PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Roath

Publications and source records attributed to S Roath.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Massive abdominal lymphadenopathy in hairy cell leukaemia: a report of 12 cases.

Lymphadenopathy is an uncommon finding in hairy cell leukaemia (HCL). We report 12 HCL patients in whom relapse was associated with massive abdominal lymphadenopathy. All but one had long-standing HCL (range 3-25 years; median 10 years); in one it was discovered at presentation. Nine patients had been splenectomized and seven had previously been treated with 2'deoxycoformycin (DCF) and/or alpha-interferon (alpha IFN): three had achieved complete remission and four a partial response. The computerized tomography (CT) scan appearances were similar in all cases with a primary lymph node mass centred around the coeliac axis and involving upper para-aortic and retropancreatic regions. Histology and/or cytology confirmed nodal involvement by HCL in six patients. Large immature hairy cells were seen in both lymph nodes and bone marrow, suggesting a degree of transformation. Nine patients were treated with DCF: one had complete resolution, six responded with 50-90% reduction of the lymphadenopathy, one did not respond and one is still on treatment; alpha-IFN was used concomitantly or sequentially in two of the responders. One responding patient died of sepsis after four injections of DCF. Three patients received either alpha- or beta-IFN alone with no response. One elderly patient was not treated. Abdominal lymphadenopathy could be part of the natural history of HCL and/or may represent a transformation analogous to that seen in other low-grade lymphoproliferative disorders. Routine abdominal CT scanning should be part of the work up of all patients with HCL.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Blood saving.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Blood Transfusion↗
PubMed1991

Leucocyte numbers and quality: their effect on viscosity.

Leucocyte suspension viscosity was measured using cells from a number of leukaemias. Samples from individuals with acute myelomonocytic and myeloid leukaemias, and chronic myelogenous and chronic lymphatic leukaemias were examined for their viscosity and flow properties. Leucocytes were suspended in native plasma and the effect of variable leucocyte numbers in the ranges seen in some leukaemias (100-600 x 10(9)/l) examined at different shear stresses. The effect of MCV was also determined in relation to viscosity. The results showed an increasing order of viscosity from the leucocytes of chronic lymphatic leukaemia through chronic myelogenous and acute myeloid leukaemia to the acute myelomonocytic variety. This bears some relation to the mean corpuscular volume, but confirms the fact that at high numbers of cells, patients with acute myelomonocytic, and to a lesser extent the myeloid leukaemias, are at considerable risk of blood hyperviscosity.

Blood Viscosity↗
PubMed1990

Evaluation and comparison of neutrophil bipolar shape formation with a migration assay.

The neutrophil shape change response to a chemotactic formylpeptide was assessed. Neutrophil bipolar shape formation (BSF) was also simultaneously assessed with a Boyden chamber-based neutrophil migration assay. Both assays were precise and relatively reproducible; the average coefficient of variation for the BSF assay was 9.6% and 9.2% for the migration assay. In a blind study the BSF assay showed 100% sensitivity at detecting subjects with known abnormal neutrophil migration. Unlike the migration assay, the BSF assay does not require isolated neutrophils, reducing possible cell activation and monitoring the cell response under more physiological conditions. Small blood samples--1 ml or less compared with 20-40 ml for the migration assay--are used, and the method is technically simple. Results are available within 40 minutes, and routine (EDTA) blood samples are used. It is concluded that the BSF assay is a suitable motility screening test for both the clinical and pharmacological examination of the movement of polymorphonuclear leucocytes.

Cell Movement↗
PubMed1990

Procoagulant activity in whole blood from patients with breast and colorectal cancer.

Whole blood procoagulant activity was determined by measuring the endotoxin-induced shortening of the celite-activated whole blood recalcification time in patients with breast cancer (n = 29), colorectal cancer (n = 18), benign breast disease (n = 26), benign colorectal disease (n = 10), normal volunteers (n = 17) and surgical in-patients with non-malignant and non-inflammatory conditions (n = 18). Using this method, patients with breast and colorectal cancer produced significantly more procoagulant activity than normal controls (P less than 0.001), surgical in-patients (P less than 0.005) and patients with benign breast (P less than 0.001) and benign colorectal (P = 0.05) disease respectively. The difference between subjects classified as 'cancer' or 'non-cancer' was highly significant (P less than 0.0001). There were no significant differences in total white cell or absolute monocyte counts between subject groups, and in individual patients, there was no correlation between these parameters and the procoagulant activity. It is concluded that the activated whole blood recalcification time is a more reproducible way of measuring whole blood procoagulant activity than the original technique, and that using this method, patients with cancer show higher procoagulant activity than corresponding benign controls.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Whole blood procoagulant activity in breast and colorectal cancer.

Whole blood procoagulant activity was determined by measuring the recalcification time of citrated blood, with and without the addition of bacterial endotoxin, in patients with breast cancer (n = 39), colorectal cancer (n = 20), benign breast disease (n = 15), benign colorectal disease (n = 11), normal volunteers (n = 15) and inpatients with non-malignant disease (n = 22). The median clotting times of those samples incubated with endotoxin were significantly shorter in the patients with breast and colorectal cancer compared with normal controls. Furthermore, significant differences between the median clotting times of stimulated and unstimulated samples within each subject group were observed only in the two cancer groups. There was no correlation between whole blood procoagulant activity and absolute monocyte counts, with histological staging or with plasma concentrations of plasma fibrinopeptide A. The results suggest that blood from patients with cancer is more sensitive to endotoxin stimulation than that from normal or benign controls, but that in its present form the technique cannot be used to distinguish between malignant and non-malignant disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Management of Raynaud's phenomenon. Focus on newer treatments.

Current thinking on the general approaches to handling patients with Raynaud's disease is briefly described, and the principles of management discussed. The various categories of drug treatment available - vasodilators, especially those active on the smallest blood vessels, drugs acting on endothelium and platelets and their products, rheologically active drugs and some whose action it is difficult to classify - are mentioned. By far the most widely tested drugs in this field are the dihydropyridine-like slow calcium channel antagonists, of which nifedipine is probably the best known. Side effects are common and the optimal dosage and drug formulation are yet to be achieved. Serotonin antagonists (naftidrofuryl, ketanserin) look promising, although ketanserin is not generally available yet. Drugs active in the sympathetic control of vascular tone may well be best reserved for the most severe forms of Raynaud's, especially perhaps those associated with tissue loss in the secondary disease. Older vasodilators, such as glyceryl trinitrate (nitroglycerin) and some of the nicotinic acid derivatives, have not been studied of late but the transdermal applications of glyceryl trinitrate at least sound attractive. Drugs active in the cyclo-oxygenase systems, especially those with prostacyclin-like activity or thromboxane antagonists, are obviously promising; however, their unavailability in oral, sublingual or transdermal forms limits comment on them at present. Non-drug approaches such as biofeedback control of vascular responses may be interesting in a small number of patients, but the advice to 'keep warm' (and how to achieve this) is probably the most valuable suggestion that can be given to patients with Raynaud's disease.

Fibrinolytic Agents↗
PubMed1987

Nisoldipine in primary Raynaud's phenomenon.

The efficacy and tolerability of the dihydropyridine derivative nisoldipine was assessed in 36 patients with primary Raynaud's phenomenon. Nisoldipine was given at doses of 5 mg and 10 mg daily for one month each in a placebo controlled double-blind cross-over trial. There was no subjective improvement in symptoms or changes in resting finger blood flow, platelet aggregability or red cell deformability after nisoldipine. The incidence of unwanted effects was similar to that previously described with nifedipine, suggesting that plasma concentrations of nisoldipine were sufficient to cause pharmacodynamic effects. Nisoldipine, in contrast to nifedipine is ineffective in the treatment of primary Raynaud's phenomen when given in a dose of up to 10 mg/day.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Transient acquired blood group B antigen associated with diverticular bowel disease.

Transient acquired B red cell antigen was found in a patient with inflammatory bowel disease. Removal of the affected portion of the bowel was associated with disappearance of the B antigen. This phenomenon has usually been recorded in association with neoplasms of the bowel, but appears to be a marker for the release of bacterial enzymes into the systemic circulation associated with breakdown of the normal bowel barrier to such materials.

ABO Blood-Group System↗
PubMed1985

Lymphocyte labelling with indium: cytotoxicity studies.

Viability studies on lymphocytes labelled with indium In111 using oxine as a ligand showed impairment as measured by trypan-blue assessment and rosetting ability. In addition, lymphocyte response to phytohaemagglutinin stimulation as measured by tritiated-thymidine uptake was also impaired at levels where adequate cell labelling had taken place. Cadmium toxicity was not noticed, and the use of tropolone as a ligand offered possibilities of reduced cellular toxicity. Such cytotoxicity may not have been important in earlier reported studies on granulocytes where the large numbers available for in vivo work and the short periods of study still allowed useful conclusions to be drawn. However, because of the prolonged lifespan of the human lymphocyte, the cytotoxic effects of the processing might well make the long-term studies which would be of interest much less reliable for clinical assessment.

Cytotoxicity, Immunologic↗