Clinial features and outcome of cerebral abscess in congenital heart disease

Cerebral abscess is a serious life threatening complication of several diseases. The objective of this study was to look at the clinical profile, microbiology and outcome of children with cerebral abscess having an underlying congenital heart disease as compared to other predisposing conditions. Thirty children aged less than 15 years were reviewed. There were 15 males and 15 females. The mean age of presentation was 5.6 +/- 4.4 years. The duration of illness at the time of admission was 17.6 +/- 24.6 days. Typically patients presented with fever, vomiting, headache and seizures. The predisposing conditions found were cyanotic congenital heart disease in 11 [37%] of children, meningitis in 6 [20%], septicemia in 7 [23%] and no underlying cause was found in 5 [17%] children. The most common microbe in children with cyanotic congenital heart disease was of the Streptococcus milleri group [52%]. Computerized tomography confirmed the diagnosis and the most common location of the abscess was the parietal lobe of the cerebral hemisphere. All abscesses were large, more than 2 cm in diameter and were aspirated surgically. Excision was performed in 6 children. Five children expired, one due to an intracranial bleeding and the others due to severe cerebral edema and tentorial herniation. Complications were seen in 20 children and 16 had sequelae, hemiparesis in 11 and seizure disorder in 5. Brain abscess is a serious infection with poor outcome if diagnosed late. Delayed surgical drainage has high morbidity and mortality. The threshold for diagnosis should be low particularly in children with a predisposing condition like cyanotic congenital heart disease

Modified Giemsa staining for rapid diagnosis of malaria infection

To develop and evaluate a rapid method for the diagnosis of malaria infection by microscopy of stained blood films. Subjects and Blood specimens were collected from randomly selected confirmed malaria cases [n = 75] and suspected malaria cases [n = 175]. The microscopy was done on each set of blood films stained by modified and the standard Giemsa staining methods. All the 75 previously diagnosed malaria cases were confirmed by the microscopy of blood films stained by both methods. Forty-nine [28%] of the 175 cases suspected for malaria infection showed malarial parasites on microscopy of blood films stained by both methods. However, due to homogeneous staining and clearer background of the blood films it was possible to determine the parasite species in 65% of the cases on microscopy of the thick films stained with the modified method compared to only 20% with the standard method. Further, the turnaround time for reporting the microscopy test result was 15-20 and 45-50 min with modified and standard staining methods, respectively. Our data showed that performance of the modified staining method in detecting malarial parasites was comparable to that of the standard staining method. Moreover, the modified staining method was rapid, easy to use, and reliable

Epidemiology of hand injury in Qatar

Hand injuries in Qatar have not been studied previously.In this study, 100 consecutive cases of hand injuries were studied to highlight the epidemiology of hand injuries in Qatar. The aim of this study is to compare the hand injuries in Qatar with other regions as we noticed most of our patients were involved in severe industrial injuries. The results were unique because manual workers were involved in industrial injuries in 59% of the cases which represents a high percentage in comparison to other studies so control measures should be taken. The male to female ratio was 10.1:1, with mean age for injury 29 years, the right and left hands were injured almost equally, the dominant hand was the right side in 99%, middle finger was the most frequently injured in 24.6% of the cases, distal phalanges were injured most frequently. The local people represent 20% of all cases of hand injuries. Discussion and explanation are included with each finding. Hand injuries are rarely life threatening but may cause major disability, loss of working days and severe psychological distress. In countries that are in the process of industrialization, factory regulations regarding safety are frequently implemented with laxity, as a result the incidence of industrial hand injuries is relatively high in developing countries

Nitric acid full thickness hand burn, delay excision and skin grafting

Nitric acid hand burn is rarely described in the literatures, there is no standard policy for management of this injury, and difficulties in assessing the depth of the burned area in the early stages of the disease makes primary excision and skin grafting delayed. The risk of stiff ness of the hand as a result of delay Eschar excision was managed by using krishner wire fixation of the metacarpophalangeal joint in functional position after Eschar excision

Inhibitory effects of aqueous extracts of natural products on the crystallization of urinary lithiasis in vitro Part III: Uric acid

Relative increase in solubilities of uric acid in aqueous extracts of cucumis melo, eriobotyra japonica, Macrotyloma uniflorum, Pedalium murex and Zea mays were Guantitatively determined in vitro and were found to be 37.2%, 0.8%, 1.3%, 45% and 15.6% respectively. The two major factors which influence the solubilities of uric acid were the presence of metal ions like sodium, magnesium, potassium etc: and the adsorption of macromolecules like carbohydrates etc. on the faces of growing crystals