Francis Medical Center Research Articles

Efficacy and Risks of Moricizine in Inducible Sustained Ventricular Tachycardia

To assess the efficacy and toxicity of moricizine in treating patients with serious ventricular arrhythmias and inducible sustained ventricular tachycardia. Uncontrolled clinical trial. The intensive care and telemetry units of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, and Lenox Hill Hospital. Twenty-six patients with sustained ventricular arrhythmias or hemodynamically significant nonsustained ventricular tachycardia, most of whom failed therapy with at least one class I antiarrhythmic agent. Patients were treated with moricizine, 400 to 1000 mg/d. Efficacy was assessed by the results of programmed ventricular stimulation done during moricizine therapy. Seven of the 26 patients (27%) developed life-threatening ventricular proarrhythmia during moricizine loading. Three patients had incessant sustained ventricular tachycardia, two had incessant nonsustained ventricular tachycardia, one had new sustained ventricular tachycardia, and one had new cardiac arrest. One of these patients died of intractable ventricular fibrillation. No clinical or electrophysiologic variables clearly identified those at risk for proarrhythmia. Only 3 of 26 patients (12%) became noninducible on moricizine. Moricizine has a low rate of efficacy and carries a considerable risk for life-threatening proarrhythmia in patients with serious ventricular arrhythmias and inducible ventricular tachycardia who have failed therapy with other class I antiarrhythmic agents.

Correction: Table in Article on Carotid Bruits

Letters and Corrections15 June 1990Correction: Table in Article on Carotid BruitsSeymour N. Herschberg, MDSeymour N. Herschberg, MDSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-112-12-967_3 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptTo the Editor:I was very interested in the article by Van Ruiswyk and colleagues (1), but extremely disturbed by what appears to be carelessness in reporting mathematical data. For example, the authors indicate that 12% of their population had asymptomatic carotid bruits, but Table 3 indicates only 21 of 241 residents had such a bruit. Moreover, simple inspection indicates that only a small group, that is those over 95 years of age, had a prevalence greater than 12%-and only marginally so. It is obvious merely from inspection of the table that there could not be a 12% incidence of...Reference1. Van RuiswykNobleSigmann JHP. The natural history of carotid bruits in elderly persons. Ann Intern Med. 1990;112:340-3. LinkGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: St. Francis Medical Center Trenton NJ 08629-1986 PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics 15 June 1990Volume 112, Issue 12Page: 967-967KeywordsResearch design Issue Published: 15 June 1990 PDF downloadLoading ...

Abdominal and anorectal surgery and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome in heterosexual intravenous drug users

Over a period of seven years, 474 patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related complex were admitted on 782 occasions to the St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey. Abdominal surgery was performed on 16 (3.4 percent) patients, 14 (88 percent) of whom were heterosexual intravenous drug users. Anorectal surgery was performed on 20 (4.2 percent), 14 (70 percent) of whom were intravenous drug users. Intravenous drug users undergoing abdominal surgery had the same types of surgical abdominal conditions that occur in the general population. None required surgery for complications secondary to cytomegalovirus, visceral lymphoma, or visceral Kaposi's sarcoma. The postoperative morbidity rate was 72 percent. The postoperative mortality rate (30 day) was 0 percent. No intravenous drug users who underwent anorectal surgery had associated anorectal malignancies or infectious diseases. Five of six homosexual patients had either an anorectal malignancy or an associated anorectal infectious disease. Anorectal wounds did not heal within one month in one third of the intravenous drug users. The rate of wound healing was inversely related to the white blood cell count. One third of the intravenous drug users undergoing anorectal surgery were dead within six months.

PULMONARY LA Laser surgery can now obliterate some types of airway

Jean Newsome Maran, RN, MSN, is an assistant professor of nursing at Northeast Louisiana University, Monroe, Margaret A. Gray, RN, MN, is an assistant professor of nursing at Northeast and a staff nurse in oncology at St. Francis Medical Center, Monroe.

Puncture of a Nondeflatable Foley Balloon Using Fluoroscopy

Journal of the American Geriatrics SocietyVolume 35, Issue 2 p. 161-162 Puncture of a Nondeflatable Foley Balloon Using Fluoroscopy Ronald A. D'Altorio MD, Corresponding Author Ronald A. D'Altorio MD Department of Radiology, Forbes Metropolitan Health Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Department of Radiology, St. Francis Medical Center. Pittsburgh, PA 15201.Search for more papers by this authorFrank M. Perrone MD, Frank M. Perrone MD Department of Radiology, Forbes Metropolitan Health Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Search for more papers by this author Ronald A. D'Altorio MD, Corresponding Author Ronald A. D'Altorio MD Department of Radiology, Forbes Metropolitan Health Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Department of Radiology, St. Francis Medical Center. Pittsburgh, PA 15201.Search for more papers by this authorFrank M. Perrone MD, Frank M. Perrone MD Department of Radiology, Forbes Metropolitan Health Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Search for more papers by this author First published: February 1987 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1987.tb01347.xCitations: 4Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume35, Issue2February 1987Pages 161-162 RelatedInformation

A little ???practical creativity??? goes a long way in encouraging nurses to use the nursing process in everyday practice

BARBARA CUNNING, MA, RN, is Occupational Health Nurse with Ross Laboratories, a Division of Abbott Laboratories in Casa Grande, Arizona. DIANE PFLEDERER, MA, RN, is Director, Maternai/Child Health Service, St. Francis Medical Center, Peoria, Illinois. At the time this article was written, both authors were Clinical Nurse Specialists at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

How St. Francis Medical Center helped solve the DRG rural/urban squeeze.

How St. Francis Medical Center helped solve the DRG rural/urban squeeze.

Loneliness in the elderly.

Ms. Meis is an Orthopaedic Nurse Specialist at St. Francis Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Effectiveness of scalene node biopsy for staging of lung cancer in the absence of palpable adenopathy.

Scalene node biopsy (SNB) has been performed in patients with lung cancer at the Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center if any of the following criteria has been present: (1) potentially resectable central lesion by chest radiograph, or (2) significant cardiac or pulmonary dysfunction, thereby placing the patient at increased risk for thoracotomy, or (3) a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma prior to SNB. Within these guidelines, a retrospective study was undertaken to determine the benefit of routine SNB in the absence of clinically palpable scalene nodes. In a 2-year period beginning April 1981, 56 patients (37 males) presented with radiographic evidence of lung carcinoma without clinical evidence of scalene adenopathy. Approximately half of the lesions were of a central position. While the majority had symptoms of cough, hemoptysis, or chest pain, the primary lung lesion was identified on routine chest radiograph in 15 (27%). In only three was there no history of smoking, the remainder having at least a 20-pack-year history of cigarette use. Following a routine evaluation, 57 SNBs were performed alone or in concert with other surgical procedures (mediastinoscopy, bronchoscopy). Of these, only two (3.5%) were diagnostic and indicative of unresectable disease. While in one patient no additional procedure was performed, a simultaneous Chamberlain procedure in the other confirmed that the patient was unresectable for cure. In the remaining patients, tissue diagnosis of cancer was obtained through other maneuvers. Because of the low probability that SNB in the absence of clinically palpable nodes altered the management of lung cancer, we do not believe it to be of benefit in the diagnosis or staging of this disease.

PRE-EXERCISE SCREENING IN ASYMPTOMATIC MALES AND FEMALES

Center for Sports Medicine and Health Fitness, Saint Francis Medical Center, 4911 Executive Dr., Peoria, IL 61614

Complementary roles of radionuclide and computed tomographic imaging in evaluating trauma

For 6 consecutive months all triage acceptable emergency room patients at the St. Francis Medical Center with blunt or penetrating trauma involving the abdomen were included in this review. Computed tomography and radionuclide imaging of the abdomen and urinary tract was performed in addition to the usually indicated diagnostic procedures. In our hospital the Radiology Department is adjacent to the Emergency Department. Close cooperation of the trauma team, the imaging physician and the technologists, has provided a stable, reproducible pattern in the performance and evaluation of nuclear medicine and radiographic techniques. Teleradiologic techniques of image transmission over the telephone lines permits immediate availability of the expertise of the radiologist. This correlation has provided an opportunity for improving patient care and refining our protocol in the care and management of the acutely traumatized patient. One-hundred-twenty-seven patients classed as acute trauma cases were processed during those 6 mo. Forty-two of these patients were not included in this study. They were triaged as immediate surgical emergencies, had incurred injury limited to the head, extremities or thorax, or were not injured sufficiently to require the special care of the designated trauma team. The 85 patients in this study included 56 males and 29 females. The patient age ranged from 3- to 71-yr-of-age. The median age was 29.3 yr. The author feels the findings in this evaluation of the complementary roles of radionuclide imaging and computed tomography should be of value to others in the formulation of their acute trauma care protocol. Nuclear medicine techniques retain an important role in the diagnosis of several sequelae of head trauma. Sensitivity and accuracy for detection of subdural hematoma are not as high as those of transmission computed tomography even if proper techniques are employed. Other important applications, however, include the diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus, location of cerebrospinal fluid leakage, and confirmation of brain death.

Nursing Shortage

Assistant Director – Patient Care Quality Assurance St. Francis Medical Center La Crosse, Wisconsin

The Aminoglycoside Antibiotics

JULIE LANGSLET, PHARM, D., is a clinical staff pharmacist on the medical-surgical/oncology unit at St. Mary Medical Center/Bauer Hospital, Long Beach, Calif. MAUREEN L. HABEL, R.N., M.A., was a clinical nurse educator on the oncology unit at St. Mary Medical Center/Bauer Hospital, Long Beach, Calif. when this article was written. She is now clinical instructor at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, Calif.