A case of cephalothoracopagus in sheep in Trinidad and Tobago

A case of cephalothoracopagus in sheep complicated with several defects of skeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and urogenital systems is reported.

Blood pressure levels and cardiothoracic ratios of a mixed African West Indian community

In Plymouth-Bethesda, Tobago, blood pressures and cardiothoracic (CT) ratios in a censused total adult population. Blood pressure levels rose across the age groups in both sexes and were similar to those of other West Indian communities and of most African studies. Most of the hypertensives were not on treatment at the time of interview. Mean CT ratios are similar to those of Jamaican and Guyanese mixed Africans and appear not to be associated with the high prevalence of ECG criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy. The latter was predominant in men and the high CT ratios in women. CT ratios increased with hypertension. For men, highest correlation for systolic and diastolic blood pressures was with Quetelet's Index. For women, highest correlations were repectively with post-load blood sugar levels and Quetelet's Index. (AU)

Chest pain: esophageal, cardiac, or both?

The esophagus may be the origin of chest pain clinically indistinguishable from that of ischemic heart disease. In some patients the esophageal origin of the pain may only be recognized by pharmacological provocation during manometry. We describe nine patients with chest pain which could be explained by disorders of esophageal motility-diffuse spasm in four, high pressure lower esophageal sphincter in three, and "nutcracker esophagus" in two. Methacholine provoked the pain and manometric abnormalities in five patients who had normal baseline tracings. However, seven patients given methacholine developed ischemic changes on the electrocardiogram. In one patient these were typical of Prinzmetal's variant angina. The mannometric and electrocardiographic abnormalities were reversed by intravenous atropine. Ischemic heart disease and esophageal motor disorders may occur concomitantly and pose a dilemma in diagnosis and management. (AU)

Heart size and chest shape in homozygous sickle cell disease

The hoop-shaped chest is a well-recognised but unexplained feature of the abnormal anthropometry of SS disease, developing in children by the age of 4-6 years. The hypothesis that cardiomegaly may influence abnormal chest growth has been tested by examining the relationship between cardiac volume and the antero-posterior/lateral chest diameter ratio in children aged 6-8 years. The finding of a significant positive correlation supports this hypothesis (AU)

A review of epidemiological research in rural Jamaican community, 1959-1975

Epidemiology research carried out between 1959 and 1976 in a rural community in Jamaica is summarized. The prevalence of many chronic conditions was established by cross-sectional investigations. The importance of hypertension and diabetes mellitus as a cause of mortality was demonstrated in follow-up studies. Factors influencing child growth and school achievement were investigated (AU)

Cardiothoracic ratios in two Jamaican communities

Ashcroft, M. T. and W. E. Maill (Med. Research Council's Epidemological Research Unit, Univ. of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica). Cardiothoracic ratios in two Jamaican communities. Amer. J. Epid., 1969, 89: 161-167.-Cardiothoracic ratios were estimated from 929 full-sized chest radiographs of representative samples of men and women of predominantly African origin aged 35-64 years living in rural and suburban communities in Jamaica. CTRs were greater in women than in men and increased with age; they were orrelated with weight and with blood pressure levels. Mean CTRs were substantially greater in Jamaica than in a comparable sample of white persons living in Wales. These differences could not be explained by the prevalence of cardiovascular disorders including hypertension or by differences in weight or physical activity. An ethnic difference, possibly in the position of the heart within the chest or in the size of the thoracic diameter, is suggested. The greater CTR of the Negro should be taken into account when assessing heart size from chest films. (AU)

Encapsulation of Wuchereria bancrofti in seven species of mosquitoes in British Guiana

Encapsulation of microfilariform and older larval stages of Wuchereria bancrofti was observed among seven species of mosquitoes in British Guiana over a 2-year period. In Mansonia humeralis and Psorophora ferox most of the microfilariform 1st-stage larvae were completely enclosed in a hard, thick dark-brown capsule 12 to 24 hours after the infective blood-meal. In P. ferox encapsulation often occurred within the inflated sheath. In Aedes taeniorhynchus, A. scapularis and A. serratus, progressive stages were found 12 hours after the blood meal, from unencapsulated to fully encapsulated microfilariform larvae, and in the latter species, also two slightly encapsulated, dead 2nd-stage larvae. In all mosquitoes encapsulation was associated with the presence of varying amounts of tiny granules, globules, plaques and flake-like debris. These were especially evident in A. angustivittatus and A. scapularis. Some encapsulated 1st-stage larvae were found, along with normal ones, in 2 (0.01 percent) of 14,405 Culex pipens quinquefasciatus of the British Guiana strain and in 10 (9.8 percent) of 102 C. p. quinquefasciatus of the Barbados (Island) strain. This species is the major host of W. bancrofti in both localities. No encapsulation was ever seen in M. titillans, a secondary vector in British Guiana. Most of the encapsulated microfilariform larvae were found in the hemocele, and fewer in the stomach. Rarely, encapsulated forms were found in the thorax, only in A. serriatus and in the British Guiana and Barbados strains of C. p. quinquefasciatus. Various stages of encapsulation are illustrated by photomicrographs (Summary)