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Biomedical subjects

R P Burns

Publications and source records attributed to R P Burns.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Irrigation of the anterior chamber for the treatment of alkali burns.

A 31-year-old man had sodium hydroxide blown into his amblyopic left eye after an explosion caused by placing solid sodium hydroxide cleanser into a plugged drain. The eye was treated with topical and intraocular irrigation, and lactated Ringer's solution and the patient was given topical antibiotics, systemic and topical corticosteroids, and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Acetylcysteine drops were administered, and a contact lens was placed. The patient subsequently developed severe pain, hypopyon, and hyphema. The cornea was ulcerated and perforated 27 days after injury, and the eye was enucleated 70 days after injury.

Adult

Mallory-Weiss syndrome: retrospective review of eight years' experience.

Retrospective review of eight years' experience with the Mallory-Weiss syndrome emphatically supports the need for accurate, early localization of the site of upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Pertinent aspects of the history and physical and laboratory evaluation of this group of patients were analyzed to determine the relative merits of each in diagnosis and treatment. Angiography was helpful as a diagnostic aid in a small group of patients. Endoscopy, the cornerstone of diagnosis, is essential in the choice of the management program. Data from this study support the following conclusions: (1) patients not bleeding at the time of endoscopy rarely require surgical intervention; and (2) patients bleeding at the time of endoscopy vary as to their need for operative treatment and deserve a trial of preliminary medical therapy.

Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage

Immunosuppressive therapy for severe chronic uveitis.

Twenty-five patients with severe, progressive, chronic uveitis who were poorly responsive or unresponsive to corticosteroid therapy received low-dose prednisone and cytotoxic immunosuppressive therapy. Azathioprine (2.0 to 2.5 mg/kg) or chlorambucil (6 to 8 mg) was combined with prednisone (10 to 15 mg) daily in a long-term therapeutic program. All 25 patients exhibited a therapeutic response. In 18 of 25 patients, complete quiescence of the inflammatory process was observed. The remaining seven patients showed a substantial decrease of uveitis with persistence of some inflammatory changes. Adverse side effects that resulted from this therapy were infrequent.

Adolescent

Cholesterol turnover in hereditary crystalline corneal dystrophy of Schnyder.

A patient with hereditary crystalline corneal dystrophy of Schnyder required penetrating keratoplasty because of poor visual acuity. Blood cholesterol was labeled with 14C-cholesterol and 11 days later a penetrating keratoplasty was done. At the time of surgery, corneal levels of cholesterol were much higher than serum levels, showing that cornea is an active site for the uptake and storage of cholesterol in this disorder.

Adult

Pathogenesis of corneal damage from pseudomonas exotoxin A.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A was injected into rabbit corneas. Death of epithelial, endothelial, and stromal cells resulted, and necrosis of the cornea followed. Control eyes with exotoxin neutralized by specific antitoxin showed minimal damage. A dose-response pattern was evident. Antitoxin neutralization of pseudomonas exotoxin A in corneal ulcers may have possible therapeutic implications.

Animals

10 years' experience treating pancreatic and periampullary cancer.

The records of 136 patients with periampullary and pancreatic carcinoma were reviewed and the information compared with other reported series. The clinical presentation with jaundice without other manifestations is associated with the greatest number of potentially curable tumors. The majority of patients were treated by palliative bypass or had exploration and biopsy only. A tissue diagnosis is not imperative before radical excision, providing a systematic preoperative and operative evaluation indicates tumor. Ligation of the pancreatic duct with external drainage results in low morbidity and mortality and good functional results. Radical pancreaticoduodenectomy done in 21 per cent of our patients offers the best palliation and the only hope for cure.

Adult

Human subretinal fluid. Its cellular and subcellular components.

A light and electron microscopical study of subretinal fluid removed at surgery for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment showed a heterogeneity of cell types originating from the neural retina, pigment epithelium, and wandering cells of the blood. Subcellular organelles sedimenting in the centrifuged pellets could be identified as to cell of origin, health of the parent cell, and time since cell rupture. Acellular specimens were typical of angiomatous detachments or long-standing rhegmatogenous detachments. Because various mechanisms of cellular pathophysiology contribute to the destructive and reparative processes during retina detachment, the cytologic analysis of subretinal fluid becomes a useful tool in understanding the biological processes that affect visual recovery or impairment after successful retinal detachment surgery.

Biopsy, Needle

Hereditary cataracts in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus).

A new type of hereditary cataract was predicted in the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) by the presence of syndactyly of the hind feet. Early morphologic changes were found in the equatorial cells that differentiated into new lens fibers. Later swelling at the anterior and posterior poles of these cells produced lens opacities. Anterior and posterior subcapsular cataracts progressed to a hypermature shrunken lens.

Animals

Massive venous injuries associated with penetrating wounds of the liver.

The management of eleven patients with major venous and associated liver injuries has been summarized. Aggressive resuscitation includes early operative intervention. Repair of venous injury can be effected if hemorrhage is contained and stepwise exposure instituted. The critical steps in management include: 1) thoraco-abdominal exposure; 2) intermittent occlusion of the porta hepatis; 3) total liver mobilization; 4) judicious use of cava-hepatic bypass.

Adolescent

Crystals in corneal epithelial lesions of tyrosine-fed rats.

Tyrosine-fed rats develop corneal disease which mimics that found in the human metabolic disorder, tyrosinosis. By electron and polarizing microscopy needle-shaped birefringent crystals are demonstrable in early corneal epithelial lesions of tyronsine-fed rats. The crystals appear as negative images by electron microscopy, their content apparently extracted by fixation and/or embedding fluids. Crystals may be arranged in sheaves or bundles and pass from one cell to another disrupting the continuity of membranes of both cells and nuclei. They are present in desquamating epithelial cells along corneal ulcers. Polarizing microscopy of whole mounts of diseased tissue shows that the crystals are limited to epithelial lesion areas. We hypothesize that the crystals are tyrosine and that crystal growth in cells initiates lesion and subsequent ulcer formation.

Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors