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Biomedical subjects

W Edgar

Publications and source records attributed to W Edgar.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1980

How safe is general practitioner obstetrics?

The high perinatal mortality among infants of women transferred from general practitioner to consultant care is well known, the implication being that if these women had been booked for consultant care several of the deaths might not have occurred. The findings of this study indicate that booking into a consultant unit did not reduce perinatal mortality and suggest that, where liaison between hospital and general practitioners is good and transfer easy, booking into a general practitioner maternity unit can be as safe for low-risk women as booking into a consultant unit.

England↗
PubMed1980

Comparison of Pasteur and Behringwerke antivenoms in envenoming by the carpet viper (Echis carinatus).

Bites and envenoming by the carpet viper Echis carinatus are common medical emergencies in parts of Nigeria, but the most effective use of the various commercially produced antivenoms in treatment has not been established. Pasteur Paris Echis monospecific and Behringwerke West and North Africa Bitis-Echis-Naja polyspecific antivenoms were compared in two groups of seven patients with incoagulable blood after E carinatus bites. In both groups spontaneous bleeding stopped within a few hours and local swelling subsided within two weeks after the initial antivenom injection. Pasteur antivenom (20-40 ml) restored blood coagulability within 12 hours in all cases, but 60--180 ml of Behringwerke antivenom was effective in only four cases. Persisting venom procoagulant activity was observed in the remaining three cases. Despite its potency in the mouse protection test, Behringwerke antivenom is unreliable and unpredictable in neutralising venom procoagulant in humans bitten by E carinatus.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

The structure of soluble fibrin complexes and fibrin degradation products after Echis carinatus bite.

Studies on the concentration and structure of fibrinogen, fibrinogen-fibrin soluble complexes, and fibrinogen-fibrin degradation products were made on 11 patients in Nigeria who suffered defibrination following Echis carinatus bite. Following admission, before treatment with antivenom, all patients had reduced or zero fibrinogen levels, and increased concentrations of soluble complexes and degradation products. The fibrin component of the soluble complexes, separated by fibrinogen-sepharose chromatography, consisted of both intact fibrin and fibrin degraded at the alpha-chain. After isolation by Biogel chromatography the soluble complexes were also found to contain gamma-dimer chains. The fibrinogen-fibrin degradation products consisted of several X species, Y, D and D-dimer, as well as fragment E. The major fragment in all patients was D, but a few samples contained significant quantities of D-dimer, indicating in vivo activation of factor XIII. There was evidence of degraded fibrinogen, as well as fibrin, in the soluble complexes and degradation products, suggesting that fibrinogenolysis, in addition to fibrinolysis, had occurred, probably as a result of secondary endogenous activation of the fibrinolytic system in response to defibrination.

Antivenins↗
PubMed1977

The effect of fibrinolytic inhibition in the resolution of experimental vitreous hemorrhage.

Complete inhibition of vitreous fibrinolytic activity with 4-amino-methylcyclohexane carbonic acid was associated with significantly delayed resolution of vitreous hemorrhages in rabbits. However, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated but a slight delay in the removal of the fibrin component of vitreous clots, and most of the residual vitreous opacity comprised intact red blood cells. Fibrin degradation products may act as chemotactic agents, promoting the removal of red blood cells by leukocytes; hence, their absence in treated rabbits might explain in part the delayed red blood cell clearance.

Absorption↗