Fungal keratitis in contact lens wearers

In a retrospective review from 1972 through 1987 of patients with microbial keratitis, fungal infection occurred in four (4%) of 90 cosmetic or aphakic contact lens wearers and in four (27%) of 15 patients using a therapeutic soft contact lens. Predisposing factors included improper lens care by the refractive lens wearers and a chronic epithelial defect with topical corticosteroid use among the therapeutic lens wearers. The responsible organisms in the refractive lens group were Fusarium solani (two patients) and Cephalosporium and Paecilomyces (one patient each), and in the therapeutic lens group Candida (three patients) and Aspergillus (one patient). Filamentous fungi were more likely to be associated with cosmetic or aphakic lens wear, whereas yeasts were more frequently found with therapeutic lens use.     

Pelvic allograft. A case report with a follow-up evaluation of 5.5 years

A 23-year-old man with a large chondrosarcoma of the right bony pelvis was successfully treated by limb-saving internal hemipelvectomy and anatomic reconstruction of the pelvis by a pelvic osteoarticular allograft including the acetabulum. Optimum anatomic fit was achieved at the hip joint as well as at the iliac and pubic host-graft junctions, which were fixed with plates and screws. This reconstruction restored stability, leg length, hip motion, and cosmesis. Five and one-half years postoperatively, the patient remained asymptomatic with good functional and roentgenographic results.     

Rectal Bleeding: A Rare Complication of Abdominal Pregnancy

EDITORIAL COMMENT: We accepted this case report for publication not only because of its rare anecdotal interest, which is considerable, but also since it will warn readers that rectal bleeding in pregnancy may result from an abdominal pregnancy. It is strange that the ultrasonograph seems not to have identified the calcification as a fetus although we are not told that the latter was macerated or misshapen. The editor has never seen or heard of an ectopic pregnancy causing rectal erosion and bleeding although he has reported a primary abdominal pregnancy in which the placenta was implanted on the peritoneum of the pouch of Douglas posteriorly (A); this woman presented at 23 weeks' gestation when retroplacental haemorrhage resulted in a haematoma that bulged into the vagina causing acute urinary retention. One wonders why the placenta did not erode the anterior rectal wall in this more advanced case of primary placental implantment in the pouch of Douglas.
Summary: A rare case of abdominal pregnancy, causing massive rectal bleeding due to invasion of the rectal wall by the placenta, is reported.     

A SURVEY OF CONCURRENT DRUG THERAPY AMONG DAY UNIT PATIENTS

SUMMARY In order to assess the reliability of drug information supplied by day-stay cases, 85 consecutive patients were interviewed. A comparison of the interview answers with the details previously volunteered during the admission procedure showed an increase of 80% in the information given by the patient. While the detailed interviewing technique is time-consuming and may not be infallible, this substantial increase in information highlights problems in the current routine.     

Self-dilatation of oesophageal strictures.

A new technique for the management of upper and mid-oesophageal benign strictures is reported. A deflated oesophageal balloon catheter coated with steroid paste is passed by the patient through the stricture, the balloon is inflated and then withdrawn. This technique can be used for both strictures caused by tablet or corrosive damage that recur rapidly and where stricturing is the result of a chronic disease not amenable to medical or surgical treatments. Three patients in who this technique has been used with satisfactory patient tolerance and compliance and good relief of symptoms are reported.     

The response to carbogen breathing in experimental tumour models monitored by gradient-recalled echo magnetic resonance imaging.

Gradient-recalled echo magnetic resonance imaging (GRE MRI), which gives information on blood flow and oxygenation changes (Robinson SP, Howe FA, Griffiths JR 1995, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 33: 855), was used to observe the responses of six rodent tumour models to carbogen breathing. In one transplanted rat tumour, the Morris hepatoma 9618a, and a chemically induced rat tumour, the MNU-induced mammary adenocarcinoma, there were marked image intensity increases, similar to those previously observed in the rat GH3 prolactinoma. In contrast, the rat Walker carcinosarcoma showed no response. In two mouse tumours, the RIF-1 fibrosarcoma and the human xenograft HT29, carbogen breathing induced a transient fall in signal intensity that reversed spontaneously within a few minutes. The rat GH3 prolactinoma was xenografted into nude mice, and an increase in image intensity was found in response to carbogen, suggesting that any effects that carbogen may have had on the host were not significant determinants of the tumour response. The increases in GRE image intensity of the MNU, H9618a and GH3 tumours during carbogen breathing are consistent with increases in tumour oxygenation and blood flow, whereas the responses of the RIF-1 and HT29 tumours may be the result of a transient steal effect followed by homeostatic correction.     

The effect of intravenous immunoglobulin on the in vitro function of human neutrophils

Three commercially available preparations of human immunoglobulin for intravenous use (IVIgG), namely Gamimune N. Sandoglobulin and Intraglobin F, were tested for their ability to modulate human neutrophil function in vitro. IVIgG consistently stimulated the neutrophil respiratory burst at concentrations of 0.5 to 1 mg/ml, concentrations readily achieved in vivo by moderate-dose therapy. Superoxide (O2-) release was increased by 3.5-4.5 nmol per 5 x 10(5) cells at these concentrations of IVIgG, and H2O2 production increased in a dose-dependent fashion up to 8 mg/ml IVIgG. Luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (CL) was also directly stimulated by IVIgG. In addition, the effects of both soluble and particulate stimulators (N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, phorbol myristate acetate and opsonized zymosan) on the neutrophil respiratory burst were enhanced by IVIgG. In a filter assay of neutrophil migration, using a modified Boyden chamber, no consistent effect on neutrophil locomotion or chemotaxis could be demonstrated. The effect of IVIgG on neutrophil metabolism may contribute to its beneficial therapeutic effect in severe, life-threatening infections.     

Microbehavioral approaches to monitoring human experience

Microbehavioral approaches to social science research minimize the complexities of general activity reporting by limiting questions to elementary activity experience in the context of daily life. Time diaries and sampling studies of activity at random moments during the day are two examples of this approach.