Volume 93  ·   Issue 05  ·  1980

This report presents 2 cases of atrioventricular junctional rhythm with Wenckebach phenomenon, one was nonparoxysmal junctional tachycardia with both retrograde and antegrade Wenckebach phenomenon and the other paroxysmal junctional tachycardia with antegrade Wenckebach phenomenon and complete bundle branch block.

Clinicopathologic observations on 11 patients with third and mainly deep second degree burns treated by appropriately early proper depth tangential eschar excision with adequate coverage by autografts, homografts or vaseline cotton saturated with antibiotics before releasing the tourniquet are presented. The clinical value of the procedure is discussed in the light of the pathohistologic analyses providing pointers for further study of the method and its clinical application.

The authors treated 125 cases of external gastrointestinal fistula from January 1971 to March 1978. 115 patients were cured and 10 died. The chief cause of failure was intraperitoneal sepsis.

This study is to find out the time required for the appearance of adequate arterial and venous collateral blood flow following replantation of severed limbs in dogs. Temporary occlusion of femoral artery up to 2 months after operation in 10 dogs resulted in rapid drop of skin temperature. Arteriography done 5 months postoperatively in 12 dogs revealed little or no formation of collateral vessels at the site of replantation. Ligation of the femoral vein could be performed safely as early as the 8th post-operative day. Venography 8 days to 2 months after operation in 10 dogs revealed rich collateral vessel formation at the site of reunion.

The effect of cast immobilization on bone turnover is investigated by double tetracycline labelling in 66 rabbits. In normal unimmobilized rabbits the appositional growth rates of newly-formed bones of the left and right femora were l.95 μ and 2.00 μ per day and those of the left and right tibiae were l.6 μ and l.5 μ per day. The formation rates of the newly-formed bones of the left and right femora were 0.015% and 0.018% per day and of the left and right tibiae were 0.023% and 0.022% per day. Following cast immobilization for from 20 to 100 days the femur and tibia of the left immobilized limb showed much more new bone formation than the 2 bones of the contralateral nonimmobilized limb, however there was also even more femur and tibia resorption. This resorption far exceeded bone formation leading eventually to ostoeporosis of the immobilized bones.

155 microscopic sections were studied for measuring the corneal endothelial cell density in different age groups. It was found that corneal endothelial cells decreased in number with age, the cell density dropped in the first 2 decades of life from 4,927 cells/mm2 to 3,341 cells/mm2. Among cases of endothelialization of the anterior chamber the mean density, number of cells/mm2, on the surface of the iris and on the posterior surface of diseased corneas was well below 30-40% for normal corneas. Both the cell bodies and their nuclei were flat and large. It is concluded that endothelialization of the anterior chamber is due to migration of endothelial cells from expansion and spreading of their whole population rather than to an increase in the number of cells.

50 years of research on killed or live vaccine for schistosomiasis without successful production of a human schistosomiasis vaccine are reviewed.

Five methods for repairing defects after resection of high-lying gastric ulcers, have been devised. The results of 142 cases so treated have been satisfactory. Of 113 cases followed up for 1-9 years, over 90% have recovered without major complications. With the use of these methods of management, total gastrectomy or proximal partial gastrectomy can be dispensed with. The technics of the 5 procedures are described in detail.

Acupuncture anesthesia (AA) in l,048 cases of lung resection with a 97.2% success rate is analyzed for factors affecting efficiency of AA, such as acupuncture point selection and individual variations in mental activity type, attitude towards acupuncture, emotional state, sensitivity to acupuncture, tolerance of needling, physiologic parameters and ability to breath abdominally. Sex, age and occupation do not affect efficacy.