PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P R Davidson

Publications and source records attributed to P R Davidson.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): a meta-analysis.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), a controversial treatment suggested for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other conditions, was evaluated in a meta-analysis of 34 studies that examined EMDR with a variety of populations and measures. Process and outcome measures were examined separately. and EMDR showed an effect on both when compared with no treatment and with therapies not using exposure to anxiety-provoking stimuli and in pre post EMDR comparisons. However, no significant effect was found when EMDR was compared with other exposure techniques. No incremental effect of eye movements was noted when EMDR was compared with the same procedure without them. R. J. DeRubeis and P. Crits-Christoph (1998) noted that EMDR is a potentially effective treatment for noncombat PTSD. but studies that examined such patient groups did not give clear support to this. In sum, EMDR appears to be no more effective than other exposure techniques, and evidence suggests that the eye movements integral to the treatment, and to its name, are unnecessary.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Analysis of hyperamylasemia in patients with severe head injury.

To evaluate the influence of severe head injury (SHI) on amylase activity, we studied the amylase profile of 60 patients with SHIs and Glasgow Coma Scores less than 10. Fourteen additional multiple trauma patients without head injuries were studied as a control group. We excluded patients with pancreatic injury and abdominal trauma. Total serum amylase (TA), pancreatic isoamylase (PA), and nonpancreatic isoamylase (NPA) levels were measured on Days 0, 2, 4, 7, and 14 postinjury. Values greater than 2 SD above the normal mean were considered elevated. All SHI patients were comatose; 14 died. In the SHI group, TA increased in 23 patients, PA increased in 40, and NPA increased in 14. The source of hyperamylasemia was PA in 14, NPA in one, and mixed in 8 patients. While PA increases occurred throughout the study, NPA elevations occurred early. These increases did not correlate with shock (BP less than 80 mm Hg; 17 patients), facial trauma (24 patients), or associated injury (29 patients). On Day 7 postinjury, the mean TA (215 du%) and the mean PA (203.8 du%) were significantly elevated in the SHI patients compared to controls (122.1 du%, P less than 0.05, Wilcoxon's rank sum test). These data indicate that serum amylase is not a reliable index of pancreatic injury in patients with SHI. Severe head injury and multiple trauma activate pathways that increase amylase levels in the blood, suggesting a central nervous system regulation of serum amylase levels.

Amylases↗

A systematic study of host defense processes in badly injured patients.

A prospective study of factors predisposing to infection in badly injured patients has disclosed: the dominant roles of two specific parameters: monocyte antigen presenting capacity, and opsonic capacity of diluted serum; the potential value of further assessment of: the predictive value of plots of activated T-cells/total T-cells versus monocyte antigen presenting capacity, the apparent protective effect of the ability to sharply increase specific IgM in response to infection, and the apparent protective effect of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in the first 28 days after injury against major bacterial infection; the lack of value of analysis of other T- and B-cell subsets in such patients; and the need to clarify CMV and transfusion status with respect to interpretation of such data. The specific role of variable transfusion and of specific serum immunoglobulins will require further and more discriminating study.

Adolescent↗