Non-traumatic perforation of the small bowel.
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BACKGROUND: Non-traumatic perforation of the small bowel is an uncommon serious complication associated with high morbidity and mortality. Diseases that cause small bowel perforation vary in different areas of the world. OBJECTIVE: To highlight difficulties in the diagnosis and management of non-traumatic perforation of small bowel. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The medical records of four patients who have presented with non-traumatic perforation of the small bowel and were treated at Al-Ain Hospital during the last 5 years were studied retrospectively. RESULTS: The presenting symptoms of all patients were similar. Erect chest X-ray has shown free air under diaphragm in 3 patients. Leukocytosis was present in only one patient. HIV was confirmed in one patient. Patients were diagnosed to have typhoid, HIV, hook worms and tuberculosis. Only the HIV patient died while the others were discharged home in a good condition. CONCLUSION: Clinical findings of small bowel perforation are usually non specific and diagnosis is usually reached after surgery. The Histopathological examination of the small bowel ulcer were non conclusive in three patients. We have made our management plan according to the clinical findings. Non traumatic perforation in developing countries can be due to typhoid, HIV, tuberculosis and possibly hook worms. (+info)
Small molecule screen for compounds that affect vascular development in the zebrafish retina.
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Blood vessel formation in the vertebrate eye is a precisely regulated process. In the human retina, both an excess and a deficiency of blood vessels may lead to a loss of vision. To gain insight into the molecular basis of vessel formation in the vertebrate retina and to develop pharmacological means of manipulating this process in a living organism, we further characterized the embryonic zebrafish eye vasculature, and performed a small molecule screen for compounds that affect blood vessel morphogenesis. The screening of approximately 2000 compounds revealed four small molecules that at specific concentrations affect retinal vessel morphology but do not produce obvious changes in trunk vessels, or in the neuronal architecture of the retina. Of these, two induce a pronounced widening of vessel diameter without a substantial loss of vessel number, one compound produces a loss of retinal blood vessels accompanied by a mild increase of their diameter, and finally one other generates a severe loss of retinal vessels. This work demonstrates the utility of zebrafish as a screening tool for small molecules that affect eye vasculature and presents several compounds of potential therapeutic importance. (+info)
Treatment response to iron and folic acid alone is the same as with multivitamins and/or anthelminthics in severely anemic 6- to 24-month-old children.
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High mebendazole doses in pulmonary and hepatic hydatid disease.
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Thirty nine children with 71 hydatid cysts were given mebendazole orally in a dose of 100-200 mg/kg/day for 12 weeks and were followed up for a mean (SD) of 63 (24) months. Twenty children (three of them after a second course) were cured and another two avoided at least one operation. No serious side effects of the drug were observed. (+info)
The antihelmintic flubendazole inhibits microtubule function through a mechanism distinct from Vinca alkaloids and displays preclinical activity in leukemia and myeloma.
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