Analysis of 585 burn patients hospitalized over a 6-year period. Part III: Psychosocial data

We have examined the physical and psychosocial aberrations found in a series of 585 hospitalized burn patients. The implications of this data have been discussed as they apply to identifying persons at high risk for burn injury, and as they apply to estimation of the prognosis in severe burn injury. This is a step towards identifying a psychosocial profile for the evaluation of burned patients.     

Digital and conventional chest images: observer performance with Film Digital Radiography System

The Film Digital Radiography System (FilmDRS) is a device with a laser optical film digitizer, 2,000 X 2,000 X 12-bit memory, and a 1,000-line video display. To evaluate the adequacy of this device for general radiography of the chest, four readers independently analyzed both radiographs and the corresponding video display of the digitized chest images of 150 patients, consisting of 100 images of abnormalities and 50 normal images. The overall results indicate equal sensitivity for the two systems. The FilmDRS, with interactive windowing, proved superior in the detection of hilar and mediastinal disease. X-ray film was superior in allowing detection of hyperlucent states. There was equivalent sensitivity for other disease categories. Superior specificity was achieved with conventional radiographs.     

Assessment of testicular metabolic integrity with P-31 MR spectroscopy

To evaluate the reliability of phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy in the assessment of acute testicular ischemia, vascular integrity, and spermatogenesis, the authors studied in vivo canine and primate testicles grouped as follows: group 1 testes (n = 8), in situ canine controls; group 2 (n = 11), canine testes subjected to warm ischemia; group 3, canine (n = 4) and primate (n = 4) testicles from hormone-treated animals. Group 1 control testicles showed high monophosphoester (MP) levels; low levels of inorganic phosphate (Pi), phosphodiester (PD), and phosphocreatine; and high levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Group 2 testes revealed a time-dependent decay of MP/Pi ratios (from 2.1 to 0.70). Regeneration of ATP was noted in the acute reperfusion period. After 6 weeks of pituitary gonadotropin suppression, group 3 testes showed a significant decrease (P less than .05) in MP/PD ratios from a control level of 2.6 +/- 0.3 and a decrease in the MP/beta-ATP ratio from 2.4 +/- 0.1 to 1.8 +/- 0.3. P-31 MR spectroscopy appears to be a potential method for noninvasively assessing testicular ischemic injury and the metabolic integrity of spermatogenesis.     

Mechanical stimulation of neurites generates an inward current in putative aortic baroreceptor neurons in vitro

We investigated the responses of putative aortic baroreceptor neurons to mechanical stimulation of their processes. Putative aortic baroreceptor neurons were identified by applying the carbocyanine dye DiI to the adventitia of the aortic arch of anesthetized rats. After at least 1 week, the nodose ganglia were removed and the neurons were cultured. Within 2–3 days, neurite outgrowth was evident on many neurons. The soma was voltage-clamped using whole cell patch clamp techniques while the neurites were deformed with pneumatic ejection of bath solution at 5–15 psi using a glass pipette (7–15 μm) positioned at least 50 μm from the neurite. Mechanical stimulation induced an inward current in 15 out of 17 putative aortic baroreceptor neurons. The magnitude of the current was related to the intensity of stimulation. The current was blocked by 20 μM gadolinium (n=11), a reported blocker of mechanically sensitive ion channels, or by incubating the cells overnight in 10 μM phalloidin, which binds to actin filaments (n=5). We conclude that mechanical deformation of neurites of putative baroreceptor neurons activates a mechanosensitive inward current in the soma and that the cytoskeletal actin filaments are involved in the generation of this current.     

Effects of some depressant drugs on synaptic responses to glutamate at the crayfish neuromuscular junction.

Excitatory junction currents produced by glutamate were recorded with an extracellular electrode at the neuromuscular junction of the crayfish. Pentobarbitone, phenobarbitone, diazepam, chlordiazepoxide and procaine had only minimal effects on current decay at concentrations which are highly effective in other preparations. The glutamate synapse in the crayfish appears relatively resistant to these drugs. In contrast, ether and halothane increased the rate of decay of the currents at concentrations which are comparable to those occurring during anaesthesia.     

Immune complexes containing H-Y antigen and maternal IgG in cord serum.

Increased levels of immune complexes are more frequently detected in the serum of newborn males than they are in the serum of newborn females. In one survey of 545 newborns, 21 of 26 (81%) of the babies with high levels of immune complexes in cord serum were boys (Farber, Cambiaso & Masson, 1981). To evaluate the hypothesis that this was due in some cases to the synthesis by the mother of antibodies directed against the 'male-specific' H-Y antigen, we tested for presence of IgG antibodies bound to H-Y antigen in serum samples from 263 newborns including 124 girls and 139 boys. Sera from five of the 10 male newborns with high levels of immune complexes contained IgG bound to H-Y; none of the sera from newborn girls had detectable amounts of those immune complexes; and sera from women who had borne males manifested higher levels of IgG reactive with sources of soluble H-Y than sera from women who had borne females.     

Cardiac Output and Blood Flow Distribution during Rest and Classical Aversive Conditioning in Monkey

Cardiac output was measured by dye dilution in rhesus monkeys (n = 9) during rest and classical aversive conditioning. A 1- min tone (followed by unavoidable electric shock) served as the conditional stimulus (CS +). Cardiac output was determined at approximately 30 sec before and after onset of CS +. Conditional increases in mean blood pressure (78± 11 to 84±11 mmHg. average±SD) and heart rate (145±23 to 166 ± 31/min) were associated with a significant (p<.01) increase in cardiac output (1.32 ± .25 to 1.69±.51 L/min) and decrease in total peripheral resistance (60.8 ± 13.7 to 53.1 ± 14.8 mmHg/L/min). There were no significant changes in these variables during a different tone (CS-) which was never followed by shock. Infusion of radio-labeled microspheres (5 monkeys) at 25-30 sec after CS + onset revealed a conditional increase (vs resting control) in flow to the diaphragm and certain other skeletal muscle; myocardial blood flow was not increased at this time. Flow decreased to the kidney, liver and pancreas. Elimination of the conditional increase in blood How to skeletal muscle following administration of propranolol (3 monkeys) suggests that the redistribution of cardiac output during “stress” may involve an active adrenergic vasodilation in the non-human primate.