Brown University

About: Brown University is a education organization based out in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 35778 authors who have published 90896 publications receiving 4471489 citations. The organization is also known as: brown.edu & Brown.

Acute cardiac events temporally related to cocaine abuse.

Abstract: The increasingly widespread use of cocaine in the United States has been accompanied and perhaps exacerbated by the misconception that the drug is not associated with serious medical complications. In particular, the potential for cocaine to precipitate life-threatening cardiac events needs to be reemphasized. We report the clinical and pathological findings in seven people in whom nonintravenous "recreational" use of cocaine was temporally related to acute myocardial infarction, ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation, myocarditis, sudden death, or a combination of these events. We also review data on 19 previously reported cases of cocaine-related cardiovascular disorders. Analysis of all 26 patients indicated the following findings: the cardiac consequences of cocaine abuse are not unique to parenteral use of the drug, since nearly all the patients took the drug intranasally; underlying heart disease is not a prerequisite for cocaine-related cardiac disorders; seizure activity, a well-documented noncardiac complication of cocaine abuse, is neither a prerequisite for, nor an accompanying feature of, cardiac toxicity of cocaine; and the cardiac consequences of cocaine are not limited to massive doses of the drug. Although the pathogenesis of cardiac toxicity of cocaine remains incompletely defined, available circumstantial evidence suggests that cocaine has medical consequences that are equal in importance to its well-documented psychosocial consequences.

Frequency of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus at Collaborating Centers Based on IADPSG Consensus Panel–Recommended Criteria The Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study

Abstract: OBJECTIVE To report frequencies of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) among the 15 centers that participated in the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study using the new International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) criteria. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS All participants underwent a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test between 24 and 32 weeks’ gestation. GDM was retrospectively classified using the IADPSG criteria (one or more fasting, 1-h, or 2-h plasma glucose concentrations equal to or greater than threshold values of 5.1, 10.0, or 8.5 mmol/L, respectively). RESULTS Overall frequency of GDM was 17.8% (range 9.3–25.5%). There was substantial center-to-center variation in which glucose measures met diagnostic thresholds. CONCLUSIONS Although the new diagnostic criteria for GDM apply globally, center-to-center differences occur in GDM frequency and relative diagnostic importance of fasting, 1-h, and 2-h glucose levels. This may impact strategies used for the diagnosis of GDM.

Phenotype and Course of Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria Syndrome

Abstract: Background Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome is a rare, sporadic, autosomal dominant syndrome that involves premature aging, generally leading to death at approximately 13 years of age due to myocardial infarction or stroke. The genetic basis of most cases of this syndrome is a change from glycine GGC to glycine GGT in codon 608 of the lamin A (LMNA) gene, which activates a cryptic splice donor site to produce abnormal lamin A; this disrupts the nuclear membrane and alters transcription. Methods We enrolled 15 children between 1 and 17 years of age, representing nearly half of the world's known patients with Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome, in a comprehensive clinical protocol between February 2005 and May 2006. Results Clinical investigations confirmed sclerotic skin, joint contractures, bone abnormalities, alopecia, and growth impairment in all 15 patients; cardiovascular and central nervous system sequelae were also documented. Previously unrecognized findings included prolonged prothrombin tim...

A severity rating scale for body dysmorphic disorder: development, reliability, and validity of a modified version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale.

Abstract: The authors developed the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD-YBOCS), a 12-item semistructured clinician-rated instrument designed to rate severity of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). The scale was administered to 125 subjects with BDD, and interviews with 15 subjects were rated by 3 other raters. Test-retest reliability was assessed in 30 subjects. Other scales were administered to assess convergent and discriminant validity, and sensitivity to change was evaluated in a study of fluvoxamine. Each item was frequently endorsed across a range of severity. Good interrater reliability, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency were obtained. BDD-YBOCS scores correlated with global severity scores but not with a measure of general psychopathology; they were modestly positively correlated with depression severity scores. Three factors accounted for 59.6 percent of the variance. The scale was sensitive to change in BDD severity. The BDD-YBOCS appears to be a reliable and valid measure of BDD severity and is a suitable outcome measure in treatment studies of BDD.