Encephalitis and humoral immunity]

Fourteen children with viral infection of the central nervous system have been examined with respect to their function of humoral immunity. Serum concentrations of immune globulins have been measured and antibody titers determined. Iso- and hetero agglutinins as well as antibodies against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus if the children were vaccinated have been measured. Anti viral antibodies were tested if children reported the respective infection in their history. Selective antibody deficiency have been found in three children all of whom had normal serum IgG and two elevated IgM levels. These three children showed complications in the course of infection. Nine children had elevated serum IgM and titers of IgM-antibodies were also in or above the high normal range.     

Exogenous lung surfactant: effect on radiographic appearance in premature infants

At birth, premature infants of 25-29 weeks gestation, at high risk for development of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), were given a single dose (90 mg) of calf lung surfactant extract (CLSE) by intratracheal instillation. The frequency and severity of RDS were assessed with use of a simple radiographic scoring system in which pulmonary parenchymal densities and the prominence of the air-bronchogram effect were used as indicators of widespread atelectasis. Radiographs were obtained in surfactant-treated and control infants within the first 90 minutes of life as part of an initial evaluation of their pulmonary status. Subsequent examinations were performed at less than 24 hours and less than 48 hours of age. Radiographic assessment of lung disease compared consistently with coordinated data on oxygen and mean airway pressure requirements of the infants. Both indicated a significantly decreased frequency and severity of RDS in the infants treated with surfactant. The results provide supporting evidence of the effectiveness of exogenous lung surfactant replacement in mitigating RDS in very premature infants.     

Larvae of the woodrat fleas Anomiopsyllus amphibolus and Atyphlocerus echis echis (Siphonaptera: Hystrichopsyllidae)

The external morphology of Anomiopsyllus amphibolus Wagner, 1936 and Atyphloceras echis echis Jordan and Rothschild, 1915 larvae (Siphonaptera: Hystrichopsyllidae) from woodrat (Neotoma lepida) nests is described. Among known flea larvae, the genus Anomiopsyllus (Anomiopsyllinae, Anomiopsyllini) is as distinctive in larval form as are the adults. Among other distinctive features, only Anomiopsyllus are known to have only two ventrolateral setae. Atyphloceras (Hystrichopsyllinae, Hystrichopsyllini) larvae seem more similar in morphology to those of Typhloceras (Hystrichopsyllini) than to Hystrichopsylla, the other genus placed within the Hystrichopsyllini. Characters used to distinguish flea larvae found in Neotoma nests are discussed.     

Thrombosis at venous insertion sites after inferior vena caval filter placement

Color Doppler flow imaging or compression ultrasound (US) was used to prospectively determine frequency of thrombosis at 54 venous insertion sites (47 in common femoral veins, seven in right internal jugular veins) after percutaneous placement of Greenfield filters for interruption of the inferior vena cava. Fifty-one filters were successfully placed in 51 patients with a dilator set or a balloon angioplasty catheter. Nine focal thrombi were detected in the common femoral vein (19%) and one in the right internal jugular vein (14%). Use of dilators induced eight thrombi (24%), compared with two (10%) from balloon catheters. The left common femoral vein had a high frequency of thrombosis, regardless of dilation technique (five of nine). Of nine patients with acute common femoral vein thrombosis, four became symptomatic within 10 days after the procedure. Patients may remain asymptomatic or have delayed symptoms; thus, US is valuable for determining patients at risk of thrombosis of the common femoral vein.     

Fungus-like hyphochytrids associated with human disease.

We report two cases, with liver and brain abscess, respectively, where fungus-like organisms belonging to the Hyphochytriomycota were found at the site of inflammation together with Peptococcus in the first and Cysticercus cellulosae in the second case. This is the first time these groups of organisms have been reported in human material. The role of hyphochytrids in human pathology remained uncertain as they were found together with already known human pathogens.