PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

V Balakrishnan

Publications and source records attributed to V Balakrishnan.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy in Singapore--a new treatment modality for myopia.

BACKGROUND: Myopia is a national epidemic in Singapore. Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) for the treatment of myopia using the Argon Fluoride Excimer Laser commenced in January 1992 at the Singapore National Eye Centre. METHODS: An open, prospective, non randomised clinical trial to assess the efficacy, predictability, stability, and safety of PRK for the correction of myopia between -2.0 to -6.0 dioptres. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty-five eyes of one hundred and thirty-five patients underwent PRK between January and September 1992, of which thirty-one had completed at least six months of follow-up. Twenty-nine of the thirty-one patients (93.5%) achieved an unaided visual acuity of at least 6/12. Twenty-six patients (83.9%) were within 1 dioptre of emmetropia. There was an initial over-correction in all patients which regressed to a plateau at around three or four months. Corneal haze did not pose a significant problem. Three patients had ocular hypertension, and another developed a mild allergic reaction to the antibiotic-steroid ointment. CONCLUSIONS: Excimer Laser Photorefractive Keratectomy is a very effective, fairly predictable, stable and safe surgical method for the treatment of myopia.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Myopia produced in young chicks by intermittent minimal form visual deprivation--can spectacles cause myopia?

Spectacle use has been postulated to aggravate or cause human myopia. Form visual deprivation, by complete full-time occlusion or refractive lenses, has been demonstrated to cause axial myopia in animals. We raised young chicks in conditions which closely approximate plano spectacle wear in humans. In addition, we sought to achieve more physiological conditions of form deprivation. Nine newborn chicks were raised with intermittent monocular visual deprivation and their eye growth and refraction monitored by retinoscopy, ultrasonic A-scan biometry and with a travelling microscope. After hatching, the nictitating membranes were sutured for 3-4 days. This was followed by a transparent plano plastic cover over the same eye for 3-4 days per week. After 3 weeks, the manipulated eyes were more myopic (mean refraction -0.72 D, axial length 13.11 mm) than fellow eyes (+0.83 D, 11.99 mm) (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 respectively). These results suggest that the chick eye is exquisitely sensitive to disturbances in the visual environment; intermittent minimal manipulation by conditions simulating spectacle wear in man was myopiagenic. It is postulated that spectacles can cause form visual deprivation of foveal and nonfoveal neurons (and hence myopia) by reducing luminance and contrast, chromatic and spherical aberration (in nonfoveal neurons) and restriction and distortion from the frame.

Accommodation, Ocular↗
PubMed1990

Arteriovenous malformations of the brain: outcome of conventional radiotherapy in the management of 33 cases.

Thirty three patients with inoperable arteriovenous malformations of the brain received conventionally fractionated megavoltage photon radiotherapy. The dose varied between 30.00 wand 50.00 Gy with a median of 40.00 Gy. Treatment was not associated with any significant morbidity. Follow-up ranged from 16 months to 148 months, with a median of 79 months. The projected 5-year survival is 92% and rebleed-free survival 78%. There was a trend of increased bleed-free survival for doses greater than 46.00 Gy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Testicular germ cell tumor with pineal metastases.

A patient with a mixed testicular germ cell tumor (choriocarcinoma, teratocarcinoma and embryonal carcinoma) that had metastasized to the lungs, cerebrum, and pineal gland is presented. The metastases had resulted in localized neurological signs and initially, on clinical grounds, a primary intracranial lesion could not be excluded. The occurrence of tumor metastases to the pineal gland is discussed and the literature is reviewed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Serum haptoglobin level in patients with malignant lymphoma and its clinical significance.

Serum haptoglobin level and its phenotypes were studied in 208 normal people and 176 malignant lymphoma patients consisting of 112 Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) and 64 Hodgkin's Disease (HD) at Tata Memorial Hospital, Bombay and were correlated with the clinical stages of the lymphomas. Haptoglobin (Hp) levels were also estimated in the patients at different intervals during their chemotherapy. Hp level was found significantly increased to 147.83 +/- 8.67 in NHL and 173.57 +/- 13.31 in HD as compared to 67.46 +/- 2.53 in the controls. The phenotypic and gene frequencies in the lymphoma patients did not differ significantly from those of the controls. All the clinical stages, except stage I, of NHL and HD revealed significant rise in Hp level when compared with the controls. When different clinical stages of NHL and HD were compared separately, HD showed significant rise in HP level over the NHL only in Stage IV (p less than 0.05). Significant reduction in Hp level was observed when the disease regressed due to chemotherapy but it again increased with the relapse of the disease. Thus, the study of serum haptoglobin levels at intervals in lymphoma patients would help to understand the regression or relapse of the disease and also the prognosis.

Haptoglobins↗
PubMed1988

Diet, pancreatic function, and chronic pancreatitis in south India and France.

The usual consumption of calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrate, and the exocrine pancreatic function estimated in duodenal juice after an intravenous injection of secretin and cholecystokinin (CCK), have been studied with the same method and by the same team in Kerala (South India) and in Marseille (France) in apparently normal children (7 Indians, 21 French), in normal adults (23 Indians, 17 French), and in patients presenting with chronic calcifying pancreatitis (8 Indian children, 28 Indian adults, 25 French adults). Although they had a low protein intake (children controls: 32.1 +/- 14 g/day (SM), children pancreatitis: 51.1 +/- 15, adult controls: 51.3 +/- 4.9, adult pancreatitis: 55.7 +/- 5.7), the exocrine secretion of Indian controls was not very much modified in comparison with Europeans. Therefore, Indians are less affected by the insufficient diet than the population of Ivory Coast previously studied by the same group. The diet of Indian patients is characterized by a moderately low protein intake and a very low fat intake (18.5 g/day +/- 2.3 (SM) for children 23.4 g/day + 2.7 for adult patients). Comparison between different series of patients studied in different countries with the same method suggests that kwashiorkor or cassava consumption have no evident role in the etiology of chronic tropical pancreatitis. The possible role of a low fat diet is suggested and needs further exploration.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Dorsal root entry zone radiofrequency lesion for pain relief in brachial plexus avulsion.

Brachial plexus root avulsion is one of the important causes of intractable pain in young individuals following road traffic accidents. A procedure using radiofrequency coagulation lesion of the substantia gelatinosa of Rolando (Nashold's procedure) was performed in seven patients with excellent relief of pain in two, good relief in three and poor result in two patients.

Brachial Plexus↗