Volume 99  ·   Issue 04  ·  1986

Since 1960 the author has operated on 146 patients with brain abscess. Of 18 treated by a single puncture, 16 were cured and 2 died. The efficacy of this therapy was reevaluated in this paper.

A case of combined horizontal and vertical retraction syndrome is reported. The clinical features, etiology and treatment are briefly reviewed.

Neurotropin (NSP) is an extract isolated from the skin of rabbits inoculated with vaccinia virus. The present study examines the possible action of NSP on the number and function of immunocompetent cells in mice. The experiment showed that NSP had no effect on both T and B lymphocytes of normal immunized mouse spleen. The degree of plaque forming cell reaction and titre of specific antibody showed no significant differences when the NSP treated group and controls were compared. However, NSP exhibited promotive effect on specific antigen binding cells in the early stage of immune responses. It was also noted that the rosette forming capacity of human T lymphocytes in vitro was restored markedly by NSP. These results suggest that NSP possesses certain immunostimulating activity, particularly on the specific antigen binding cells and human T lymphocytes.

Gray scale ultrasonic manifestations of 71 patients with breast tumor, 17 benign and 54 malignant, were studied. The sonographic appearances were divided into four types: regular hypoechoic (33 patients), infiltrating hypoechoic (29), dense echogenic (3), and irregular sonolucent (2). Lesions were invisible in 2 patients. The ultrasonic characteristics of benign tumors include regular contour, homogeneous in ternal echoes, smooth boundary, and lateral boundary echo drop-out. The malignant tumors were more compliance in appearances, and some of them resembled boundary echo of the masses and infiltration to the surrounding tissue were only seen in malignant tumors.

Twenty five cases of agraphia in aphasic patients with cerebral vascular diseases are reported. The aphasic assessment scale designed by our department includes oral language, auditory language, reading and writing. There were differing degrees of agraphia in these patients. Examination showed that the copying score was much higher than the taking dictation and filling in blanks scores. Patients also had good scores for writing their surnames and names in spontaneous writing. The score for taking dictation of Chinese characters of similar form was better than those for characters of similar tone and meaning. In this study, agraphic disorders as total agraphia, constructional disorders of writing, pictographic writing, repetitive writing, writing overproduction and mirror writing are described and discussed neuro-psychologically.

38 hybrid dogs were injected intravenously with oleic acid 0.03 mg/kg body weight to induce experimental respiratory distress syndrome. The animals were divided into four groups, one was the control group and the other three groups were treated with dexamethasone, scopolamine hydrobromide and anisodamine. The animals were killed 24 hours after injection. The blood gas parameters of arterial and mixed venous blood were determined before, immediately and 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 22, and 24 hours after oleic acid injection. The average pulmonary arterial pressure was measured hourly. Chest X-rays were taken before and 2, 4, 6, and 24 hours after injection. The histological specimens of the killed animals were examined by light and electron microscopy. It was found that dexamethasone and anisodamine are effective in treating experimental respiratory distress syndrome while scopolamine is rather disappointing.

In 52 patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) it was found that the total number of peripheral blood lymphocytes and absolute number of unfractionated T lymphocytes and Tm subsets were markedly reduced; the Tg subpopulation tended to be increased; the proportion of Fc receptor-bearing K lymphocytes was significantly increased; PHA induced lymphocyte transformation was markedly suppressed; and serum IgG levels were very significantly lowered. Reduced numbers of Tm cells with insufficient helper function appears to be an important feature of impaired cellular immunity in CRF.

59 cases of rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis treated with the Chinese herb Radix Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook F (RTWHF 雷公藤) showed high rates of successful control of joint pain and swelling and functional improvement with few serious or irreversible side effects. No permanent damage to the heart, liver, kidneys or bone marrow was observed although this may be due to selection of patients who tolerate the drug well. RTWHF seems to be the drug of choice although it should be used with caution in young adults as it can cause amenorrhea in women and cut sperm count in men, perhaps due to sexual gland functional impairment. The total glycosides are reported to be less toxic than the whole herb, so further study is necessary to isolate the effective constituents necessary to clinical usage.

The evolution of a schistosomiasis endemic area takes the following patterns: it starts as a snail positive but patient negative area and as the source of infection is continuously introduced, it gradually develops into an endemic focus. As patients increase so does the endemic area, until all snail breeding grounds are heavily infected. Schistosomiasis spreads from the centers to the periphery or in certain directions according to the topography. Isolated snail positive but patient negative foci far from endemic areas are not likely to become endemic unless some fundamental changes take place. The part which snails play in different situations should be studied in order to take approriate measures for their control. In established endemic areas, the first step is eradication of the source of infection by treating all patients and infected cattle to save human life and prevent economic loss and prevent aggravation and spread of endemicity. The next step is to prevent snails at the middle and feet of mountains or hills from spreading to the plains and basins, especially to inhabited villages and cultivated fields.