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Biomedical subjects

T J Butler

Publications and source records attributed to T J Butler.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Periodontal variables affecting nifedipine sequestration in gingival crevicular fluid.

We previously demonstrated the sequestration of nifedipine in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), especially in patients exhibiting significant gingival overgrowth. The aim of the present study is to determine the role of site specific periodontal factors in this phenomenon. 10 adult patients exhibiting nifedipine induced gingival overgrowth were studied. In each patient GCF was harvested from two sites that demonstrated inflammation and increased probing depth as well as from two clinically healthy sites. The concentration of nifedipine was determined using gas chromatography. Drug concentrations were significantly increased in the presence of inflammation (p = 0.004) and plaque (p = 0.029) whilst increased probing depths and gingival overgrowth were not significantly related to drug sequestration. We can conclude that inflammatory changes in gingival tissues appear to be a significant determinant for the sequestration of nifedipine in the GCF.

Adult

How reliable are ultrasound measurements of renal length in adults?

Ultrasound assessment of patients with renal impairment commonly includes measurement of bipolar renal length. Reduction in length is considered to indicate chronic renal disease and is a factor in deciding whether to proceed to renal biopsy. To date, no published data are available on interobserver and intraobserver variation in sonographic renal length measurement in adults. Bilateral renal lengths were measured in 20 adult subjects, with no history of renal disease, by three experienced operators, on two separate occasions. Limits of agreement for replicate measurements by each ultrasonographer and for replicate measurements by each pair of ultrasonographers were determined. Values of repeatability (a measure of intraobserver variation) and reproducibility (a measure of interobserver variation) were calculated for all renal length measurements, and for right and left renal lengths separately. Results indicate that replicate renal length measurements differ by less than 1.85 cm in 95% of cases, and the magnitude of variations is similar when measurements are made by either single or different ultrasonographers, and are similar for right and left renal length measurements. This suggests that sonographic bipolar renal length measurements in normal adult kidneys are reasonably reliable. In diseased kidneys, however, in which identification of renal poles is difficult, interobserver and intraobserver variation may be much greater.

Adult

Mitotic activity during preimplantation development of human embryos.

The rate of cell division of human embryos in vitro was estimated throughout the preimplantation period. Seventy-five human embryos were assessed by performing nuclei counts on whole mount preparations at 24 h intervals between day 2 and day 6 of development. The results indicate that the cell doubling time increases after the first two division cycles. The mean (+/- SEM) doubling time between day 2 and day 6 was 31 +/- 2.51 h. At the end of the designated culture periods, embryos were exposed to a microtubule disrupting agent, which caused the nuclei to arrest in metaphase. Thus, a profile of the mitotic activity at given stages of development was obtained. The numbers of actively dividing cells were frequently lower than anticipated, indicating that nuclei counts cannot be directly correlated with continuing mitotic activity.

Blastocyst

Plasma osmolality, iodine concentration and urographic images following high and low osmolar contrast media.

Three contrast media (sodium iothalamate, iopamidol and sodium/methylglucamine ioxaglate) in a dose of 240 mg iodine per kilogram of body weight were compared in clinical urography. The ionic monomer sodium iothalamate was the only medium to significantly elevate the plasma osmolality though it returned to normal values within 4 min. All three media exhibited first order linear kinetics. When corrected for the effects of diuresis, sodium iothalamate was shown to give the highest urinary iodine concentrations. On visual scoring sodium iothalamate produced better nephrograms and overall urograms than either of the low osmolar agents.

Contrast Media

Survey of haemorrhagic erosive gastritis.

Fluorescent-antibody studies in 22 patients out of a total of 40 cases of acute erosive gastritis showed no antibodies to gastric parietal cells. Hence erosive gastritis seems unlikely to be an autoimmune phenomenon.In this series 57.5% of cases belonged to blood group A. This suggests that there is a correlation between the instability of the gastric mucosa and blood group A.The operative mortality in erosive gastritis is high. Operation should be delayed as long as possible in the hope that the bleeding will stop spontaneously. Erosive gastritis may be idiopathic or precipitated by drugs, particularly aspirin. The highest risk was found to occur in those cases where bleeding was drug-induced.

ABO Blood-Group System