In order to confirm whether the migrating larvae of parasites could carry pathogenic organisms into liver and cause hepatitis, a series of experiments has been carried out. Clonorchis sinensis: Recovery rate of larvae in the abdominal cavity of rabbits: One to seven days after the administration adolescariae were recovered from the abdominal cavity in less than l percent of the total number of metacercariae given. Generally, 1-6 larvae were found from each animal which was given 900-1,000 metacercariae, though many larvae were already found in the common bile ducts or remained still in intestine. Fate of Clonorchis sinensis in abdominal cavity: The young or mature worms which were introduced directly into the abdominal cavity were examined l5, 32, 40 and 42 days after the inoculation. Several larvae were found on the surface of liver in four animals. All the worms on the surface of the liver were dead and the biopsied liver tissues on the area where the worms were attached showed no pathological changes. Two of them were between bile duct and liver tissue but pus cell infiltration surrounding them was observed. In every case, pus cell infiltration was found in the peripheral portion of the liver and pus nodules on the surface of intestine and mesentery. The nodule in the intestinal wall contained the eggs of Clonorchis sinensis. Two worms in the abdominal cavity were still alive. From the above results it is suggested that the larvae of Clonorchis sinensis were capable of penetrating the intestinal wall and reaching the organs in the abdominal cavity and surviving for l5-42 days, but they were unable to penetrate the organs. No bacterial flora appeared from the lesion by culture method. Fate of Clonorchis sinensis which was inoculated into the peripheral region of liver: Small abscess was observed at the same area. Microscopically, the area became edematous and the vessels in the peripheral region were dilated. The parasites became necrotic and amorphous. Pathologically the lesions appeared as eosinophilic masses and neutrophile leukocytes were infiltrated surrounding the masses. In some cases, the dead worms were found apart from the original place of inoculation but no leukocyte infiltration was found. There was linear infiltration between the original site and the portion where the dead worm was found. The distance from the capsule varied from 0 to 4 mm. Sometimes, the eggs of Clonorchis sinensis were also found. In all cases, there were no living worms in liver tissues and hepatic ducts. In all case,. the bacteriological examination was negative. Do clonorchis sinensis transfer the microorganism? Five adult worms of clonorchis sinensis were incubated in the saline solution containing Staphylococcus aureus. The intestinal contents of these worms were cultured in the Nutient-agar plate and examined by Methylene Blue and Gram's stain. The area of liver tissue where the Clonorchis sinensis were inoculated showed no inflammatory changes after the 3 days of inoculation but no living Staphylococcus aureus was found in the culture media with which the pieces of liver tissues were smeared. Hookworm: Cutaneous infection: Four to eight days after the cutaneous infection of Ancylostoma caninum, the mice were sacrificed. Grossly, there was no abnormal finding in liver. The pieces of liver tissues were smeared on the Nutrient-agar plate, and cocci were found in four out of six examined. The microorganism were confirmed as the same species of Diplococcus pneumoniae which were grown in the hookworm culture media. Oral infection: 1,000 filariform larvae of Ancylostoma caninum were given orally. 24 hours later, the mice were sacrificed and the pieces of liver tissue were smeared on the Nutrient-agar plate. After 50 hours at 36 C, the bacterial colonies were examined bacteriologically. Staphylococcus albus was found from two out of four samples. Grossly there was no abnormality on the surface of liver, but microscopically there were spots like microabscesses which were infiltrated by leukocytes. The larvae were also found from other portions of liver tissues and they were surrounded by yellow colored material. In another experiment, a combination of Ancylostoma duodenale and Staphylococcus aureus was fed to mice. The mice sacrificed five days after the oral administration of Ancylostoma duodenale cultivated in the media containing Staphylococcus aureus. The liver pieces were examined routinely. The larvae cultivated in normal tap water which contained no Staphylococcus aureus was used as control. In the experimental mouse, the cocci appeared in the liver. Pathologically, microabscesses infiltrated with neutrophile leukocytes were found, but there was no manifestation of inflammatory change due to Staphylococcus aureus. There was only mechanical trauma due to the larvae penetration. Haemorrhage appeared only where the larvae were found.
parasitology-helminth-trematoda-nematoda ; Clonorchis sinensis ; Ancylostoma caninum ; pathogenicity ; Staphyllococcus aureus ; Staphyllococcus albus ; Diplococcus pneumoniae ; rabbit-liver

Introduction: Gallstones disease is a common disorder and symptomatic disease is usually managed with surgery while those with common bile duct stones are usually managed with endoscopic intervention before proceeding to surgery. This study was intended to assess the rate of cholecystectomy among patients who had undergone ERC interventions, the reasons for not proceeding to cholecystectomy and related complications. Materials and Methods: Patients who had intact gallbladder and had undergone ERC for stones related complications over a two year period were retrospectively identified from the Endoscopic Unit Registry. Detailed case note reviews were conducted. Results: The overall cholecystectomy rate post-ERC interventions was 36.9% (48/130). Cholecystectomy was offered to 59.2% (n=77) and the uptake was only 58.4% (n=45/77). Among those who agreed for cholecystectomy, 11.1% (n=5/45) failed to turn up for their scheduled surgery. Three patients (6.7%) had symptoms recurrence before their scheduled surgery: two subsequently underwent cholecystectomy without ERC intervention and one who was pregnant was managed conservatively with holecystectomy. Among the patients who had declined cholecystectomy, 18.8% (n=6/32) had symptoms recurrence. Four patients required repeat ERC interventions and eventually all had cholecystectomy subsequently. The most common reason for declining cholecystectomy was 'not keen' and already asymptomatic (46.9%, n=15/32). Among patients who were not offerred cholecystectomy (n=53/130), symptoms recurrence occurred in 15.2% (n=7/53). Four patients required repeat ERC interventions and three subsequently underwent cholecystectomy. Conclusions: The cholecystectomy rate remains low after ERC interventions. Recurrence of symptoms necessating re-interventions occurred in patients offerred and not offerred cholecystectomy. The uptake rate should be improved and delay to cholecystectomy should be reduced to avoid symptoms recurrence. Patients not undergoing interventions should be advised regarding symptoms recurrence and should be monitored.
Choledocholithiasis ; Cholecystectomy ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; CHOLELITHIASIS

Reeent advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in particular diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and perfusion weighted imaging (PWI), have allowed clinicians to have the ability to differentiate between irreversible cerebral infarction and the potentially reversible ischemic penumbra. This article examines the principles and practice of DWI and PWI. With continued advances in thrombolysis and other therapy for acute cerebral ischemia, neuroimaging is poised to play an increasingly important role in decisionmaking in aeute stroke.

South East Asia has 8% of world population, but only has 2% of the total number of neurologists in the world. Seven of the 11 countries in South East Asia have training programmes in Neurology. Brunei, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore require prior training and certification in Internal Medicine before admission to training to Neurology. Most training programmes are 3 years in duration, inclusive of mandatory rotation to clinical neurophysiology. Assessment and certification processes are vigorous in most countries. Mature age, lack of funding, inadequate direct clinical responsibilities, and poor literacy in English are other issues in some of the countries. There is need to improve the quality as well as quantity in the training of neurologists in the region.
Training ; Certification ; Asia, Southeastern ; Clinical ; Training Programs

Stigma is conceptually broad and culturally variable. Understanding stigma from the conceptual theories, culturally application based on the word stigma in other languages, the definition of stigma and its synonyms, as well as the medical implications in other stigmatized disease such as AIDS, will help us to understand the complexity of stigma in epilepsy. This review investigated the meaning and types of stigma from different perspectives, leading to staging stigma into 5 levels, i.e. social identity, stereotype, prejudice, discrimination and social disability. In addition to the conventional categorization of stigma into social, felt, self-perceived or internalized stigma, new categories of stigma i.e. personal and general attitudes towards epilepsy based on a newly developed Public Attitudes Toward Epilepsy (PATE) scale was introduced. Courtesy stigma was further elaborated in related to Asian culture. Based on well-established and recently developed theories, the causation and impact of epilepsy stigma was discussed in an Asian context, especially from the aspects of language and society values which are culturally specific. Integrating these theories of causation, illness and stereotype perceptions were proposed to be the mediating mechanism of stigma, which led to the development of a practical and multi-dimensional stigmatization model, aiming to guide, widen and deepen the scope of future stigma research in epilepsy. Using the established model, together with review of related studies, research priorities in epilepsy stigma research especially in Asia focusing on five aspects, i.e. expanding population studies especially on significant others, understanding stigma from personal attitude perspective, investigating the cultural and social causation of stigma, and the impacts of stigma on patients as well as the family members, were proposed.

Surveys about attitudes towards those with epilepsy have been performed since 1949, in order to understand the social stigma toward epilepsy. This review aims to demonstrate the variation in public attitudes towards epilepsy and its associated factors, with a critical review of the methodology used to examine attitudes towards epilepsy. There was marked variation of attitudes between Western and non-Western populations, and these attitudes were positively correlated with the standard of living. Besides the general public, studies were also performed within specifi c groups, particularly teachers and students. However absence of a standardized questionnaire makes direct comparison diffi cult. A few quantitative methods were developed but these were limited by cultural variations and thus lack of global acceptance. Short-term intervention studies demonstrate an improvement of attitude with knowledge. Nonetheless, the cultural and social reasons underlying the attitudes, and how this affects the life of people with epilepsy, are understudied. Therefore, surveys on attitudes should continue to be carried out, particularly in populations prone to have negative attitudes with emphasis on underlying reasons, and such progress should be monitored longitudinally. Attitudes of people such as parents, teachers, school counselors, health care professionals, and employers, which have a direct impact on people with epilepsy, should be more extensively studied.

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Animals ; Borrelia burgdorferi* ; Borrelia* ; Murinae*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Male ; Penile Erection* ; Rats* ; Saponins*

BACKGROUND: Induction of general anesthesia with tracheal intubation and skin incision are potent stimuli that can induce increased sympathetic activity, heart rate and blood pressure. We compared the hemodynamic response and catecholamine concentration during general anesthesia with intravenous clonidine pretreatment, a centrally acting -2 adrenoceptor agonist, and without pretreatment. METHODS: Forty ASA I or II patients aged from 20 to 60 years undergoing elective surgery were randomly allocated to two groups. In group I, 5 ml of 0.9% normal saline as control administered intravenously 10 minutes before induction of anesthesia, and anesthesia was induced with thiopental sodium, succinylcholine and maintained with N2O (2.5L/min)-O2 (2.5L/min)-enflurane (1.3~1.8 vol%). In group II, 4 g/kg clonidine diluted in 5ml of normal saline administered intravenously 10 minutes before induction of anesthesia, and anesthesia was induced with thiopental sodium, succinylcholine and maintained with N2O-O2-enflurane (0.5~1.0vol%) and 2 g/kg/hr clonidine was continuously infused. We measured blood pressure, heart rate and plasma catecholamine at preinduction, 1 minute after intubation (T1), 1 (T2) and 30 minutes after skin incision (T3) and compared with group I. RESULTS: There was statistical significance in systolic and diastolic pressure at T1 between two groups. There was statistical significance in heart rate, epinephrine and norepinephrine at T1, T2 and T3 between two groups. CONCLUSION: The elevation of blood pressure, heart rate and plasma catecholamine accompanying tracheal intubation and skin incision may be prevented by administration of intravenous clonidine.
Adult ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General* ; Blood Pressure* ; Brain ; Clonidine* ; Epinephrine ; Heart Rate* ; Heart* ; Hemodynamics ; Hemorrhage ; Hope ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intubation* ; Larynx ; Male ; Norepinephrine ; Plasma* ; Skin ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing ; Succinylcholine ; Thiopental