Venomous snakebite: past, present, and future treatment options.

BACKGROUND: Venomous snakebites continue to cause great morbidity, and treatment options are confusing the attending physician. In the United States approximately 45,000 snakebites occur each year, of which some 8000 are by 20 species of venomous snakes. METHODS: Information on venomous snakes and snakebite treatment was gathered from the libraries of the Wilderness Medical Society and the Rocky Mountain Center for Wilderness Medicine in Boise, Idaho (co-supported by the Boise State University and the Family Practice Residency of Idaho), as well as from current literature files of physicians practicing wilderness medicine. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Three genera of venomous snakes account for the majority of poisonous snake envenomations in this country. Most hospitalized victims are bitten either by rattlesnakes or copperheads or by unidentified snakes. Most of these bites occur during the summer months and are found on the extremities. Field treatment focuses on the application of a vacuum extractor and transportation to the nearest medical facility. Although constriction band use can be helpful, tourniquets, incision and suction, and ice therapy are contraindicated. Electric shock therapy is of no use and could cause serious injury. Hospital management focuses on rapid clinical evaluation and laboratory tests to establish the degree of envenomation, looking for clotting abnormalities. If envenomation has occurred and is reactive, polyvalent antivenin should be administered according to the degree of envenomation. Errors in diagnosis and treatment result in increased morbidity and put attending physicians at risk for litigation. Prevention remains the most successful approach to snakebite management.     

乳酸脱氢酶实验检测细胞新陈代谢的实验研究

目的 探索LDH实验检测细胞活力的可行性。方法 原代培养骨髓细胞和软骨细胞，用LDH实验测定上述两组细胞的活力，并与镜下活体观察到细胞的生长状况相比较。与目前比较成熟的测定细胞活力的MTS实验的测得的值相比较。结果 LDH实验对上述两组细胞的活力的测定结果与镜下活体观察到的结果相符合。与MTS实验的测得的结果经统计学处理无显著差异。结论 LDH实验可用于细胞活力的直接测定，而对活细胞的生存、繁殖无影响。     

Proteolytic processing of the Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein-1 produces a membrane-bound fragment containing two epidermal growth factor-like domains.

The amino-terminal sequence has been obtained for 2 fragments of the Plasmodium falciparum T9/94 merozoite surface protein precursor (PfMSP1) and these have been compared with the sequence predicted from the gene. These data define the position of these fragments in the precursor and indicate that the C-terminal sequence which is carried into the red cell during invasion consists of 2 epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domains. A homologous cleavage sequence and domain structure can be identified in the MSP1 molecules of other malarial species. In addition the results suggest that the smaller fragment is not N-glycosylated.     

Peribursal fat plane of the shoulder: anatomic study and clinical experience

A comprehensive anatomic and radiographic analysis of the peribursal fat plane in 12 cadavers confirmed that the fat plane seen on radiographs represents extrasynovial fat lining the subacromial bursa and documented the anatomic relations of the bursa. A three-part retrospective clinical evaluation of rotator cuff tears, calcific tendinitis, and rheumatoid arthritis was performed. Two osteoradiologists blindly graded the appearance of the peribursal fat plane with the shoulder in external versus internal rotation in 21 patients with arthrographically intact rotator cuffs and 21 patients with disrupted rotator cuffs. The peribursal fat plane was seen better with disrupted rotator cuffs. The peribursal fat plane was seen better with the shoulder in internal rotation and was seen in 60% of control subjects but only 21% of patients with rotator cuff tears. Partial or complete obliteration of this fat plane is a sensitive (79%) but less specific (60%) indicator of rotator cuff tears. Obliteration of the peribursal fat plane by inflammatory processes in adjacent tissues, including calcific tendinitis and rheumatoid arthritis, occurred with a high frequency.     

Glucose tolerance in women: the effects of age, body composition, and sex hormones.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the separate and interactive effects of age, phase of the menstrual cycle, menopausal hormone status, body fat mass, and regional fat distribution on glucose tolerance in healthy women. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. PATIENTS: Two hundred sixty healthy women aged 22-89 years. MEASUREMENTS: Plasma levels of estradiol and progesterone, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and plasma glucose values in the fasting state (FPG) as well as 120 minutes after 40 gm/m2 of oral glucose (G120) were measured for each participant. RESULTS: We found a progressive decline in oral glucose tolerance of 0.4 mM (6.7 mg/dL)/decade at G120) in women from early to late adult years, with no relationship to phase of the menstrual cycle and no abrupt change associated with the menopause. Multiple regression analysis revealed significant, independent effects of BMI and WHR on FPG and G120. The influence of age (P less than 0.01) on G120 was stronger than that of the BMI or WHR (P less than 0.05). There was no significant relationship between the levels of endogenous sex hormones and glucose tolerance after adjustments for age, BMI, and WHR. However, women taking oral contraceptives, but not those receiving postmenopausal replacement therapy, did exhibit mildly elevated G120 values. CONCLUSIONS: Age per se, and to a lesser extent BMI and WHR, but not levels of endogenous sex steroids, contribute to the physiological decline in glucose tolerance in older women.     

Postoperative functional assessment of a modified surgical approach to repair of tetralogy of Fallot

Since February 1982, we have used a modified technique to repair tetralogy of Fallot with transatrial closure of the ventricular septal defect, a short infundibular incision with avoidance of muscle resection, and anterior expansion of the right ventricular outflow tract using a patch in every case. The pulmonary anulus is approached in the usual manner. Twenty-six patients have had repair with this technique without mortality, and 20 patients (Group 1) have been evaluated 1 to 3 years postoperatively. Their results are compared with those of all patients followed up in our division who had had repair by the traditional technique in the 5 years before February 1982, with the same evaluation within 4 years of operation (Group 2, n = 22). Ten of 20 patients in Group 1 and 14 of 22 in Group 2 required a transannular patch. At cardiac catheterization, right ventricular outflow tract obstruction was effectively relieved in both groups (right ventricular systolic pressure [mean +/- standard error], Group 1 versus Group 2, 45 +/- 5 versus 49 +/- 4 mm Hg). No patient with the modified technique had a residual ventricular septal defect. By M-mode echocardiography, right ventricular-left ventricular end-diastolic dimension ratio was significantly lower for Group 1 patients (0.58 +/- 0.03 versus 0.78 +/- 0.04; normal less than 0.45; p less than 0.001). With radionuclide ventriculography, right ventricular ejection fractions were significantly higher for Group 1 patients with the modified repair (38% +/- 2.2% versus 33% +/- 1.8%; normal greater than or equal to 45%; p less than 0.05). Because the incidence of obligatory pulmonary insufficiency caused by transannular patch is similar in both groups, these results cannot be directly attributed to the presence of pulmonary insufficiency alone. With ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring, no patient in Group 1 had any ventricular premature contractions whatsoever, whereas six of 22 patients in Group 2 had demonstrable ventricular premature contractions. These results suggest that in children with tetralogy of Fallot, right ventricular outflow tract obstruction can be effectively relieved with this modified approach with improved early preservation of right ventricular function.