Neonatal suck reflex pattern does not predict apnea.

Respiration and suck are gestational age-dependent reflexes modulated in the brain stem. To determine if the suck reflex pattern could be used to predict apnea, the relationship between the two was examined in 28 neonates. The suck reflex was quantified with respect to burst-pause rhythm, amplitude of negative suck pressure, and synchrony of the negative-positive pressure. Apneas were counted 5 days prior to and following measurement of the suck reflex pattern. Increasing gestational age correlated with a lower frequency of apnea (P < .01) and higher suck scores (P < .01). A mature suck reflex pattern, however, failed to predict the occurrence of apnea.     

Nasopharyngeal angiofibroma-an unusual origin & presentation

Case report presenting an unusual site of angiofibroma is described. An adult male presented with a mass hanging out from the right nostril with epistaxis. A C.T. scan performed in this cast described it to be an infected polyp. The patient was operated upon. The mass arose from the septum and bled on removal. The histopathological diagnosis of the mass showed characteristic features of an angiofibroma.     

An unusual case of impacted oesophageal foreign body

Impacted sharp foreign bodies in the oesophagus can be very difficult to manage. When attempts are made to remove such objects inappropriately, life-threatening complications such as oesophageal perforation can occur. We hare reported a rare case of impacted denture in the oesophagus where endoscopic removal was not possible due to the perforation already caused by the denture, sinee this would have caused an oesophageal laceration, which could have proved fatal. Hence surgical removal had to be performed with repair of the oesophageal perforation.     

Deferoxamine-induced platyspondyly in hypertransfused thalassemic patients

Deferoxamine chelation therapy (widely used to reduce iron overload in hypertransfused thalassemic patients) has been implicated in causing skeletal growth abnormalities (rachitic-like changes in the long bones and vertebral body flattening), particularly when used in early infancy and at high dose levels. Radiographs of seven hypertransfused and well-chelated patients with thalassemia were reviewed. For two patients, serial films of the spine from the early 1970s to the present revealed a sequence of changes in the vertebral bodies, beginning with normal bodies that became bulbous and subsequently flattened. These two patients had begun deferoxamine chelation therapy early in infancy. The bone changes, though slightly reminiscent of post-radiation changes, are milder and result in a final Scheuermann-like picture.

     

Occurrence of bioactive and immunoreactive inhibin (13 KD) in human epididymis

Using specific polyclonal antibodies generated against a 13 KD human testicular inhibin, immunocytochemical localization of inhibin was carried out in different regions of human epididymis. The concentrations of inhibin were greater in caput and corpus regions as compared to the caudal region. The epididymal inhibin was found to be bioactive, since it suppressed specifically the FSH levels of rat pituitaries in vitro. Spermiophage/macrophage cells exhibited strong staining for inhibin which were suggestive of a possible role of inhibin in modulation of immune function. In view of the known activities of inhibin in cellular growth, differentiation, and steroidogenesis, epididymal inhibin could have a role in acquisition of sperm fertilizing capabilities.