ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of our study was to review the changes in the serial high-resolution CT (HRCT) findings from patients with novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV) infection. METHODS: HRCT findings of 70 patients with presumed or laboratory-confirmed novel S-OIV infection were reviewed. The pattern (consolidation, ground glass, fibrosis and air trapping), distribution and extent of abnormality of the lesions on the HRCT were evaluated at different time points. To assess changes that occurred over time, the CT scans in 56 patients were examined in sequence. RESULTS: The most common CT findings in patients with S-OIV infection are ground-glass opacities with or without consolidation at the first week. The abnormalities peaked at the second week and resolved after that time, which resulted in substantial reduced residual disease at 4 weeks or later. The development of fibrosis was noted in the first week and peaked at the third week of illness (34.7%), then decreased slowly after that time. The mean time of air trapping being noted after the onset of symptoms was 55.5 ± 20.6 days. Comparing the findings of initial CT, most results (96.4%) of follow-up chest CT findings showed improvement (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The abnormalities of ground-glass opacities and/or consolidation on initial CT scans tended to resolve to fibrosis, which then resolved completely or displayed substantially reduced residual disease. HRCT may show more changes in disease progression and play an important role in the evaluation of severe S-OIV.
Subject(s)
Influenza, Human/diagnostic imaging , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnostic imaging , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype , Male , Middle Aged , Retrospective Studies , Young AdultABSTRACT
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by chronic airflow limitation and it is thought that neutrophils play a major role in the disease pathogenesis. Genetic polymorphism of the vitamin-D-binding protein (VDBP) gene is considered one of the candidates for variation in susceptibility to COPD. To evaluate the potential influences of VDBP gene polymorphisms on COPD, a case-control study was conducted in the Han population of north-east China. The VDBP polymorphic site was genotyped in 100 COPD patients and 100 controls. Genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. A significantly higher proportion of VDBP-1F homozygosity was found in COPD patients, while the frequency of VDBP-2 homozygosity was significantly lower in COPD patients, which seemed to suggest that VDBP-2 homozygocity provided a protective effect. These data suggest that the VDBP gene may be involved in COPD susceptibility in Chinese Han population.
Subject(s)
Polymorphism, Genetic , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/genetics , Vitamin D-Binding Protein/genetics , Asian People/genetics , Case-Control Studies , China/epidemiology , Female , Genotype , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/ethnology , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/pathology , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/physiopathology , Respiratory Function Tests , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
Digoxin is one of the inotropic agents commonly used to improve cardiac performance in patients with congestive heart failure and to control ventricular response in atrial fibrillation and other supraventricular tachycardias. Bisacodyl (dulcolax), a stimulant laxative, is also commonly prescribed to prevent straining at stool or constipation in these patients. Therapeutic monitoring of digoxin is helpful in the evaluation of clinical response and intoxication of digoxin. For the convenience of serum level measurement, digoxin is usually administered at night before sleep to allow ample time for tissue distribution and then blood sampling the next morning. Concomitant use of these drugs may increase the likelihood of drug interaction. Eleven healthy volunteers, aged 22-26, were studied within 35 days accordingly in four phases. The serum digoxin concentration (SDC) in phase 2 (digoxin and bisacodyl together) showed a significant decrease as compared with phase 1 (digoxin alone) (0.58 +/- 0.03 vs. 0.66 +/- 0.03 ng/ml, M +/- SE, p less than 0.05). The percentage of SDC changes was down to -11.7 +/- 5.4%. Phase 4 (digoxin taken 2 hours before bisacodyl) showed an increase in SDC in comparison with phase 3 (digoxin alone) but was not statistically significant (0.65 +/- 0.03 vs. 0.62 +/- 0.03 ng/ml, M +/- SE, p greater than 0.05). The average frequency of diarrhea was 3.5 times in the first day of phase 2 and 2.7 times in the first day of phase 4. We conclude that in volunteers bisacodyl interacts with digoxin resulting in reduction of the SDC. Interference of the absorption is the most likely mechanism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Subject(s)
Bisacodyl/pharmacology , Digoxin/blood , Adult , Bisacodyl/adverse effects , Digoxin/adverse effects , Drug Interactions , Half-Life , Humans , Male , Metabolic Clearance RateABSTRACT
Technetium 99m-DTPA microcapsules have been developed to measure gastric emptying. Such capsules not only provide high labeling efficiency in vitro, but demonstrate limited dissociation in vivo, resulting in decreased error during measurement. In normal control subjects, the half-life ranged from 40 to 80 minutes under the aforementioned conditions.
