Biomedical subjects

Paul Harris

Publications and source records attributed to Paul Harris.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

[Cholelithiasis in children: a clinical and morphological study].

BACKGROUND: The use of ultrasonography increased the frequency of diagnosis of cholelithiasis in childhood. AIM: To determine the clinical and laboratory features and follow up of children with biliary stones. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty six children (13 male, aged 1 month to 14 years) were prospectively enrolled. RESULTS: Nine children had a past medical history of factors potentially predisposing to stones. A clinical presentation with vomiting (50%), abdominal pain (46%) and jaundice (23%) was the most common indication for surgery. The diagnosis was based on abdominal ultrasound in all children. Cholecystectomy was performed in 15 children (laparoscopy in 13 and open surgery in 2). Children who underwent surgery were older than those who did not undergo surgery (p < 0.001), but they did not have differences in liver function tests. Eight children had pigmented stones and seven had cholesterol stones. CONCLUSIONS: In our patients, neither family history nor laboratory tests were useful in the diagnosis as well as in the clinical decision of surgery, which was based on symptoms. The presence of cholesterol stones in a high proportion of these children may be a unique situation in Chile, considering the high prevalence of this disease in the adult population.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Revising the Competitiveness Index using factor analysis.

The Competitiveness Index is a 20-item true-false measure designed to assess the desire to win in interpersonal situations. To develop a more psychometrically sound form of the scale, 213 undergraduates were administered the original form and a modified version containing a 5-point Likert-type scale. An initial principal component analysis using a varimax rotation of the modified version yielded a four-factor solution accounting for 54.5% of the explained variance. Based on a subsequent reliability analysis. six items were dropped from the modified scale. A second analysis produced a two-factor solution accounting for 54.1% of the explained variance. Both factors (Enjoyment of Competition and Contentiousness) formed reliable subscales. The 14-item Revised Competitiveness Index had high internal consistency and was positively correlated with the original Competitiveness Index, the competitiveness subscales of the Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire, the Sports Orientation Questionnaire, and the Nach Naff measure of Need for Achievement.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

[Correlation between phenotype and genotype in a group of patients with cystic fibrosis].

BACKGROUND: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common lethal autosomic disease in Caucasians, with a global incidence of 1:3000 newborns. More than 900 mutations have been described, involving the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator (CFTR). The delta F508 mutation is present in 60% of alleles studied worldwide. AIM: To report 25 patients with cystic fibrosis in whom a genetic study was done. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty five patients (14 men, aged between 18 months and 25 years) with a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis based on clinical features plus two abnormal sweat tests are reported. The genetic study considered the 20 most common mutations in cystic fibrosis and was done in genomic DNA of peripheral lymphocytes, by polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: A mutation was found in 75% of analyzed alleles. delta F508 was present in 50% of cases (delta F508/delta F508 in 8 and delta F508/other in 11). When delta F508 was present, pancreatic insufficiency was always a feature and nutritional status was worse. Respiratory involvement was variable, both for homozygous and heterozygous cases. Other severe mutations such as W128X and G542X were related to clinical manifestations similar to those found in delta F508 mutation. Diagnosis was made before six months of age in 12 patients. The clinical presentation was meconium ileus and there was a family history of the disease in most cases. The majority of cases of early diagnosis presented severe mutations, but milder respiratory symptoms and lesser nutritional compromise at the time of assessment. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients studied had a severe cystic fibrosis mutation, which was associated with more severe respiratory, pancreatic and nutritional involvement. The early diagnosis of the disease, which would allow to improve the prognosis and the quality of life, must be emphasized.

Adolescent↗