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Biomedical subjects

P O Behan

Publications and source records attributed to P O Behan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Plasma-exchange combined with immunosuppressive therapy in myasthenia gravis.

Twenty-one patients with myasthenia gravis underwent a course of plasma exchange combined with immunosuppressive therapy. In fifteen there was dramatic clinical improvement which has been maintained for periods up to 19 months. Nine of these patients now take no anticholinesterase drugs. Six patients had a recurrence 3--9 months after the first course but in the three given a second course remissions were again obtained.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Brain damage complicating septic shock: acute haemorrhagic leucoencephalitis as a complication of the generalised Shwartzman reaction.

The neuropathological findings in six patients who developed neurological signs after the onset of "septic shock" caused by Gram-negative septicaemia are described. The changes in the brains were characteristic of acute haemorrhagic leucoencephalitis, and there was evidence, particularly in the kidneys, of disseminated intravascular coagulation with tubular necrosis and, in some, appearances indistinguishable from membrano-proliferative glomerulonephritis. It is agreed that acute haemorrhagic leucoencephalitis is another manifestation of a generalised Shwartzman reaction, and it is suggested that activation of complement is the final common pathway that produces tissue damage in the brain and kidney.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Immune complexes in myasthenia gravis.

Complement components were measured and immune complexes were sought in 75 patients with myasthenia gravis. Thirty-four per cent had decreased concentrations of complement component C4, and 29% had circulating immune complexes. The greatest immunological abnormalities were found in patients with mild disease which supports recent immunoelectronmicroscopic findings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Metabolism of immunoglobulin A, lymphocyte function, and histocompatibility antigens in patients on anticonvulsants.

Low serum IgA levels were found in patients taking phenytoin, together with evidence of depressed T cell function. There was no correlation between the dose or the serum level. A correlation was found, however, with HL-A status, patients with a low IgA showing increased frequency of HL-A2. It is suggested that epileptic patients with HL-A2 status are likely to develop IgA deficiency when given phenytoin.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Post-infectious encephalomyelitis: some aetiological mechanisms.

The possibility that acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and epidemic myalgic encephalomyelitis ('epidemic neuromyasthenia') may share a common pathogenesis is examined and many factors common to the two diseases are described. It is suggested that further study of ADEM may help our understanding of epidemic myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed1977

Hereditary chorea without dementia.

We describe here a distinct syndrome of chorea without dementia, occurring in three generations of a family and inherited as a mendelian dominant.

Adolescent↗