Serum ceruloplasmin and immunoglobulins in retinitis pigmentosa patients

Thirty cases of retinitis pigmentosa were studied for serum ceruloplasmin levels and 27 cases of retinitis pigmentosa for serum immunoglobulin levels. No significant change was seen in serum ceruloplasmin levels as compared to normal control subjects, while a significant rise in levels of serum immunoglobulins was seen, which needs further experimental study to find the exact etiology.

Scabies in a Semiurban area of India: an epidemiologic study

An epidemiologic survey was conducted in a population of 1,727 persons living in 253 households in a semiurban area of Goa, India. The prevalence of scabies was 9.7% by persons, 22.5% by households and 22.8% by families. Prevalence of scabies was highly associated with age. The highest prevalence (23.7%) was in school-age children. Prevalence was higher for females than males age 25 or older, but there was no significant difference in prevalence by sex for all ages. Prevalence rate by persons was approximately the same in Hindus and Christians but prevalence rate between families was higher for Hindus, although prevalence within families was higher for Crhistians. First to contact scabies in the family was generally a school child.

Intraperitoneal rupture of amebic liver abscess

The traditional management of amebic liver abscess which has ruptured into the peritoneal cavity has been conservative and 70% to 90% fatal. Laparotomy with complete toilet of the abscess and the peritoneal cavity has shown encouraging results. A comparative study of the management of 36 cases of intraperitoneal rupture of amebic liver abscess was carried out. Twenty-one cases were treated by laparotomy with 85.5% survival. Mortality for 15 cases treated conservatively was 80%. We believe that intraperitoneal rupture of amebic liver abscess can now be treated by laparotomy with much better results than were possible before the advent of drugs such as metronidazole.

Role of sociocultural and environmental factors in the cause of scabies

A house-to-house survey for scabies was done in a semiurban area with a population of 1727 from 273 families in 253 households, to study the sociocultural and environmental factors in families with scabies. It was found that sleeping habits, overcrowding for sleeping space and sharing of clothes, towel, etc, were significantly associated with scabies. There was no significant correlation between the size of family and the number of persons infected with scabies per family. The prevalence of scabies within the families was almost the same either with good hygiene, satisfactory hygiene or unsatisfactory hygiene. The factors significantly associated with the disease were observed to be more frequent among Christian families than among Hindus and were thought to be responsible for higher prevalence of the disease within the Christian families.

The age of onset of leprosy

The age of onset was determined in 1,053 consecutive patients having different types of leprosy. There were 675 males and 378 females. The majority had onset of the disease between ages 20 and 39, although all age groups were affected. The age of onset was significantly related to the type of leprosy; the mean was lowest in tuberculoid, highest in neuritic, while in borderline and lepromatous it was in between. The comparison of reports of the age of onset from India and elsewhere suggest that this varies in different regions with the country, and from country to country.

Second ear stapedectomy--a continued controversy

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the effects of stapedectomy on vestibular function. We detected a disturbingly high incidence of vestibular abnormality in the results of caloric tests at three months postoperatively. Surprisingly, this was not usually accompanied by concurrent vestibular symptoms and there was no evidence of cochlear dysfunction in most cases. Although the caloric response at 12 months postoperatively showed an improvement in most instances, the responses rarely became symmetrical. We believe that a long-term alteration in vestibular response is not uncommon following stapedectomy. Although most patients will compensate quite quickly after unilateral stapedectomy we suspect that this occurs much less readily after bilateral stapedectomy and not at all should bilateral impairment of vestibular function occur. On the basis of this evidence, we submit that bilateral stapedectomy is justified only when vestibular function can be shown to be normal prior to the second ear operation.

Antiaccelerator and decelerator activity of eleven phenothiazine derivatives

Eleven N-substituted phenothiazine derivatives were studied for their antiaccelerator and decelerator activities on the dog heart. The antiaccelerator activity was determined in heart-lung preparation in dogs. Taking into consideration the percentage inhibition of cardio-acceleration produced by continuous infusion of 3 mug/min of adrenaline, all the drugs except chlorpromazine and 10-butyl-phenothiazine in two experiments caused more than 50 percent inhibition. 10-Propylphenothiazine induced maximum inhibitory effect, i.e. 90.1 percent in a total dose of 20 mg. Two types of effects were observed upon impulse generation in the sinus node. Acceleration was produced by chlorpromazine, 10-cyclopentyl-phenothiazine, prothipendyl, and thiazinamium, which was very short-lived, whereas other drugs produced deceleration. The correlation between antiaccelerator and decelerator properties is rather a close one.