PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Ismail

Publications and source records attributed to S Ismail.

85 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Integrated backscatter and digital acquisition during myocardial contrast echocardiography: is there an advantage over conventional echocardiography for intracoronary injections?

This study was designed to answer the question of whether, despite their theoretic superiority, integrated backscatter imaging (IBS) and digital data acquisition (DA) offer any advantage over conventional echocardiography (CE) during quantitative myocardial contrast echocardiography. In vitro experiments were performed (1) to determine the microbubble concentration versus videointensity relationships for CE and IBS and (2) to define the relationship between flow through and microbubble transit rates for CE and IBS. These data were stored on videotape. In vivo experiments were performed whereby microbubbles were injected into the left anterior descending artery at different flow rates in 14 dogs and IBS and CE data were stored both in digital format and on videotape. Although the level of compression did not affect the microbubble concentration versus videointensity plots during IBS compared with CE, in practical terms the mean transit rate, peak intensity, and area under the curve were not affected by the level of compression for both forms of imaging as long as the postprocessing used for CE imaging was linear and the microbubble dose was small. In addition, although DA resulted in higher peak intensity and area under the curve compared with storage on videotape because of its broader dynamic range, the correlation between these measurements was excellent with both forms of image storage. We conclude that, although differences exist between CE and IBS and between Da and analog acquisition, these differences do not significantly affect the derivation of parameters from time-intensity plots during myocardial contrast echocardiography when contrast material is injected into a coronary artery.

Animals↗

Transpulmonary transit of microbubbles during contrast echocardiography: implications for estimating cardiac output and pulmonary blood volume.

We postulated that the pulmonary transit rate of sonicated albumin microbubbles, which have an intravascular rheology similar to that of red blood cells, would be directly proportional to cardiac output (CO) and inversely proportional to pulmonary blood volume (PBV). Accordingly, 4 ml of Albunex ultrasound contrast agent (0.5 billion/ml of 4.3 mu bubbles) was injected into the right atrium of six dogs (Group I) during simultaneously performed two-dimensional echocardiography, and the time between the initial appearance of the bubbles in the right and left ventricle, respectively, was measured. CO was either increased (by intravenous infusion of 15 micrograms/kg/min of dobutamine) or decreased (by producing left ventricular ischemia or by administering 2 mg of intravenous propranolol) in a random order and microbubbles were injected again. At each stage, thermodilution CO was measured. There was a close linear relation between CO and pulmonary transit rate of Albunex in each dog with the correlation coefficient ranging from 0.79 to 0.99, with a mean of 0.92. Pulmonary blood volume was derived in each dog from the reciprocal of the slope of the regression between CO and pulmonary transit rate and varied from 106 to 261 ml in the six dogs with a mean value of 178 +/- 64 ml. There was excellent interobserver and intraobserver correlation (r = 0.99 each) for determining the pulmonary transit rate of Albunex. The reproducibility of pulmonary transit rate estimation from repeated contrast injections at the same hemodynamic state in another group of six dogs (Group II) was also good (r = 0.99). It is concluded that the pulmonary transit rate of Albunex ultrasound contrast agent can be used to assess directional changes in CO and to measure pulmonary blood volume. This method may have clinical applications.

Albumins↗

Attenuation deforms time-intensity curves during contrast echocardiography: implications for assessment of mean transit rates.

The mean transit rate of microbubbles of air obtained from time-intensity curves during contrast echocardiography can be used to evaluate flow through a vascular system, provided the volume of distribution of the system remains constant. We hypothesized that attenuation commonly associated with contrast echocardiography distorts the time-intensity curves, producing an error in the estimation of the mean transit rate of the microbubbles. The purpose of this study was to characterize this distortion with computer simulations and to study the effect of attenuation on the estimation of mean transit rate in an in vitro experiment. We also sought to determine if removing the data points from the time-intensity plots that visually can be attributed to attenuation before curve fitting can minimize the error in the estimation of mean microbubble transit rate. In both computer simulations and experimentally acquired in vitro data, attenuation distorted the time-intensity curves, producing an underestimation of mean microbubble transit rates. The mean microbubble transit rate decreased with an increase in microbubble concentration. Removing the points that visually were attributed to attenuation before curve fitting did not correct this error completely in the computer-simulated data and failed to correct it at all in the experimental data. These results have major practical implications in assessing mean microbubble transit rates during contrast echocardiography.

Albumins↗

Serum organochlorine pesticide levels in patients with colorectal cancer in Egypt.

The widespread use of pesticides in Egypt, the high incidence of colorectal cancer in Egyptian children and young adults, and the published U.S. case reports in which pesticides have been connected with colorectal cancer led the authors to investigate the possible association between organochlorines and colorectal cancer. The authors conducted a pilot study to describe serum organochlorine levels among 31 Egyptian colorectal patients and 17 controls. High levels and large interindividual variability of p,p'-dichloro-diphenyldicholoroethylene (DDE), dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroanthane (DDT), beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH), and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) levels were found among most subjects, especially those from rural areas. Farming and aging were each associated positively with high serum organochlorines. Colorectal cancer patients had higher serum organochlorines levels than controls. The high levels of organochlorines reported and their relation to age, residence, occupation, and disease status justify further study of the possible association between organochlorine pesticides and colorectal cancer in a larger population in Egypt.

Adult↗

A child-to-child programme in rural Jamaica.

A child-to-child programme was carried out in six rural schools in Jamaica. School children in grades 4 and 5 were taught concepts of nutrition, environmental and personal hygiene, and child development. The children were encouraged to take messages home to their parents and improve the care of their younger siblings. Four hundred and twenty-three children and 90 mothers and guardians from four of the project schools were evaluated and compared with 199 children and 47 parents from two control schools. The project children showed higher scores on a test of knowledge in the topics at the end of the year. They also improved in some practices at home. The mothers improved in knowledge in some areas but not in their practices. We consider the results sufficiently encouraging to justify incorporating the programme into the country's education curriculum for primary schools.

Adult↗