PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Mahmoodian

Publications and source records attributed to S Mahmoodian.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Cervical and breast cancer screening rates in Sioux Indian women.

With increasing evidence of the effectiveness of mass screening in reducing mortality from both cervical and breast cancer, we began to study the rates of cervical cytology and mammography in 1994 for its impact on increased efforts to gain participation among its target population, the Sioux Indian women. Data were collected from 100 diabetic and 100 randomly selected patients aged 50 to 69 years. Patients with diabetes were selected to better evaluate the effects of patient acceptance of screening tests, since these patients are believed to be more motivated to have preventive care. However, this study showed no observable differences. Among the patients with diabetes, 33% had at least one cervical smear and 45% had a mammogram. For patients without diabetes, the rates were 32% and 42%, respectively. The number of patient visits to physicians during the 12-month study period averaged 7 for patients with diabetes and 4 for randomized patients. Thus, this paper contends that missed opportunity and limited access to cancer screening were the main reasons for such displeasing statistics.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Vaginal hysterectomy: the use of a self-retaining retractor.

This report concerns the indications, technique, and safety of vaginal hysterectomy among 213 women. It further examines the comparative risks of complications and costs between 107 patients whose operations were performed with the use of the new retractor during the 5-year period ended June 1991 and 106 other patients whose surgeries were done during 4 preceding years when the retractor was not available. The selected characteristics of the patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy in the two groups were largely similar. When the retractor was used, suturing the cuff and pedicles was easier, as the retractor facilitated good exposure and better visibility. In no case was there any injury or the need for transfusion. Of 7 patients with morbidity, 1 had no demonstrable cause, 3 had urinary tract infection, and 3 had cuff cellulitis of which one progressed into abscess requiring transvaginal drainage 6 days postoperation. My experience with 107 vaginal hysterectomies using the self-retaining retractor demonstrates that the retractor was instrumental in significantly reducing operative time, blood loss, and morbidity.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Appendicitis complicating pregnancy.

In this series, nine pregnant patients had appendectomy. Seven patients had acute appendicitis; pyuria and symptoms suggesting urinary tract infection delayed diagnosis in one whose appendix perforated. Abdominal pain and nausea with or without vomiting were presenting symptoms in all of the patients. Tenderness in the right lower quadrant was present in six. Eight patients, including two with a normal appendix, had leukocytosis with a left shift. There was no fetal or maternal loss. In addition, I reviewed more than 900 other cases of appendectomy during pregnancy, as reported in the literature since 1960. Among 713 previously reported cases of confirmed appendicitis, rupture had occurred in 25%. There were five maternal deaths, all in the group of patients with perforation. Perinatal mortality was 4.8% among patients with acute inflammation only and 19.4% in those with perforative appendicitis. The diagnosis rests on clinical acumen, and prompt surgical intervention is the key to good outcome.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1991

Membrane topology analysis of Escherichia coli mannitol permease by using a nested-deletion method to create mtlA-phoA fusions.

The Escherichia coli mannitol permease catalyzes the concomitant transport and phosphorylation of D-mannitol. This 68-kDa protein consists of a membrane-bound, N-terminal domain involved in mannitol binding and translocation and a C-terminal, cytoplasmic domain responsible for mannitol phosphorylation. Secondary-structure prediction methods suggest that the N-terminal half of the permease spans the membrane approximately seven times in alpha-helical segments, but these data cannot conclusively predict the structure. We have used gene fusions between mtlA (encoding the permease) and 'phoA (encoding alkaline phosphatase lacking its signal sequence) to further investigate the topology of the mannitol permease. Initially, fusions were constructed by using a lambda TnphoA vector and in vitro cloning of 'phoA into naturally occurring restriction sites in mtlA. However, the former method gave severe problems with insertion "hot-spots" in our vector systems, and the latter method was limited by the number of useful restriction sites. Therefore, we developed a nested-deletion method for creating mtlA-phoA fusions. 'phoA was first cloned downstream from the part of mtlA encoding the membrane-bound half of the permease. This construct was then treated with the appropriate restriction enzymes and with exonuclease III to create random fusions. An analysis of greater than 40 different fusion clones constructed by these methods provides strong evidence for six membrane-spanning regions in the mannitol permease with three relatively short periplasmic loops and two large cytoplasmic loops in the membrane-bound half of the protein.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1989

DIC and acute renal failure as a complication of abruptio placentae.

Disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC) is not a new concept. Almost 90 years ago De Lee reported a case of fetal coagulation disorder with abruptio placentae and described it as "temporary hemophilia." Disseminated intravascular clotting is the result of a widespread exposure of the circulating blood to procoagulant activity capable of activating fibrinolytic enzyme system converting fibrinogen into the fibrin. Fibrin may in turn cause small blood vessel occlusion resulting in tissue necrosis, and as the phenomenon occurs more often in the glomerular capillaries acute renal failure may ensue.

Abruptio Placentae↗