Volume 97  ·   Issue 01  ·  1984

An improved culture technic for dengue viruses, i.e. the use of adapted mosquito cells incubated at 36 C in a culture medium of pH 6.8, is tested and found to be of practical use in the 1aboratory diagnosis of dengue virus infections.

A new culture medium formula without any fetal calf serum is described. It is found to be a good substitute for the conventional medium containing fetal calf serum in the initiation and maintenance of human skin fibroblasts and amniotic fluid cells.

Two of 3 6th-month fetuses of an endemic cretinism region showed that the brain was decreased in weight and size and exhibited an increased number of nerve cells per unit of brain volume. 2 of 3 8th-month-old fetuses from the same region showed the brain not only decreased in weight and size, but also had such histologic characteristics as increased number of nerve cells per unit of brain volume, increased percentage of undifferentiated neuroblasts, increased number of heterotopic nerve cells and decreased number of astrocytes per unit of brain volume. This investigation seems to suggest that cerebral cortex retarded development of fetuses in endemic region may be due to prenatal iodine deficiency and/or hypothyroidism, which is substantiated by low fetal serum thyroxine levels.

A male patient, aged 43, was admitted on January 10, 1978 for pain in the epigastrium for 9 years and belching combustible gas for half a year. He began feeling regular burning pain in the epigastrium and belching sour and gas 9 years previously. Taking food or gastropine, probanthine, etc could ameliorate the symptoms temporarily. But the pain grew sharper and sharper soon after-wards. The medicines listed soon became ineffective. Only a large amount of natrium bicarbonicum powder (100 gm/day) could stop the pain. About half a year before hospitalization, he started vomiting food which had stayed in the stomach overnight and belching much fetid gas. When lighting up for a smoke the gas he belched ignited his brows and beard several times with an audible pop, his efforts to avoid this failed. He had given up drinking.

Neonatal screening for inborn errors of metabolism and congenital hypothyroidism, has received increasing attention in recent years, because early detection and treatment can prevent permanent brain damage or death of the affected child. This paper presents the experience in screening for inborn errors of metabolism, congenital hypothyroidism, phenylketonuria and galactosemia in 31,861 newborns from October 1981 to September 1982.

Intraoperative rapid insulin assay has been successfully used for a year in our hospital for monitoring completeness of insulinoma excision during operations on 5 patients. According to our experience, portal blood insulin levels fell sharply shortly after removal of insulinoma. With rapid immunoreactive insulin assay, the time between sample taking and final reading was about 45 minutes. As blood sugar monitoring is influenced by many factors and correct result can only be obtained in an average of 70 minutes or even longer after complete removal of tumor, rapid immunoreactive insulin assay has evident advantages over blood sugar monitoring.

Since May 1972, vein grafts have been used to restore circulation in electrical injuries of the upper extremity when the wrist is the center of electrical injury associated with obstructed blood supply. Saphenous vein grafts were used in 15 limbs of 14 patients where wrist electrical injuries threatened complete hand loss. Ten of the hands were free of necrosis with motion and sensibility basically recovered. The other 4 (5 limbs) failed operatively for various reasons, resulting in forearm amputation. Clinical practice shows that successful surgery depends upon whether secondary infection is effectively controlled, particularly in those who are brought to the hospital late with wound infection finger gangrene. This paper reviews the measures for controlling postoperative infections in vascular grafts to restore wrist blood flow and the clinical experience gained in the successful treatment of these patients (6 injured limbs of 6 cases), preventing amputation. We hope the method will be improved and its use broadened.

Expanded trials of praziquantel in schistosoma japonicum infections to assess the drug tolerance of a larger sample of patients treated largely under field conditions, of advanced schistosomiasis patients and of those having concurrently a wide variety of other diseases are reported. Altogether 716 cases were treated, among whom 47 were advanced cases with splenomegaly or schistosomal liver cirrhosis with or without ascites. 193 had concurrently diseases of various other etiologies. All the series were given the same dose regimen: 10 mg/kg tid 2 days. Tolerance was good in all, the only severe toxic side effect necessitating withdrawal of treatment was generalized urticaria. Neither clinical nor biochemical evidence of hepatotoxicity or cardiotoxicity was observed except for slight and transient posttreatment electrocardiographic changes in a few. Drug tolerance of advanced schistosomiasis cases is stressed in the light of the role played by the liver in the bio-transformation of chemotherapeutic agents.

The finding of calicivirus and studies of its morphology, serology and association. with gastroenteritis are reported. This virus was detected by electron microscopy in the feces of 2 infants with acute gastroenteritis. Its size averaged 31.4±1.7 nm in diameter. Morphologically, it was characterized by 7 hollows and a hexoaristate star (Star of David). Antibody titers in the convalescent phase-serum in the two cases increased to over 80 times and 160 times that in acute phase-serum. Calicivirus was proved to be the etiologic agent of the acute gastroenteritis in these 2 cases.

This paper reports a method for experimental induction of bronchogenic carcinoma by intra-lobarbronchial instillation of carcinogenic iodized oil in rats. The animals used in the study were divided into 4 groups, each given different dosages. The 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA) or MCA and diethyinitrosamine (DEN) were dissolved in iodized oil. The results show that 49 of the 57 Group I outbred rats developed bronchogenic squamous cell carcinoma within 240 days, a tumor induction rate of 85.9%. All 25 standard Wistar rats of Group II developed the same type of carcinoma in 80 days, the tumor induction rate being 100%. The 35 standard Wistar rats of Group III developed bronchogenic carcinoma in 22 days, with a tumor induction rate of 100%. No respiratory tract tumors were found in any of the 40 control animals of Group IV. The roentgenographic results coincided with the gross pathologic examination. The advantages of this method are: the instilled carcinogen localizes in 1 or 2 lobes with little injury to lung tissue and only slight irritation to the respiratory function; because the carcinogen is injected deeply into the bronchioli respiratorii or ductuli alveolares it acts with sufficient effectiveness without any oil rejection by the animal; carcinogen instillation is required only once or twice; and the iodized oil plays a dual role as liposolvent and contrast medium, the former action dissolving the carcinogen into its more effective form and the latter being good for roentgenography. Results as observed in Group III probaly better for rapid development of lung carcinoma in Wistar rats.