Use of lasers in the treatment of acute suppurative lactation mastitis

The efficiency of CO2-laser in treatment of 104 patients with acute lactation mastitis is shown. The application of the laser technique helped to make the period of treatment of the patients 1,5-2 times shorter as compared with a control group, to make the incidence of recidivations 3,8 times less frequent.     

Nonimmunological alterations of glomerular filtration by s-PAF in the rat kidney

Rat kidneys were isolated and perfused with a cell-free perfusion buffer containing 4% albumin. Infusion of platelet activating factor (s-PAF) into the isolated perfused kidney caused a dose-dependent fall in renal vascular resistance (RVR): 12 +/- 6% at 10 nM s-PAF, 18 +/- 3% at 100 nM s-PAF and 20 +/- 7% at 1 microM s-PAF. Glomerular filtration rate fell by 32 +/- 5% at 10 nM, 38 +/- 6% at 100 nM, and 52 +/- 10% at 1 microM. s-PAF (50 nM) increased urinary protein excretion after 20 minutes. Because GFR fell to a greater extent than RVR, possible changes in glomerular permeability after s-PAF treatment were assessed morphologically using native ferritin. After s-PAF treatment (100 nM), the number of ferritin particles/micron2 increased from 1.2 +/- 0.9 (control) to 795 +/- 69 in the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) and from 0.2 +/- 0.06 (control) to 98 +/- 29 in lamina rara externa (LRE). To quantitate changes in fixed anionic charges, polyethylenimine (PEI) was quantitated morphologically in GBM. No significant change between s-PAF treated and untreated kidneys was seen. s-PAF did not alter the sialoglycoprotein pattern in the perfused kidney as assessed by lysozyme staining. These results are in contrast to findings with s-PAF in vivo where in addition to increased glomerular permeability, a reduction of fixed anionic charges is seen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

FAILURE OF EXTRADURAL BLOCKADE IN OBSTETRICS: A New Hypothesis

Three-thousand and eleven consecutive obstetric extradural blockswere evaluated retropectively. The distance from the skin tothe extradural space was correlated with the incidence of unilateralblockade. There was a significant correlation (P < 0.001)between an increasing distance and increased incidence of unilateralblock. We propose that this is because of the topography ofthe extradural space, and because of the deviation of the tipof the needle from the midline (when using a midline approach).     

A monoclonal antibody that binds to the surface of photoreceptors

A monoclonal antibody (MAB), 7H11, that binds to the surface of photoreceptors has been produced. Using immunoaffinity procedures, proteins with molecular weights of 53, 48 and 42 kDa were found to bind a MAB 7H11 column, although the 48- and 42-kDa proteins may be proteolytic breakdown products of the 53 kDa protein. Electron microscopic-immunohistochemical studies show that the antigen is concentrated on the external surface of inner and outer segments of photoreceptors. It is likely that the 7H11 antigen is a component of the interphotoreceptor matrix and, therefore, may contribute to some aspect of photoreceptor-pigment epithelial interactions. However, the expression of the 7H11 antigen in cell culture suggests that it is expressed independently of direct cell-cell interactions with either pigment epithelial cells, Müller cells or other photoreceptors.     

Urgent problems of diagnosis and treatment of reflux esophagitis

The authors analyse the results of diagnosis and surgical treatment of various forms of reflux esophagitis in 426 patients. The disease was caused by hiatal hernia in 60.4% of patients, by various operations on the cardia in 22%, and by gastric and duodenal ulcer in 8.2% of patients. Various diagnostic methods are evaluated, among which intraesophageal pH measurement and esophagofibroscopy are particularly important. The indications for operative treatment are formulated. Operations were carried out on 349 patients, complications occurred in 15%. The lethality was 0.6%. Nissen's fundoplication is the operation of choice.     

Does malnutrition predispose to diarrhoea during childhood? Evidence from a longitudinal study in Matlab, Bangladesh

It is posited that diarrhoeal illness during one period has influence on diarrhoeal illness in a subsequent period. This relationship may potentially mask the association between malnutrition and subsequent diarrhoea. To test this, we analysed data on cross-sectional anthropometry in combination with data on diarrhoeal morbidity collected longitudinally in a community-based study of 1262 children (aged 6-60 months) during March-December, 1976, in Matlab, Bangladesh. The results confirmed the posited relationship between diarrhoeal morbidities in two consecutive periods and showed that the risks of diarrhoeal attack and longer diarrhoeal illness increased more than threefold during the 2 months following diarrhoeal illness during the preceding 2 months (previous diarrhoea). Children with no previous diarrhoea indicated a positive association between malnutrition and subsequent diarrhoea, but the pattern found among children with previous diarrhoea was not understandable. Logistic regression analyses performed separately for younger and older children showed that controlling for effects of previous diarrhoea, maternal illiteracy and household poverty, severe malnutrition as assessed by weight-for-age was found to be strongly associated with the risk of longer diarrhoeal illness in a 2-month interval in the age group 24-60 months; in the same age group the association with the risk of diarrhoeal attack was significant at the 10 per cent level. No such association for malnutrition, however, was found in the age group 6-23 months.