PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

R Reif

Publications and source records attributed to R Reif.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

[Gallbladder polyps].

There is a relatively high incidence of asymptomatic gallbladder polyps in the general population (1.5-9.5%). We present a 61-year-old woman who had a 22 x 37 mm polyp of the gallbladder.

Female

[Desmoid tumors].

Desmoid tumors in various anatomic sites were treated in 4 females and 3 males, ranging in age from 16-50 years, during a 6-year period. In 5 the tumor was completely excised with free margins. In the other 2 excision was incomplete and the tumor recurred within a few months. Desmoid tumors have a marked tendency to local recurrence, and therefore should be widely excised. There is no evidence that adjuvant therapy has a place in the management of these tumors.

Adolescent

Intraosseous neurilemmoma of skull--single case report.

Intraosseous neurilemmoma is a rare benign tumour of the bone with characteristic radiological and histological features. The most common places of this tumor are mandible, sacrum and vertebral bodies. A case of a not previously reported location of this tumor in the vault of the skull is presented.

Biopsy

[Presystolic increasing maximal flow velocity in the intracranial vessels in 3 children with heart failure].

The doppler-sonographic examination of flow velocities in intracerebral arteries is of central importance in the diagnostic evaluation of potential neurologic complications in intensive care patients. Furthermore pulsed Doppler-sonography can assess the hemodynamic consequences of several congenital heart defects (e.g. the ductus arteriosus Botalli). Characteristics of the normal flow profile in the intracranial arteries are the systolic and diastolic forward flow caused by the "Windkessel" function of the aorta. Well known pathologic flow profiles (systolically and diastolically increased flow velocities, diastolically decreased flow velocities and diastolic retrograde flow) occur in neurologic and cardiovascular diseases. We have investigated three children after cardiac surgery, who showed a presystolic increase in the flow velocities, which is clearly different from the flow profiles mentioned above. In our opinion, this abnormal flow pattern is due to a decreased ventricular output in combination with an elevated central venous pressure in these patients.

Aortic Valve Stenosis

Early pyeloplasty for idiopathic hydronephrosis.

Evaluation has been made of a total of 272 patients who underwent surgery for hydronephrosis at the Department of Urology, Faculty Hospital in Olomouc, from 1979 to 1983. On the whole 221 (81%) pyeloplasties and 51 (19%) nephrectomies were performed. Five grades of hydronephrotic nephropathy were distinguished according to their significance. The clinical evaluation was based mainly on the results of excretory urography. The five grades of hydronephrosis were also characterized on the basis of the histological and electron-microscopical patterns and perioperational bioptic findings. Besides the dystrophic changes, seen on the tubular system of the kidney were morphological signs of regeneration, viz. the incidence of differentiated, pale "regeneration cells". However, in advanced stages of hydronephrosis, also these cells are subject to dystrophy making the hydronephrotic changes in the kidney irreversible. On the basis of the histological and clinical findings in correlation with the results of pyeloplasty the authors recommend to operate upon patients with Grades I-II hydronephrosis.

Adolescent

[Faulty origin of the right subclavian artery from the pulmonary artery: a rare cause of subclavian steal syndrome in childhood].

A congenital subclavian steal syndrome may be caused by coarctation or interruption of the aortic isthmus or by isolation of a subclavian artery. We describe a patient with D-transposition of the great arteries, a left aortic arch, and isolation of the right subclavian artery which originated from the right pulmonary artery via a right ductus arteriosus. A subclavian steal syndrome was demonstrated noninvasively by echocardiography and doppler sonography of the cerebral arteries. We recommend routine cerebral doppler sonography for all infants with congenital heart disease and unilaterally weak brachial pulses. Since the long term outcome of the congenital subclavian steal syndrome is uncertain the aberrant subclavian artery should be reimplanted at the time of corrective cardiac surgery.

Angiocardiography

Autosomal recessive lipid storage myopathy (probable carnitine deficiency).

Two sisters died at the age of 17 and 19, respectively, of a myopathy with exacerbations and remissions characterised by pain and weakness of muscles which ended fatally with lactic acidosis and respiratory failure. The clinical picture was very similar to that described in some cases of carnitine deficiency and the histochemical finding of many lipid-filled vacuoles in muscle fibres and the electron microscopical findings were identical to those reported in that disease. The finding of affected sisters supports autosomal recessive mode of inheritance.

Adolescent

Severe lower limb malformation associated with other deformities and death in infancy in two brothers.

Two brothers with severe and rare lower limb malformations but normal upper limbs are described. Both brothers had glans hypospadias and they died in early infancy. In the first brother the limb malformation was a severe deformity of the right foot which was split and of rockerbottom shape with oligosyndactyly. In the second brother the right limb below the knee was more severely deformed while only the toes were involved in the left limb. Details of the clinical and pathological findings are described. The most likely mode of inheritance of this rare syndrome is autosomal recessive or X-linked recessive with variable expressivity.

Abnormalities, Multiple

Radiation-induced fibrosarcoma following treatment for breast cancer.

A patient with radiation-induced fibrosarcoma following mastectomy and postoperative radiation for bilateral breast carcinoma is described. Only six such cases have been reported in the literature. In this patient erosion of the axillary artery produced massive hemorrhage, and emergency transthoracic ligation of the subclavian artery caused gangrene of the extremity and empyema and sepsis. Interscapulothoracic amputation not only was life-saving but offered the patient a reasonable chance for long-term survival. Only aggressive surgical management can salvage a patient with radiation-induced sarcoma.

Breast Neoplasms

Prevention of the respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants by antepartum glucocorticoid therapy.

A trial of antepartum dexamethasone therapy was carried out in 55 mothers in whom premature delivery threatned between 28 to 36 weeks gestation in the hope of reducing the incidence of respiratory distress syndromes (RDS). The control group was made up of 62 mothers who delivered prematurely in the same gestational age without any treatment. In the treated group isoxsuprine was used to delay delivery when necessary. The respiratory dif infants (8.3 per cent) than in the controls (35.2 per cent; p less than 0.001). The difference was more marked in babies of under 32 weeks gestation. Considering only cases with intact membranes the incidence of RDS was significantly (p less than 0.01) lower in the treated group. Early neonatal mortality was 6.6 per cent in the treated group and 38 per cent (p less than 0.0001) in the controls. In 12 cases the L/S ratio was measured during dexamethasone administration and in the majority of these the L/S ratio rose sharply to mature values following treatment. This rise was observed as soon as 48 hours after beginning of dexamethasone. Antepartum isoxsuprine in the treated group had no apparent effect on the incidence of RDS. No adverse effects of steroid therapy were observed. This trial confirms the studies of others that antepartum glucocorticoid can significantly reduce the incidence of RDS in premature infants.

Amniotic Fluid