Simplified technique for the management of refractory varicose ulcers

A technique of accurately visualizing incompetent perforating veins with the use of intraosseous venography following muscle stimulation is described. The procedure was employed in 55 patients with recurrent stasis ulcers who had had previous operations. Surgical management incorporating our venographic technique yielded extremely satisfactory results in this selected group.

Ampicillin-resistant Haemophilus paraphrophilus laryngo-epiglottitis

A case of life-threatening laryngo-epiglottitis is reported, caused by ampicillin-resistant Haemophilus paraphrophilus. Clinicians and microbiologists should be aware of a beta-lactamase-mediated resistance among Haemophilus species other than H. influenzae.

In vitro antimicrobial activity of cinoxacin against 2,968 clinical bacterial isolates

Cinoxacin demonstrated effective in vitro antimicrobial activity against the Enterobacteriaceae, but negligible activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and gram-positive cocci. The activity of cinoxacin was slightly greater than that of nalidixic acid.

Comparison of in vitro antimicrobial activity of cefamandole and cefazolin with cephalothin against over 8,000 clinical bacterial isolates

Antimicrobial susceptibility to cefamandole versus cephalothin and cefazolin versus cephalothin was compared by the broth microdilution method against 3,000 and 5,895 clinical bacterial isolates, respectively. Cefamandole and, to a lesser degree, cefazolin showed greater activity than cephalothin against Enterobacteriaceae, but the three drugs were comparable against gram-positive cocci.

Identification and antimicrobial susceptibility of 250 Bacteriodes fragilis subspecies tested by broth microdilution methods

Broth dilution antimicrobial susceptibility tests and biochemical identification of Bacteroides fragilis subspecies were performed by micromethods, yielding results within 48 to 72 h of isolation. The subspecies had similar minimal inhibitory concentration end points.

High prevalence of antinuclear antibodies in sandblasters' silicosis

Of 39 silicotic sandblasters evaluated in 1972 and 1973, 17 (44 per cent) had positive serum antinuclear antibody reactions. This prevalence is higher than those reported for other pneumonconioses. Comparison of the groups positive and negative for antinuclear antibodies showed that patients positive for antinuclear antibodies were unlikely to have normal ventilatory function and were more likely to have roentgenograms showing large opacities. Both groups had similar proportions showing lobar cavitation or contraction.

Comparison of amino acid decarboxylase and dihydrolase results by Moeller, rapid, and replicator plate methods

A slightly modified Moeller medium for amino acid decarboxylase and dihydrolase testing by the replicator method correlated 96 to 99% with the reference Moeller broth method. False positive results were not encountered in this study.

Differences in lung effects resulting from chrysotile and crocidolite exposure

Crocidolite asbestos exposure may carry a greater risk for the development of lung and pleural tumours than chrysotile exposure, although differences in regard to lung fibrosis have not previously been demonstrated. Clinical, radiographic and physiological indicators of lung disease were related to qualitative and quantitative estimates of past total dust exposure in two groups of workers who had spent 20 to 30 years in the asbestos cement industry. One group had exposure to chrysotile, silica and crocidolite in the pipe-making area; the other group had no crocidolite exposure. Crocidolite exposure was related to the prevalence of small irregular opacities and pleural thickening but not to small rounded opacities. The "crocidolite" group had significantly small lung volumes, lower forced expiratory flows, and reduced pulmonary diffusion. Finger clubbing was the only clinical fineing significantly more prevalent in the crocidolite-exposed workers. It is suggested that crocidolite exposure has a greater fibrogenic effect on the lungs than a similar total exposure to chrysotile asbestos.

Pulmonary function in sandblasters' silicosis

Lung function was examined in 55 patients with sandblasters' silicosis. In this type of silicosis, patients with simple nodular disease had normal function. Restrictive and obstructive impairment was present in patients with large opacities, and was more marked in patients with radiographic evidence of contraction or cavitation. In the last group, striking average annual declines in ventilatory function occurred. Compared to patients with classical silicosis, these patients were younger and had intense, short exposures to free crystalline silica. The pattern of functional abnormalities suggested that restriction of lung volumes is a fundamental abnormality in this form of silicosis.

Familial haemophagocytic reticulosis in first cousins

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Computer programs for absorption spectrophotometry

Brief descriptions are given of twenty-two modular computer programs for performing the basic numerical computations of absorption spectrophotometry. The programs, written in Fortran IV for card input and output, are available from the National Research Council of Canada. The input and output formats are standardized to permit easy interfacing to yield more complex data processing systems. Though these programs were developed for ir spectrophotometry, they are readily modified for use with digitized visual and uv spectrophotometers. The operations covered include ordinate and abscissal unit and scale interconversions, ordinate addition and subtraction, location of band maxima and minima, smoothing and differentiation, slit function convolution and deconvolution, band profile analysis and asymmetry quantification, Fourier transformation to time correlation curves, multiple overlapping band separation in terms of Cauchy (Lorentz), Gauss, Cauchy-Gauss product, and Cauchy-Gauss sum functions and cell path length determination from fringe spacing analysis.

Hassall's corpuscles: a measure of activity in the thymus during involution and reconstitution

Areas occupied by Hassall's corpuscles were measured by planimetry of histological sections of guinea-pigs' thymus glands that had been involuted by one of three methods: (1) local X-irradiation of the thymus, or (2) restriction of food intake, or (3) systemic injections of cortisone. The corpuscular area increased two- to three-fold compared with control glands and this increase occurred before lobules began to shrink.

Hassall's corpuscles hypertrophy simultaneously with diminution in width of the cortex, i.e. with lysis of thymocytes. Hence, it is argued that the area taken up by the corpuscles provides a measure of thymocyte destruction during involution. Moreover, since the corpuscles are markedly diminished during reconstitution, 3–4 weeks after X-irradiation, their size is a further reflection of cellular turnover in the thymus.

Spinnaker formation of sinus venosus valve. Case report of a fatal anomaly in a ten-year-old boy

A persistent right valve of the sinus venosus fatally complicated a case of tricuspid atresia in a 10-year-old boy. The center of this large membrane stretched to form a sac resembling a spinnaker. Depending on the relative amounts and directions of blood flowing against it from the coronary sinus below and the venae cavae above, the sail might fill or empty quickly. This gave means of potential obstruction: either of coronary venous flow which, without a tricuspid valvular orifice, could be trapped beneath the membrane; or of all right atrial flow if the sac fell across the sole atrial outlet, the septal defect. Such episodic block caused syncope six times in the last 23 months of life and death in acute right heart failure.