Biomedical subjects

Y M Arseculeratne

Publications and source records attributed to Y M Arseculeratne.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Sensory testing in patients with chronic venous leg ulcers using a 10 g Owen Mumford monofilament.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic venous insufficiency in the lower legs may directly contribute to tissue damage, and there is increasing evidence that neuronal damage may be involved. This study was carried out to determine the feasibility of using a simple neuropathy screening test in the community to diagnose sensory neuropathy in the feet of patients with chronic venous insufficiency. METHOD: We tested 15 randomly selected patients with documented chronic venous insufficiency with the 10 g Owen Mumford monofilament, in order to ascertain objectively sensory blunting. RESULTS: Forty-seven per cent of the patients had normal sensation in the foot of the ulcerated leg and 53% showed some degree of neuropathy. A recent study comparing the performance of commercially available 10 g monofilaments showed that the Owen Mumford filament was one of the most accurate, with 100% buckling within +/- 1 g of 10 g. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study indicates that the 10 g monofilament is an easy method of testing the sensory status of patients with chronic venous insufficiency in the community.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Healing venous ulcers with cycloidal multidirectional vibration therapy.

OBJECTIVE: This preliminary study combined compression bandaging with cycloidal vibration to determine whether this would enhance the rate of healing of venous leg ulceration. METHOD: Twenty-one patients with venous ulceration were enrolled into a 12-week trial. The vibration device was used three times daily for 30 minutes on each occasion, along with compression bandaging. RESULTS: Ulcers of 13 patients (62%) healed within 12 weeks. The remaining eight patients completed the 12-week study with a 31-90% reduction in ulcer size. A reduction in pain was observed in 17 out of 21 patients (81%). Ultrasound measurements showed reduced fluid content in the upper dermis in patients whose ulcers had healed and in others whose ulcers were improving. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study shows that gentle cycloid vibration, combined with standard compression bandaging, enhances the healing rate of venous ulcers and helps to relieve pain.

Aged↗

PubMed2001

Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and its association with coronary heart disease and cardiovascular risk factors in a sample South Asian population.

Recent studies have suggested that a chronic infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae (C. pneumoniae) may be associated with the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD). A case control study was conducted to investigate the association between C. pneumoniae infection and coronary heart disease and coronary risk factors in a sample South Asian population. C. pneumoniae specific IgG antibody was measured by microimmunofluorescence. Among controls 56.6% were seropositive (> or =1/32) compared to 58.5% of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients (n=41, odds ratio 1.08, CI 0.37--3.12, P=0.93) and 73.3% of stable coronary heart disease (SCHD) patients (n=30, odds ratio 2.1, CI 0.63--7.19, P=0.27). The highest geometric mean titre of control subjects (n=30) was significantly lower (74.7) compared to AMI patients (101.5, P<0.05) and SCHD patients (138.6, P<0.05). Patients who were non-smokers had higher odds ratios for CHD than smokers when seropositive at IgG antibody titres of 1/32, 1/64 and 1/128, suggesting an association between smoking and C. pneumoniae infection. In patients with CHD there was a significant association between diabetes mellitus and seropositivity (P=0.008) in those over 50 years of age. Non-smoking CHD patients with high cholesterol/HDL-C ratio had a higher trend for seropositivity. Other risk factors (smoking, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, waist/hip ratio, triglycerides) showed no association when controlled for age. In the control group, smokers with high cholesterol/HDL-C ratio had a higher trend for seropositivity. These results do not provide strong support for the hypothesis that C. pneumoniae infection is a risk factor for clinical CHD in this South Asian population. Results suggest that C. pneumoniae infection may be linked to CHD through its interaction with some of the known risk factors such as blood lipids, diabetes and smoking.

Adult↗