The prevalence of clinically significant anaemia and haemoglobinopathy in children requiring dental treatment under general anaesthesia: a retrospective study of 1000 patients

There is little information on the possible value of screening children who are liable to haemoglobinopathies as part of pre-operative assessment for dental treatment under general anaesthesia. The present retrospective investigation examined, first, the number of patients having low haemoglobin levels among 1000 patients who had undergone haematological investigation prior to general anaesthesia in a dental outpatient unit, and, secondly, the subsequent clinical management of these patients. Haemoglobin levels of 10.0 g/dl or less were found in 31 children: 13 Asian, 7 Afro-Caribbean, 5 Mediterranean, 3 Arabic, 1 white Caucasian and 2 Oriental children. In addition, 17 patients had sickle-cell trait and 2 had beta-thalassaemia trait, but there was no relationship between the presence of haemoglobinopathy and low levels of haemoglobin. The planned general anaesthesia was undertaken for 22 of the 31 children who had low levels of haemoglobin and for the 19 children with haemoglobinopathy. Only 6 children ultimately did not undergo general anaesthesia, all failing to return. It is concluded that pre-anaesthetic haematological assessment of children needing minor dental surgery is rarely of any significant clinical value.     

Crescentic glomerulonephritis in interferon-gamma receptor deficient mice

Activation of macrophages by T cells is considered an initiating event in glomerular crescent formation. Since interferon-gamma (INF gamma) is a key mediator in T-cell-mediated activation of macrophages, we decided to test its role in a model of crescentic glomerulonephritis. An anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) serum was injected intravenously in presensitized wild-type or IFN gamma receptor deficient (IFN gamma(R)-/-) mice. Glomerulonephritis with glomerular crescents and tubulointerstitial inflammation developed in both strains, even though most evaluated morphological parameters and proteinuria indicated a less severe pathology in the mutant mice compared to the wild type. Thus, IFN gamma is not essential either for glomerular crescent formation or for tubulointerstitial involvement in anti-GBM glomerulonephritis in mice. In conclusion, the role of macrophages in this model might have been overestimated, or other cytokines may compensate for deficient IFN gamma signaling in the activation of macrophages.     

Antral gastritis in chronic alcoholism. Role of cirrhosis and Helicobacter pylori

OBJECTIVES: Antral gastritis is frequent in alcoholics. The role of H. pylori in the pathogenesis of gastritis in these patients is not well known. The aim of our study was to study the role of H. pylori and cirrhosis in the pathogenesis of antral gastritis in alcoholic patients. METHODS: Seventy-nine patients were included in the study. All underwent upper gastrointestinal tract endoscopy with antral biopsies, independently of the presence of abdominal pain, and had serological examination for H. pylori antibodies. RESULTS: Cirrhosis and gastritis were present in 50 and 40 patients respectively, H. pylori serological assay and histological identification of the bacterium were positive in 35 (44%) and 19 (24%) patients respectively. Discrepancy between the 2 tests were observed more frequently in cirrhotic patients. A positive serology with a negative histologic examination for H. pylori was present for 18 cirrhotic and 4 noncirrhotic patients (p < 0.05). A gastritis without evidence of H. pylori was more frequent in cirrhotic than in noncirrhotic patients. H. pylori was histologically present in 11 of 29 cirrhotic patients and in 8 of the 11 noncirrhotic patients with a gastritis (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Discrepancies between histological examination and H. pylori serology in patients with cirrhosis might be due to the inhospitable environment for H. pylori in case of portal hypertension; the positive serology could be in relation with a past infection.     

Mine operating accurate stability control with optical fibersensing and Bragg grating technology: the European BRITE/EURAM STABILOSproject

Recent developments of stability control in mines, essentially based on Ge-doped fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) are reported including results about the different aspects of the system: accurate characterizations of FBG, sensor network topology and multiplexing method, user interface design and sensor packaging     

Immunological properties of Weil-Felix test negative sera from patients with Japanese spotted fever

Sera from 4 out of 19 patients with the Japanese spotted fever were negative to OX2 antigen of Weil-Felix (WF) test. These WF test negative sera were analyzed by ELISA and immunoblot used whole cells and lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of rickettsiae and Proteus strains as antigens. These acute-phase sera have already possessed the IgG antibodies against LPS of Proteus OX2 strain, whereas IgM antibodies in these acute- and convalescent-phase sera did not react with this LPS. On the other hand, the reactivity of IgM antibodies of the convalescent-phase sera in the 2 patients with LPS of Proteus OX19 strain increased as compared with that of the acute-phase sera by ELISA, and these IgM antibodies also showed the reactivity with bands of OX19-LPS in the immunoblot. On the basis of these results, it is interpreted that the WF test negative sera from patients with Japanese spotted fever are due to the presence of IgG antibodies against OX2-LPS in the sera.     

Subarachnoid haemorrhage induced proliferation of leptomeningeal cells and deposition of extracellular matrices in the arachnoid granulations and subarachnoid space. Immunhistochemical study

Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) often leads to subarachnoid fibrosis and resultant normal pressure hydrocephalus; however, how subarachnoid fibrosis occurs is unknown. We examined the changes within arachnoid granulations (AGs) and the subarachnoid space (SAS) chronologically at the parasagittal region obtained from patients with SAH at autopsy and made comparison with controls by immunostaining for cytokeratin, specific marker for leptomeningeal cells and by the elastica Masson-Goldner methods. Within a week some AGs were torn, and many inflammatory cells filled the AGs and SAS. Cytokeratin positive cells were scarce. During the next two weeks cytokeratin positive cells increased. After three weeks, AGs and SAS were filled by dense deposits of extracellular matrices surrounded by multiple layers of leptomeningeal cells.