at the termination of extracorporeal circulation (ECC) (Protocol I). Twenty-seven patients received a similar initial dose, but the maintenance dose of heparin and the dosage of protamine sulfate were administered according to the measured heparin levels (Protocol II). A significant difference was seen in the measured heparin levels (p less than 0.01, Celite ACT (p less than 0.01), and BART (p less than 0.01) in patients on Protocols I and II. Ten of the 24 patients on Protocol I and none on Protocol II showed heparin rebound phenomenon, and blood loss in patients on Protocol I was significantly greater than that in patients on Protocol II. The study clearly demonstrates that our protocol of heparin administration and control with simpler tests ensures safe hypocoagulation during ECC and efficient reversal at the end, with minimal postoperative blood loss.

Adolescent

A teratoma of the lung containing thymic tissue.

A case of a benign, cystic intrapulmonary teratoma occurring in the left lobe of a 63-yr-old female is described and the typical clinical symptoms and distinguishing X-ray appearances which may be helpful in diagnosing this rare tumour are mentioned. The connection between the tumor and the segmental bronchus clearly established the true intrapulmonary nature of the lesion in this case and the unusual finding of thymic tissue within the wall supports previous speculation regarding the possible thymic origin of these neoplasms.

Choristoma

Height and weight gain after total correction of Fallot's tetralogy.

In a consecutive series of 100 cases of Fallot's tetralogy undergoing total correction, the mean birthweight was found to be just below the 50th centile. Blalock-Taussig or Waterston shunts were performed in 45 patients. Before their shunt operations a significant number of patients had become retarded in height and weight development but after the shunt operations many patients showed accelerated height and weight gain. Of the 73 patients followed up 2 years after correction, 23 had experienced accelerated development in both weight and height, but 11 patients remained on or below the 3rd centile for weight and height. In terms of the age at shunting, the oxygen saturation immediately before total correction, the age at total correction, the number of ventriculotomy patch repairs, and the post-correction ventricular pressure ratios, no significant difference could be detected between those 23 patients who had undergone accelerated development and those 11 who had remained retarded. More shunts, particularly of the Waterston type, were performed in the retarded group.

Adolescent

Aortic levopositions without ventricular inversion.

A multi-center series of aortic levoposition (aorta anterior and to the left of the pulmonary artery) without ventricular inversion is presented and analyzed from an anatomical viewpoint. All the cases are exceptions to the 'loop rule' and amount to 0.9% of the total number or cases reviewed. A combined study of our own cases and those reported in the literature is presented. There is a high incidence of anomalies (malrotations, juxtaposition of the atrial appendages, atrioventricular valve anomalies, ventricular septal defects, pulmonary outflow tract obstructions and abnormal conal types) which may be related to the primary cause of the aortic levoposition, suggesting that they may form part of a new syndrome of diagnostic and surgical importance. In some cases, absence of coronary sinus was noted without asplenia or left superior vena cava draining into the left atrium. The major coronary artery pattern in cases of antomically corrected malposition with two well-developed ventricles was similar to that seen with ventricular inversion. Most of these cases can be helped surgically provided accurate and detailed preoperative evaluation and operative assessment and treatment is carried out.

Aorta

Herniation of the heart after intrapericardial pneumonectomy.

Acute cardiac herniation after a radical rightsided pneumonectomy occurred in a 69-year-old man. Approximately 40 cases from the literature are discussed. Early recognition and emergency treatment are essential for patient survival of what showed to be a preventable complication of lung resection.

Aged