Volume 94  ·   Issue 08  ·  1981

The immune reaction of late stage schistosomiasis patients is studied. Some nonspecific cell-mediated immune reaction tests such as SK-SD skin test and rosette formation test indicate that the cell-mediated immune reaction in these patients is evidently lower than in normal persons. IgG and IgM are markedly increased in humoral immune function. In some of the patients auto-antibody and anti-complement are positive and complement 3 (C3) content decreased, suggesting that the mechanism of late stage schistosomiasis is not only associated with the delayed type hypersensitivity reaction of the fourth type, but also with the antigen and antibody complex diseases of the third type. In this case, it is imperative to adjust the organism immune function. According to this viewpoint the authors succeeded in treating late stage schistosomiasis with traditional Chinese medicine and specific transfer factor for adopted immunity.

14 cases of Kaposi's sarcoma, a disease very rarely found in China, are reported. The patients were chiefly natives of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and were mainly of the Uighur, Kazakh and Mongolian minority nationalities with only 1 Han. We consider the disease endemic in Xinjiang. Kaposi's sarcoma is found predominantly in older patients and males, but in our series, half of the patients were under the age of 40 and we had a 10-year-old patient, a very rare case, so we consider the ages of our patients lower than white Europeans and Americans. The ratio of male to female was 13:1. Lesions of the viscera (extra.cutaneous lesion) diagnosed by biopsy were found in 6 cases (43%). Actual incidence of visceral Kaposi's sarcoma may be higher than the generally estimated 50% and our 43% incidence is limited by the use of biopsy as the only means of diagnosing this condition. We regard the 4 extracutaneous cases as very uncommon.

The diagnosis and treatment of 10 cases of chronic cor pulmonale caused by schistosoma japonicum is discussed. There is no effective treatment once the pathology is well established, so early diagnosis and treatment are mandatory.

This paper presents a comprehensive report on a clinical trial of injectio Fructus Aurantii Immaturus (FAI) in 100 cases of pediatric septic shock at 9 hospitals in Hunan province with 78% efficacy. The herb has significant, fast action on blood pressure elevation with few side effects. The mechanism of the drug's action, method of clinical use, toxicity and side effects are discussed in detail.

The effectiveness of aprindine in reducing ventricular extrasystoles is investigated in 17 patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction and 1 with ventricular tachycardia episode but no evidence of acute infarction. It is found that aprindine is not only effective against ventricular extrasystoles when given orally to patients with ischemic heart disease but also is a drug of choice for premature ventricular contractions. However, the side effects of the drug, particularly agranulocytosis, will probably keep the drug from being the one of choice in chronic premature ventricular contractions.

Human C-peptide in 10 normal subjects and 33 diabetics divided into insulin dependent, insulin independent and late insulin dependent groups is studied, showing that blood C-peptide level indirectly but accurately reflects beta-cell insulin secretion capacity.

During the past 9 years, much research has been carried out in our country on chronic bronchitis. Massive antibronchitis campaigns have seen Chinese traditional medicines investigated, synthesized and popularized, vaccines are used when necessary and the majority of cases improved symptomatically. The contradiction between clinical improvement and deterioration of objective parameters is to be studied.

Treatment of diabetic neuropathy is a difficult clinical problem. In this paper, clinical experience on managing 120 newly discovered, untreated, noninsulin dependent cases is presented. Besides strict control of diabetes, the therapeutic effect of different drugs including the vitamin B group, myoinositol, carbamazepine, etc for neurologic manifestations is investigated. No statistical difference was found between groups with or without drug therapy. So the strict control of diabetes with attenuation of hyperglycemia has been considered the sole reliable factor for the effective therapy of neuropathy. Motor nerve conduction velocity was restored to a certain extent in different peripheral nerves indicating that early functional nerve damage is reversible on diabetic therapy. Neurogenic bladder and other autonomic dysfunction can also be remitted. While both peripheral and autonomic neuropathy can be improved on diabetic control, early diagnosis and treatment are the key to obtaining good therapeutic effect.

This paper reports the application of peripheral motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) determination and 6 noninvasive autonomic functional tests for the early diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy. Among the 150 cases of newly discovered diabetics investigated during extensive survey in Shanghai, 135 cases of diabetic neuropathy were diagnosed. In this group, patients with both neurologic symptoms and signs were found in 56 cases, only symptoms with no signs in 50, only signs with no symptoms in 8 and both symptoms and signs absent but diagnosis based on special tests in 21. The motor nerve conduction velocity of the median n., ulnar n., and fibular n. were ascertained on JD Type II electromyography. The velocity was found to be significantly slower in diabetics with neuropathy than the control group. H-reflex and tibial n. latency were found to be prolonged in diabetics as compared with the control group. There is negative correlation between the MNCV and fasting plasma glucose and positive correlation between the H-reflex and fasting plasma glucose, indicating that hyperglycemia may be closely related to the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. No correlation was found between the MNCV, age and duration of diabetes. For early diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy, besides the symptoms and signs, motor nerve conduction velocity and 4 of the 6 noninvasive autonomic nerve function test are valuable and reliable diagnostic procedures. Differential diagnosis from other causes of neuropathy is also emphasized.

A review of the study and control of para-gonimiasis is made, the treatment of choice is bithionol. 15 new species and subspecies of paragonimus and the intermediate and reservoir hosts are discussed.