Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P M Levitin.
Three patients were found to have calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition disease (CPPD) as the cause of prolonged fever and elevated sedimentation rate. All responded to treatment. CPPD should be considered in evaluating patients with fever and high sedimentation rate.
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The influence of patterns of usage on the structure and function of the hands was formally tested. Three groups of female textile workers, each employed in a distinct and defined, atraumatic, repetitive, stereotyped manual task for at least 20 years, were identified in a single rural mill. Replicate data were obtained for the following measures of structure and function: range of motion, a score for the degree of radiographic degenerative changes at each hand joint, malalignment at digital joints determined radiographically, and a quantitative measure of osteophyte formation. Significant and consistent differences in the right hand when compared to the left were detected. Furthermore, highly significant task-related differences were demonstrated. These task-related differences in the structure and function of the hands were consistent with the pattern of usage. Therefore these three patterns of usage influence hand structure and function in the population studied.
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A patient with systemic lupus erythematosus developed an acute surgical abdomen secondary to spontaneous rupture of the liver and died. Postmortem examination revealed an arteritis of the liver, pancreas, adrenal gland, skeletal muscle, and spleen. It appeared that an arteritis of the liver produced areas of infarction that ruptured and caused the clinical findings.
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Twenty-three (85.2%) of 27 female patients with ankylosing spondylitis were positive for HLA-B27 antigen, including 15 of 18 white women (83.3%) and eight of nine black women (88.9%). Ankylosing spondylitis in women appears to have the same high association with HLA-B27 antigen as that reported in predominantly male studies (88% to 96%). Determination of this antigen may be useful in the evaluation of female patients suspected of having ankylosing spondylitis.
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A case of Reiter's syndrome associated with a dissecting popliteal cyst mimicking deep vein thrombophlebitis is reported. The cyst was diagnosed by arthrography and responded to intra-articular injection of corticosteroids. The diagnosis of a dissecting popliteal cyst should be considered in a patient with arthritis of the knee joint from any cause and who develops signs and symptoms of thrombophlebitis.
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Skin biopsy specimens from normal subjects and patients with mixed connective tissue disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis were examined for the presence of a "band" of immunoglobulins and complement at the dermal-epidermal junction, using immunofluorescent techniques. A positive immunofluorescent band test was found in the clinically uninvolved skin in three of six patients with mixed connective tissue disease, five of six patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, and none of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis or normal subjects. Although a positive immunofluorescent band test in uninvolved skin has been considered to be fairly specific for the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus, our results suggest that this test cannot be used to distinguish mixed connective tissue disease from systemic lupus erythematosus.
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