Comparative study of serum IgA, serum IgM and secretory IgA [SIg A] in chronic sinusitis

Sixty patients were included in this study. Thirty of them were suffering from chronic sinusitis and the others were control. Serum IgA, IgM and secretory IgA were estimated using nephelometry and single radial immunodifussion techniques respectively. These immunoglobulins are responsible for the integrity of the local immune system present in the respiratory mucosa particularly the nasal mucosa. Serum Ig A and serum Ig M were significantly increased in chronic sinusitis group [P<0.05], while secretory Ig A showed an insignificant decrease in the same group [P>0.05]. Those findings indicate that activation of the mucosal immune system e .g. by nasal vaccination might be a useful and promising strategy for preventing upper respiratory infections including nasal infectious diseases

Pure-tone audiometric changes following spinal intradural and epidural anaesthesia

Pure tone audiometry was done for 20 patients subjected to spinal intradural anesthesia and 20 patients subjected to epidural [extradural] anesthesia. The recording of hearing acuity was done 24 hours before and after anesthesia and 7 days postoperatively. Twenty-four hours postoperatively, 55% of the patients subjected to intradural anesthesia suffered from low tone sensorineural hearing loss which was slight to moderate ranged 5-35 dB, while 40% of patients subjected to epidural anesthesia suffered from low tone hearing loss ranging 5-30 dB. This hearing loss returned more or less to normal levels within one week postoperatively. It was transient and required no treatment but was often overlooked

Conservative treatment of epistaxis versus nasal cautery in children

Fifty children suffering from repeated attacks of primary nasal bleeding from the little's area of the nasal septum are the subject of this study. Half of the cases were treated by chemical cautery, the other half were treated by local nasal dressing and application with panthenol and an antibiotic ointment. e.g. terramycin. Recurrence of epistaxis was less in the second group [12%] when compared with that in the first group of cases [44%] within 6-month period of follow up after treatment

Microbiology of acute maxillary sinusitis

This study was carried out on 50 acute maxillary sinusitis patients and 50 apparently healthy subjects. Pure aerobic growth was more frequent in patients than controls [68% and 56%, respectively], also mixed aerobic and anaerobic growth was more frequent in patients than controls [14% and 8%, respectively]. Pure anaerobic growth was observed in one patient, while fungal growth was detected in 2 patients and one control subject. Single microbial species/sample was slightly increased in controls, while 2 microbial species/sample were more frequent in patients than controls [36% and 12%, respectively]. No growth was recovered from 6 patients and 17 controls. H. influenzae, Staph. pyogenes, Strept. pneumoniae and Bacteroides fragilis were the most frequent organisms isolated from patients [26%, 24%, 22% and 10%, respectively], while H. influenzae, Staph. pyogenes, Strept. viridans and Strept. pneumoniae were the most frequent microbes recovered from control subjects [16%, 14%, 12% and 8%, respectively]. Regardless of the underlying conditions, H. influenzae, Staph. pyogenes and Strep. pneumoniae were the most frequent species isolated from patients with acute maxillary sinusitis