Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Greaves.
Pseudogout is an acute presentation of one type of crystal deposition disease in which calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals are found in the joint spaces of synovial joints. In this case, a 56-year-old caucasian male presented with right sided preauricular swelling, temporomandibular joint arthralgia and restricted mouth opening; he developed identical symptoms on the left side two days later.
BACKGROUND: Patients with reduced left ventricular function and ventricular enlargement after myocardial infarction are at significantly greater risk for congestive heart failure and death. Nevertheless, recovery of ventricular function occurs in a significant proportion of patients after myocardial infarction, and modern reperfusion strategies have been associated with increased recovery of function. OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent and predictors of recovery of ventricular function after anterior Q-wave myocardial infarction in the reperfusion era. DESIGN: Subgroup analysis of the Healing and Early Afterload Reducing Therapy study. SETTING: 35 medical centers in the United States and Canada. PATIENTS: 352 patients with Q-wave anterior myocardial infarction. INTERVENTION: Placebo for 14 days, followed by full-dose (10 mg) ramipril until day 90; low-dose (0.625 mg) ramipril for 90 days; or full-dose ramipril for 90 days. All patients underwent reperfusion therapy. MEASUREMENTS: Echocardiography was performed on day 1 (before randomization), day 14, and day 90 after myocardial infarction. Left ventricular volume and ejection fraction were measured and wall-motion analyses were performed at all three time points in 249 patients and at baseline in an additional 12 patients who died during follow-up. Echocardiographic and nonechocardiographic predictors of ventricular recovery were examined. RESULTS: By day 90, 55 of 252 (22%) patients who had abnormal ejection fraction and wall-motion abnormalities on day 1 demonstrated complete recovery of function (ejection fraction in the normal range and infarct segment length of 0%), and an additional 36% (91 of 252 patients) demonstrated partial recovery of function. At 90 days, 53% (132 of 249) of patients had greater than 5% improvement in ejection fraction, whereas only 16% (39 of 249) had a decrease in ejection fraction of more than 5%. The majority of functional improvement occurred by day 14 after infarction. Of various clinical and echocardiographic measures obtained on day 1, peak creatine kinase level was the strongest independent predictor of subsequent recovery of ventricular function in multivariate analysis. Each 100-unit increase in peak creatine kinase was associated with a 4.3% decreased odds of recovery (P < 0.001) after adjustment for ejection fraction on day 1, extent of akinesis or dyskinesis, treatment regimen, Killip class, age, and sex. CONCLUSION: Significant myocardial stunning with subsequent improvement of ventricular function occurred in the majority of patients after Q-wave anterior myocardial infarction. A lower peak level of creatine kinase, an estimate of the extent of necrosis, is independently predictive of recovery of function. Early functional assessment (day 1 after acute myocardial infarction) had limited ability to predict recovery of ventricular function.
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OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to study the changes in vasoconstrictive neurohormones, N-terminal proatrial natriuretic peptide (Nt-proANP), and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and their relationship with left ventricular (LV) remodeling soon after anterior myocardial infarction (MI). BACKGROUND: The Healing and Afterload Reducing Therapy (HEART) trial has shown that early use of ramipril improves left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and attenuates LV remodeling when initiated soon after MI. This neurohumoral substudy of HEART investigates the changes in vasoconstrictive and natriuretic peptides and their relationship with LV remodeling. METHODS: One hundred twenty-two patients had blood drawn for the measurement of catecholamines, endothelin-I, angiotensin II, Nt-proANP and BNP, and prostacyclins within 24 hours of an MI, and at 3, 14, and 90 days after the MI. Quantitative echocardiograms were performed at baseline and at 14 days. RESULTS: All neurohormones except angiotensin II (P =.12) and prostaglandins were significantly elevated at baseline. Vasoconstrictive neurohormones decreased significantly over time but remained elevated at 14 days. Both Nt-proANP and BNP were elevated within the first 14 days. BNP decreased significantly by 90 days, whereas Nt-proANP exhibited no change between 14 and 90 days. Ramipril decreased plasma levels of angiotensin II at 3 days but had no effect on the other neurohormones. CONCLUSIONS: Neurohumoral activation occurs and persists in patients with anterior MI and overall preserved LV function. Ramipril had only a modest impact on neurohormones despite its significant benefits on LV remodeling soon after MI.
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Drosophila Armadillo is a multifunctional protein implicated in both cell adhesion, as a catenin, and cell signaling, as part of the Wingless signal transduction pathway. We have generated viable fly stocks with alterations in the level of Armadillo available for signaling. Flies from one stock overexpress Armadillo and, as a result, have increased vein material and bristles in the wings. Flies from the other stock have reduced cytoplasmic Armadillo following overexpression of the intracellular domain of DE-cadherin. These flies display a wing-notching phenotype typical of wingless mutations. Both misexpression phenotypes can be dominantly modified by removing one copy of genes known to encode members of the wingless pathway. Here we describe the identification of further mutations that dominantly modify the Armadillo misexpression phenotypes. These mutations are in genes encoding three different functions: establishment and maintenance of adherens junctions, cell cycle control, and Egfr signaling.