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Biomedical subjects

R J Shiner

Publications and source records attributed to R J Shiner.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Exercise dependent complete left bundle branch block.

Eleven patients with an exercise dependent complete left bundle branch block (CLBBB) were followed-up over a period of 2-13 years (mean 6.5 +/- 3.8). Their ages ranged from 19 to 62 years (mean 48). Four patients complained of chest pain on effort and one of palpitations. All patients underwent a clinical examination, 12 lead ECG, routine blood tests, chest X-ray, a multistage exercise test, echo Doppler, radionuclide ventriculography with TC99 and 48-h Holter monitoring. Ten were submitted to a coronary angiography with left ventriculography. The ECG at rest displayed a normal ECG in seven patients and an incomplete left bundle branch block (ILBBB) in four patients. The onset heart rate (HR) of CLBBB ranged from 95-146 beats.min-1 (mean 123) and the offset HR75-135 (mean 102 beats.min-1). Coronary angiography showed three-vessel disease in two patients and an obstruction of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) in the third. In the other seven patients all the investigations (including coronary angiography) were normal. During the follow-up period the HR at onset of CLBBB decreased from 145 beats.min-1 to 100 beats.min-1 in four patients but no coronary artery disease (CAD) could be proven at coronary angiography. In our series chest pain did not always signify the presence of CAD. We conclude, that in patients with exercise-dependent CLBBB the prognosis is good if no underlying heart disease can be detected. It appears from our limited experience that an exercise-dependent CLBBB at heart rate below 125 beats.min-1 does not by itself constitute a sign of CAD.

Bundle-Branch Block

Pronounced reduction of aortic flow velocity and acceleration during heavy isometric exercise in coronary artery disease.

Doppler-derived parameters of aortic flow were examined during heavy isometric exercise in 48 men with coronary artery disease (CAD) and in 48 gender- and age-matched healthy controls. The aim was to determine which parameters best separated the groups and to look for a possible relation between exercise-induced Doppler patterns and the extent of CAD. Isometric exercise was performed with a 2-hand bar dynamometer, and the subjects were required to perform 50% of maximal voluntary contraction for 2 minutes. Examination was performed with a pulsed Doppler transducer positioned at the suprasternal notch. Resting peak flow velocity, acceleration time, stroke volume index and cardiac index did not show significant differences between the groups. However, mean acceleration and stroke work were significantly lower in patients with CAD. In this group, exercise peak flow velocity decreased from 98 +/- 13 to 55 +/- 12 cm/s, flow velocity integral from 14 +/- 3 to 7 +/- 3 cm, mean acceleration from 11 +/- 0.9 to 4.7 +/- 1 m/s/s, and stroke volume index from 41 +/- 6 to 23 +/- 4 ml/m2 (p less than 0.001 for all). Cardiac index decreased from 2.7 +/- 0.4 to 2 +/- 0.2 liters/min/m2 (p less than 0.05). Acceleration time increased from 82 +/- 6 to 116 +/- 7 ms. In most of the indexes, the directional changes induced by isometric exercise were similar in patients with CAD and in normal control subjects. The differences compared with the rest values were significantly greater in the CAD group, and especially in patients presenting with 3-vessel disease.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult

Familial multiple bilateral pneumothorax associated with Marfan syndrome.

Three members of one family, a father and two sons, inflicted with Marfan syndrome, suffered multiple bilateral episodes of spontaneous pneumothorax that required repeated drainage procedures. The youngest patient also had an episode of unilateral expansion pulmonary edema; he underwent sequential pleural abrasions. Familial pneumothorax is very uncommon, and its association with Marfan syndrome is an exception.

Adult

Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of methotrexate in steroid-dependent asthma.

69 patients with steroid-dependent asthma (mean daily prednisolone dose 14.2 [SD 6.1] mg) took part in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 24 weeks' treatment with methotrexate 15 mg weekly. The patients were seen every 4 weeks by the same physician, who reduced the daily prednisolone dose by 2.5 mg if the daily diary card variables and measurements of lung function were unchanged or improved. All other treatment remained unchanged. After 24 weeks of treatment the prednisolone dose had been reduced by a significantly greater proportion in the methotrexate than in the placebo group (50% vs 14%) and the reduction was not sustained after the study treatment stopped. There were substantial abnormalities in liver function tests in 5 of the 38 patients taking methotrexate.

Administration, Oral

Role of nocturnal hypoxaemia in the genesis of systemic hypertension.

Two groups of patients with nocturnal arterial oxygen desaturation were compared. The degree of nocturnal oxygen desaturation, as reflected by the percentage of total sleep time spent with an oxygen saturation less than 90 and 80%, was similar in patients with the obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) and in those with nocturnal hypoventilation (NH) secondary to restrictive chest wall disease. Systemic hypertension was present in 16 of the 24 OSAS patients but in only 6 of the 24 with NH (p less than 0.005). Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that this difference remained significant even after adjustment for age, sex, weight and history of smoking. It is likely that factors other than nocturnal hypoxaemia are important in the aetiology of systemic hypertension in patients with sleep-related breathing disorders.

Female