Biliary extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy

Biliary extracorporeal lithotripsy has been considered one of the alternatives to surgery for the treatment of gallstones in the bile ducts and in the gallbladder. Although this technique can fragment almost all gallstones, the clinical effectiveness of this new treatment modality must be measured by successful elimination of all fragments. Some physical principles, stone targeting, patient protocol, complications, and clinical results are presented.     

Toxicological consequences of chloroquine and ethanol on the developing fetus

In the present study, the effects of chloroquine and ethanol administration during gestation have been investigated on the developing rat fetus. Intragastric administration of chloroquine (700 mg/kg body weight) resulted in several structural abnormalities. The incidence of hepatomegaly was increased by 30%, the liquification of visceral organs was increased by 15% and a 9% higher incidence of cleft palate, wrist drop, clubbed foot and brain liquification was observed in the fetuses from the chloroquine-treated group compared to the corresponding controls. Fetuses from the chloroquine-treated group also showed a decrease of about 40% in the body weight and a 30% reduction in the ossification of the sternum. The teratogenic effects of oral ethanol administration in several respects were similar to those of the chloroquine. Ethanol, when administered as 30% of the total daily calories, resulted in growth retardation, resorption, still births, liquification of the brain, wrist drop and clubbed foot. Additionally, ethanol resulted in the inhibition of several metabolic pathways in the liver and brain of the developing fetuses. This included the inhibition of protein, RNA and DNA metabolism in the fetal livers and brains. The feto-toxic effects of these two xenobiotics and their possible molecular mechanisms have been discussed.     

Iodinated contrast medium as an aid to gallstone dissolution with methyl tert-butyl ether: in vitro study

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) floats on bile, whereas gallstones sink. Therefore, stones and MTBE are separated by a layer of bile. This study investigates the effect of contrast medium on flotation of gallstones in bile and its role in stone and fragment dissolution with MTBE. Fresh human gallstones, both calcified and noncalcified, from different patients were tested in vitro for flotation in bile, with and without addition of contrast medium. All gallstones or fragments sank in bile before the introduction of contrast medium. Noncalcified stones floated when the contrast medium-bile volume ratio was 1:6 or more, while double this amount of contrast medium was required to float calcified stones. Fragments did dissolve somewhat in MTBE in the presence of bile alone, but when contrast medium was added, almost complete dissolution occurred. This is thought to be due to increased contact between the fragments and MTBE, both floating on the contrast medium-bile mixture. Contrast material may be a useful adjuvant in gallstone dissolution therapy with MTBE in vivo.     

Neutralization of kinin-releasing enzymes of crotalid venoms by monospecific and polyspecific antivenoms

The amounts of kinin-releasing enzymes in the venoms of Crotalus atrox, Crotalus adamanteus, Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus and Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus were measured by determining the amounts of kinin released from a sheep kininogen substrate by means of a specific radioimmunoassay. Four monospecific and two commercial polyspecific antivenom IgG samples were tested for their ability to reduce the kinin-releasing activities of the four crotalid venoms measured in vitro. All of the antivenom IgG samples were able to neutralize venom kininogenase activity to varying extents. On of the commercial polyspecific antivenoms was of equal or higher potency than the corresponding monospecific antivenoms for three of the venoms tested, indicating a high degree of cross-neutralization. F(ab')2 and especially Fab fragments of that polyspecific antivenom IgG were also effective in reducing the kinin-releasing activities of the four crotalid venoms.     

Outbreak of Acinetobacter spp septicemia in a neonatal ICU

An outbreak of Acinetobacter spp infection in the neonatal unit at Lok Nayak Hospital, New Delhi, India, is described. During a 6-month period, 68 strains of Acinetobacter baumannii were isolated from the blood and CSF of 47 neonates admitted to the intensive care unit. Diagnosis of clinically significant bacteremia was made in 36 patients. On environmental/personnel sampling, Acinetobacter spp isolates with similar antibiogram were recovered from intravenous catheter and washbasin. Control of the outbreak was possible only after strict infection control practices in the unit. It was concluded that any clinical multidrug resistant A. baumannii isolate can be a potential nosocomial outbreak strain.     

Phase II trial of sunitinib as adjuvant therapy after stereotactic radiosurgery in patients with 1–3 newly diagnosed brain metastases

Journal of Neuro-Oncology - Patients with 1–3 brain metastases (BM) often receive sterotactic radiosurgery (SRS) without whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). SRS without WBRT carries a high rate...     

Anterior dislocation of shoulder in eclampsia: a case report

This case report presents a 25-year-old female patient with anterior dislocation of right shoulder secondary to seizures as a complication of eclampsia.This is an unusual mechanism of injury,but simila...     

Jatropha curcas (Linn) leaf extract –a possible alternative for population control of Rhipicephalus(Boophilus) annulatus

ObjectiveTo study the effect of ethanolic extract of leaves of the plant Jatropha curcas as a step towards developing a safe and ecofriendly therapeutic agent to combat the problems of tick and tick-borne diseases.MethodsPulverised leaves of J. curcas were subjected to soxhlet extraction using ethanol. The ethanolic extract of J. curcas at different dilutions such as, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 mg / ml were tested against ticks using adult immersion test. The per cent adult mortality, inhibition of fecundity and hatching of laid ova were studied.ResultsThe extract caused significant blocking of hatching of the laid ova by the treated ticks.ConclusionsEclosion blocking effect of J. curcas extract is a promising property of the plant that can be utilized for controlling the population of ticks.