Sand flies in Timóteo, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Sporadic cases of tegumentary leishmaniasis have occurred in Timóteo, Minas Gerais State, basically among the rural population. In order to study the region's sand fly population, New Jersey light traps were set in seven different neighborhoods. Specimens were gathered from June through October 1994, December 1994, and January through March 1995, with a total of 3,240 hours per trap. A total of 4,396 sand flies were captured, distributed among two genera and twenty species: Brumptomyia cunhai, Brumptomyia nitzulescui, Lutzomyia (Nyssomyia) whitmani, Lutzomyia (Nyssomyia) intermedia, Lutzomyia quinquefer, Lutzomyia lenti, Lutzomyia (Pintomyia) fischeri, Lutzomyia migonei, Lutzomyia sallesi, Lutzomyia termitophila, Lutzomyia aragaoi, Lutzomyia borgmeieri, Lutzomyia (Psathyromyia) lutziana, Lutzomyia (Sciopemyia) sordellii, Lutzomyia (Pintomyia) pessoai, Lutzomyia (Trichopygomyia) longispina, Lutzomyia misionensis, Lutzomyia (Psychodopygus) davisi, Lutzomyia lanei, Lutzomyia (Pressatia) sp. The species L. (N.) whitmani was the most frequent, with 52.12% of the total, followed by L. (N.) intermedia with 34.10%, and both may be involved in transmission of tegumentary leishmaniasis in the region.     

The use of clinical score to estimate the severity of an acute attack of asthma

OBJECTIVE: To identify patients with acute asthma who require intensive care, using a clinical score.METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 299 patients who were admitted to the hospital for acute asthma, between 1993 and 1996. Two groups were selected: group I (GI) with 26 patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit; group II (GII) with 52 patients admitted to the Emergency Room, matched by age and sex with those of GI. A clinical score to assess the groups had the following items: heart rate, respiratory rate, retractions, cyanosis, alertness level, previous treatment, previous hospitalization, and duration of attack. The score ranged from 0 to 2 points for each of those, summing up 11 points.RESULTS: The clinical parameters that discriminated well the 2 groups were: retractions (p<0.001), cyanosis (p<0.01) and alertness level (p<0.005). Through a discriminate analysis of the clinical score components, 22/26 patients were recognized as GI and 40/52 patients were recognized as GII, showing an accuracy of 85% and 77% respectively for GI and GII.CONCLUSION: The clinical score was useful to discriminate patients with severe attack of asthma who might require intensive care, and should be employed at hospital admission.     

Is adolescent pregnancy a risk factor for low birth weight?

OBJECTIVE: This paper was designed to study the pregnancy in adolescence as a risk factor for low birth weight.METHODOLOGY: A case-control study was designed, including 354 mothers whose babies' weight was less than 2.5 kg and another group of the same size, with babies of 3.0 kg or more. All deliveries took place at Maternidade de Campinas, and all mothers were interviewed and compared. Besides mother's age, other variables that could offer risk of low birth weight were also evaluated. A multiple logistic regression analysis was applied, to control possible influences of these variables.RESULTS: Adolescents accounted for 22.9% of the mothers whose babies had low birth weight. The risk of low birth weight among this group (OR=0.72; 95%IC=0.45-1.14; p=0.16) was not considered greater when compared with that of mothers between 20 and 34 years old (before and after correction for income, marital status, educational level, race, previous pregnancies, prenatal assistance, exposure to smoking and caffeine, arterial hypertension, weight prior to pregnancy and employment). Complementary analysis showed that pregnancy in adolescence is a protection factor against intrauterine growth retardation (OR=0.24; 95%IC =0.10-0.56; p= 0.001).CONCLUSION: In this population, pregnancy in adolescence did not represent a greater risk for occurrence of low birth weight, when others factors like psychosocial, pre-gestational risks, smoking and poor prenatal care were controlled for.     

Study of intestinal malabsorption diseases as cause of monosymptomatic short stature

OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out in order to evaluate the etiology of monosymptomatic childhood short stature (below the third percentile or with growth rate of less than 5 cm/year) with emphasis on causes due to intestinal malabsorption. METHODS: Each patient was submitted to endocrinological, biochemical and hematological investigation. Determination of serum anti-gliadin antibodies, fecal fat, chloride levels in sweat, jejunal biopsy and bone age was also obtained.RESULTS: A total of 51 children was studied, most of them belonging to the group of normal variants. Four children had abnormally high sweat chloride, compatible with the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. These children were asymptomatic regarding respiratory and gastrointestinal tract. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that cystic fibrosis, besides celiac disease, must be included in the differential diagnosis of short stature in childhood.     

Structure of the efferent ductules of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica)

The ductuli efferentes of the pig have 2 distinct and continuous segments: the proximal or intratesticular segment that is formed in sequence to the labyrinthic portion of the rete testis, on the cranial extremity of the testis, and the distal or epididymal segment that forms the Cani vasculosi or Lobuli epididymidis. The testicular ductuli are more thicker and the epididymal ductuli are more thin, long and flexuous. The last segment is very coiled and forms a bulboid structure that is placed in the head of the epididymis, in which the ductuli jumped into the initial segment of the epididymis. Each efferent duct is formed by a single and cuboidal/columnar epithelium in which are identified three cellular types: ciliated cells, non ciliated cells and intra-epithelial lymphocytes. The epithelial lining rests on a conspicuous basement membrane that is surrounded by collagen fibrils. Among the ductuli is identified a loose connective tissue.