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Biomedical subjects

W Griffin

Publications and source records attributed to W Griffin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

A profile of the noncompliant patient: a thirty-month review of outpatient psychiatry referrals.

Missed appointments to outpatient psychiatry programs have been identified as a major form of noncompliance in the literature. Over a two-and-a-half year period, 874 referrals to the outpatient psychiatry department of a large teaching hospital were examined for significant differences between compliant and noncompliant patients. Noncompliant patients comprised 17.8% of the total number of cases dispositions and were significantly more likely to be single, diagnosed personality disorder or substance abuse, and referred from the Emergency Department than complaint patients. Further analysis of emergency referrals, the single most significant predictor, indicated that patients from this referral source were more likely to be male, unmarried, unemployed or on welfare, and diagnosed personality disorder or substance abuse than referrals from general practice and internal sources. The results are discussed in light of previous research, and recommendations are made for increasing compliance to outpatient appointments.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Puerperal psychosis following ablaction with bromocriptine.

Addiction in the context of drug abuse usually is perceived as habitual dependence on the part of the consumer of a potentially habit forming drug. Attention is drawn to an alternative pattern of drug abuse, namely, unwarranted prescription of drugs on the part of physicians. An example of what the writers perceive is the habitual distribution of a potentially harmful drug in the absence of a clear-cut indication. Attention is being drawn to the worldwide use of bromocriptine, an agent suspected of causing occasional vasospasm, hypertensive cerebral accident and myocardial infarction, for the purpose of ablactation. An additional observation is described where, following administration of bromocriptine in the puerperium manifestations consistent with ergotism developed. The clinical picture was also consistent with pure puerperal psychosis. Attention is also drawn to the likelihood of a cause-effect relationship between the abovementioned drug (an ergot derivative) and the ensuing psychotic reaction.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Predictive testing with the subrenal capsule assay.

Measurement of drug activity as an oncolytic effect, use of the control only to monitor the quality of tissue implanted, and the rapid clearance of necrotic tissue from the subcapsular site, as significant factors incorporated into the design of the assay, have permitted use of a simple tumor size parameter for evaluating drug activity. The simplicity and economy of such a parameter, the predictability and reproducibility of the 6-day assay observed thus far, and evidence that the assay does measure a biological property of the tumor apart from host response, have warranted the continued use of the 6-day time frame and the normal immunocompetent CDF1 mouse as xenograft host. These studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using human tumor explants obtained from a variety of solid human malignancies in a straightforward, short term, in vivo predictive assay system. Preliminary correlations between in vivo (assay) tumor sensitivity and clinical response have given reasonable concurrence. This crucial point will require further study, with larger numbers of patients, under more rigid conditions. Final validation of this, and other, predictive assays will require a prospective, randomized study in large numbers of patients. Our present prospective study is being continued, therefore, with expansion to a multi-institutional design over a broader geographic area.

Altretamine↗
PubMed1982

An in vitro model for studying the effects of pharmacological agents on human ciliary beat frequency: effects of lignocaine.

1 The effects of lignocaine hydrochloride on ciliary beat frequency (CBF), measured photometrically in vitro, using human epithelium obtained by nasal brushing was studied in 20 healthy subjects. Above lignocaine concentrations of 2.5 x 10(-3) g/ml cilio-inhibition occurred in a dose-dependent manner. Concentrations greater than 2 x 10(-2) g/ml caused ciliostasis. 2 Lignocaine aerosol was sprayed in vivo on the mucosa of one nasal cavity in five healthy subjects and five patients premedicated for bronchoscopy. CBF, measured in vitro in nasal brushings, was not different for treated and untreated sides. 3 Variation of intrinsic CBF with time after nasal brushings were taken was studied in ten normal subjects. No significant change in CBF was found until after 24 h. 4 We conclude that lignocaine hydrochloride, at concentrations three orders of magnitude above drug levels encountered in clinical practice, inhibits human CBF in a dose-dependent manner. Aerosolised lignocaine hydrochloride in doses which produce local nasal mucosal anaesthesia, does not inhibit CBF subsequently measured in vitro. Lignocaine is a suitable local anaesthetic for use at fibreoptic bronchoscopy when samples are being obtained for study of ciliary function. 5 The measurement of CBF in nasal mucosal brushings provides an in vitro model suitable for studying the effects of pharmacological agents on human ciliary activity.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

The monitoring of saliva drug levels: psychiatric applications.

An overview is presented of the status of human saliva as a clinical monitoring medium in medicine and psychiatry. Despite the present controversy about the reliability of saliva lithium levels, an evaluation of the prospects of saliva for other pharmacokinetic estimations as well is recommended. The second part of the paper outlines the authors' attempt to expand the use of saliva monitoring in a depot neuroleptic clinic and a methadone maintenance program. This technique, well accepted by the patient populations, is found useful as a screening tool for drug use and compliance can be checked. It can also be indicated prior to the evaluation of the toxicity of prescribed medication as well as the assessment of drug interaction. On humanitarian, clinical and economical grounds, further investigation of the clinical applications of saliva in psychiatric practice is warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Nasal brushing and measurement of ciliary beat frequency. An in vitro method for evaluating pharmacologic effects on human cilia.

Human respiratory tract epithelium suitable for measuring ciliary beat frequency (CBF) may be obtained by nasal brushing. We have used such ciliated epithelium in an in vitro preparation to study the effects on CBF of lidocaine hydrochloride administered topically in vivo before brushing or in vitro after brushing. Beat frequency measured after in vivo administration was unchanged compared to control values while incubating ciliated epithelium in vitro in increasing concentrations of lidocaine resulted in dose-related cilioinhibition. Drug concentrations required to depress ciliary activity in vitro were much higher than those occurring in clinical practice.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1979

Estrogen receptor values in patients with benign breast disease.

Tissue specimens from 55 female patients with benign breast disease were assayed for estrogen receptor. Twenty-one of 55 patients (38%) had tumors which contained significant amounts of estrogen receptor (greater than 10 femtomoles/mg protein). Fibroadenomas possessed estrogen receptor more frequently than fibrocystic disease or other benign breast tumors. Estrogen receptor positivity did not correlate with laterality of the tumor; location or size of the largest nodule. Patients with estrogen receptor positive tumors had a mean age of 26.9 years compared to 36.4 years for patients with estrogen receptor negative tumors (p less than 0.01). Twenty of 46 (43%) premenopausal patients had benign tumors which were estrogen receptor positive compared to zero of 8 postmenopausal patients (p less than 0.05).

Adenofibroma↗