Faculty Bibliography

Dr. James Livesay, the principal investigator, said in an interview that his team was using the laser technique as an experimental adjunct to coronary bypass surgery to increase blood flow through a larger area of the coronary arteries than would otherwise be possible. The coronary arteries are those that nourish the heart; damage due to arteriosclerosis leads to heart attacks. He said the team was carefully selecting patients for the laser technique. Such patients include those who have diffuse arteriosclerotic damage to their coronary arteries. In these cases, the laser can remove plaques in arteries that are too small to be bypassed by the conventional surgery; it can also remove large plaques that surgeons would otherwise have to excise with their fingers and scalpels

Although there is debate about the interpretation of the findings, one arthritis expert, Dr. Gerald Weissmann of New York University, said the researchers had made ''a real observation'' and ''it must be thought about seriously.'' Although the new report called the MRL/l model ''the best available animal model for human rheumatoid arthritis,'' some other researchers disagree. One, Dr. Ronald Wilder, who works with an induced animal model of rheumatoid arthritis at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., said the Alabama group had ''clearly overstated the case'' for the MRL/l model. Nevertheless, Dr. Wilder called the MRL/l strain ''a valuable model for joint destruction'' and he said that there was an urgent need for experts to meet to evaluate the relative merits of different types of animal models for rheumatoid arthritis. ''No one model has all the features'' of rheumatoid arthritis and several models are needed, Dr. Wilder said

The scientists, led by Dr. Edward H. Kass at the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, found that two fibers contained in some tampons - polyester foam and polyacrylate rayon - have a powerful ability to absorb magnesium. Such a concentration of magnesium can enhance production of a bacterial toxin, TSST-1, for toxic shock syndrome toxin 1, that causes toxic shock syndrome. Further studies linked more cases of toxic shock syndrome to one brand of tampon, Rely, than to other brands, causing Procter & Gamble of Cincinnati, the manufacturer of Rely tampons, to remove the product from the market that year. Rely tampons were the only brand that included polyester foam, which Dr. Kass said was more powerful in binding magnesium than polyacrylate rayon. Polyacrylate rayon continued in use. In the course of its research, Dr. Kass's team began looking for clues to tampon-related toxic shock syndrome by exposing a broth that usually supports staphylococcal growth to the various fibers and other components of tampons and to whole tampons in the laboratory

Murray P. Haydon, who was described as the ''perfect'' candidate for the artificial heart when he received it Feb. 17, suffered a stroke late Monday night but made ''a dramatic recovery'' in the hours thereafter, his doctors said yesterday. ''If we get a good patient, we'll certainly do the patient right now'' and that the team would make it clear to future candidates that there is ''a high likelihood of a stroke,'' Dr. [William C. DeVries] said. He also said that a judgment could not be made on only five patients. ''We may not know the answer to this until we have done 100,'' Dr. DeVries said. Yesterday Dr. Gary Fox, a neurologist, said Mr. Haydon was about ''95 to 98 percent recovered'' from the effects of the stroke. ''He seems to be pretty much neurologically intact,'' Dr. Fox said

Mr. [Murray P. Haydon] needs the mechanical respirator ''only for reassurance purposes,'' Dr. [Allan M. Lansing] said, adding that the results of key tests measuring his respiratory function and the amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide in his blood were ''excellent.'' ''He has gained a bit more movement in his right hand,'' the doctors said, and ''at times, Mr. [William J. Schroeder] is attempting to vocalize through one or two syllable words.'' ''We have no other explanation,'' Dr. Lansing said, discounting the possibility that the reaction was because of the mechanical heart. ''If so, we should have seen it long ago.''

In selecting a broadly based group, those chosen ''were not known to us as advocates of the artificial heart, and I was astounded by this strong endorsement,'' Dr. [Claude Lenfant] said. ''Therefore, we have to take it very seriously,'' he added. The committee urged more study of the ethics of how people would adjust to life on the devices. The quality of life on an artificial heart might seem ''more attractive despite its significant imperfections'' to those people who have been debilitated by chronic heart disease, and the adjustment might be more difficult for victims of acute heart attacks who ''with catstrophic suddenness'' find themselves living with such a device. The panelists said ''it may become appropriate to consider turning off the artificial heart even though the device is functioning well,'' explaining, ''At times the condition of the patient will be such that continued use of the device serves no useful purpose.''

His right arm and leg became weak again after the second stroke. But Miss [Donna Hazle] said, ''Movement is slowly returning to his right extremities.'' The second stroke left him unable to speak. ''He is not speaking yet,'' Miss Hazle said. The second test performed on Mr. [William J. Schroeder], the CAT scan, is a computer-enhanced X-ray that can show the brain tissue in much greater detail than the arteriogram. Two CAT scans taken earlier this week showed bleeding at two places on the left side of Mr. Schroeder's brain. One is at the base, the other is in the frontal area

The damage from William J. Schroeder's latest stroke has resulted from accumulations of blood in two areas of his brain and has created a ''severe neurological problem'' for the longest-living recipient of an artificial heart, hospital officials said yesterday. Donna Hazle, the hospital's director of public relations, described Mr. Schroeder as unable to speak but ''awake and responding to the presence of his wife, nurses and doctors.'' Nevertheless, Miss Hazle said, Mr. Schroeder's conditon ''seems to be gradually improving.''

The condition of William J. Schroeder, the longest-surviving recipient of an artificial heart, ''stabilized overnight'' and the bleeding in his brain apparently stopped after he suffered a stroke Monday, hospital officials said yesterday. It was Mr. Schroeder's second stroke since the mechanical heart was implanted 164 days ago. ''He is awake some of the time,'' Miss [Donna Hazle] said. ''He is breathing on his own at this time,'' Mr. Schroeder seemed to be aware of people in the room around him, according to Dr. Salb. Referring to the patient's wife, Dr. [J. P. Salb] said, ''Margaret said that when she was in there he squeezed her hand when she talked to him.''

Though Mr. [Jack C. Burcham]'s life was being supported by three artificial machines - a mechanical heart, a mechanical respirator and a dialysis machine - his doctors had issued an upbeat report earlier in the day. It said his kidney failure was ''resolving'' as a result of dialysis therapy. ''I was aware that there was a problem,'' Dr. [William C. DeVries] said. ''I thought that it was not serious at that time.'' Because the artificial heart is a rigid structure, the clots in Mr. Burcham's case did not compress the bottom chambers, or ventricles, and ''the usual early warning signs of cardiac tamponade were not present,'' Dr. [Allan M. Lansing] said