Intracranial metastasis of hepatic carcinomas: a study of 9 cases within 28 years.

A study was made on nine hepatic carcinomas with intracranial metastases. These cases brought a total number of reported intracranial metametastatic hepatic carcinomas to 32 instances. The secondary intracranial hepatic carcinomas formed a proportion of 1.3 to 2.9 per cent among intracranial metastatic tumors. Nine patients in this series were young with an average age of 37 years. There were five hepatocellular carcinomas and four cholangiocarcinomas. An intracranial secondary hepatocellular carcinoma in a 37-year-old man produced massive intracerebral hemorrhage. Only four cases including the current one have been described as massive intracerebral hemorrhage because of secondary hepatocellular carcinoma. Our case, moreover, had a high level of hematocrits representing a paraneoplastic syndrome.

Acute systemic melioidosis: an autopsy study of six cases.

Autopsy findings of six cases of the acute systemic melioidosis from Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand during the years 1977 to 1986 are presented. Five out of six cases had some underlying conditions. Multiple abscesses and multiple organs involvement were the rule. The organs most commonly involved were lung and liver. Three patients had pericardial and one had adrenal gland involvement. Other significant pathological findings were fibrin thrombi (5/6 cases), haemorrhage (6/6 cases), tissue necrosis (4/6 cases) and granular casts in renal tubules (1/6 case). Abscess alone cannot explain the death of patients. Toxaemia, both exotoxins and endotoxin, is the most likely explanation from the death of patients.

Study of acute and chronic toxicity of plai (zingiber cassumunar roxb) in rats.

The study was carried out to evaluate the possible acute and chronic toxicity of Plai in rats. The study was divided into two parts. The acute toxicity test. LD50 (lethal dose 50) of alcohol and hexane extract Plai were 20 grams and 80 grams per kilogram body weight of rats respectively, while the therapeutic dose of the Plai was 10 to 20 mgs per kilogram body weight per day only. The chronic toxicity test (6 months). The total number of rats was 112. Twenty eight out of 112 were selected for control. The remainder animals were divided into 3 groups given the Plai at the level of 0.5, 3 and 8% level the animals showed retardation of growth; the other were in normal limit. Urinalysis, haematological, biochemical and pathology examination were performed. No any significant abnormal urinary, haematological and biochemical findings and definite pathological changes were found. We concluded that at the therapeutic dose Plai shows neither acute nor chronic toxicity.

Fatal strongyloidiasis in Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand.

Four cases of fatal strongyloidiasis were reported from Thailand; two were malnourished young inmates from the same Government-Institution while two were adults receiving corticosteroid therapy for pemphigus vulgaris and systemic lupus erythematosus. The clinical and pathological findings of all cases were briefly described. Special emphasis is made in treatment of malnourished young children especially those living in the institution with possibility of such parasitic hyperinfection superimposed by other organisms. A single course of thiabendazole in strongyloidiasis is inadequate, especially in those immunosuppressive hosts.