Twelve to seventeen-year follow-up of patients with poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis in Trinidad

Three patients of the 760 with symptomatic poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis in Trinidad who were chosen for follow-up in 1968 or 1970 apparently had not healed initially and consistently had hematuria, usually with proteinuria, in our studies. One of these patients died in renal failure between 1972 and 1976 (six to 10 years after her initial illness). The other two are now 19 and 25 years old, 12 and 15 years after their initial illnesses, with normal blood pressures and serum creatinine values. Another 14 of the 534 patients currently examined had persistent abnormalities: three of these 14 appeared to have had lipoid nephrosis in the beginning, with recurrent proteinria since then; two had urinary-tract infections when examined; one had probably had a third attack of poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis; and eight had acquired proteinuria, which may or may not have been related to poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis. Thus, our data continue to indicate a good long-term prognosis for most of the patients with this disease in Trinindad.(AU)

Heights, weights, and skeletal age of Jamaican adolescents with sickle cell anaemia

Weights, heights, and skeletal age, assessed from hand radiographs, were recorded in a cross-sectional study of 99 Jamaicans with sickle cell anaemia aged between 12 and 21 years. Compared with controls, weight and skeletal age were less at all ages. The data suggested that the average height of younger patients was less but that of older patients was at least as great as that of controls (AU)

Body habitus of Jamaican adults with sickle cell anemia

Anthropometric measurements were made on 121 Jamaican patients aged over 20 years with sickle cell anaemia. Compared to age-matched controls, the patients were thinner, taller and had a shorter trunk. Chest width and pelvic and pectorial girdles were narrower. Some evidence suggested that body habitus was more abnormal in those with severe form of the disease. Although body habitus in sickle cell anaemia can be characteristic, in many patients it can be within the normal range (Summary)

Effects of gallamine on spontaneous ventilation during general anaesthesia

An investigation was carried out to establish if the intravenous injection of gallamine triethiodide 40mg in an anaesthetized patient breathing spontaneously, was sufficient to depress ventilation as judged by a rise Pa co2. Fifty women undergoing minor gynaecological surgery were divided into two equal groups at random. One group received thiopentone, nitrous oxide, oxygen and trichlorethylene anaesthesia. The other group received in addition gallamine 40 mg. On examination of blood gases, no statistical difference could be demonstrated between the two groups. It was concluded that this practice does not depress spontaneous ventilation.(AU)

Gastric emptying time in late pregnancy and labour

Gastric emptying time was measured in non-pregnant, pregnant and labouring women. The results suggest an explanation for previously conflicting studies and support the suggestion that slowing of gastric emptying contributes to heartburn in pregnancy. However, there was no clear evidence that in pregnant women generally gastric emptying is impared. Gastric emptying times during labour were shown to be prolonged and the pattern of emptying altered (Summary)

Bacteriuria, prematurity, and the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

The occurrance of prematurity and the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in bacteriuric and in non-bacteriuric women has been compared. In all age and parity groups the occurrance of prematurity and the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy was higher in bacteriurics than in non-bacteriurics. Prevalence rates for the emergence of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy rose particularly rapidly with increasing age parity in bacteriuric subjects. The predictive value of bacteriuria as an index of subsequent clinical pyelonephritis has been confirmed. The possible implications of these observations are discussed. It is suggested that some of the perinatal mortality and morbidity associated with hypertension and prematurity may be preventable. (Summary)

Dilatation and unfolding of the aorta in a Jamaican population

In an analysis of 2085 70 mm. chest X-rays of subjects aged 35-64 from a rural population in Jamaica, 79 of the 1090 women (8.4 percent) showed some degree of aortic dilatation. The clinical examination of these people and age and sex balanced control groups drawn by random methods from the same population revealed three main findings. (1) Arterial pressure levels were consistently higher in the affected, than in the controls. (2) The conditions was associated with aortic regurgitation in 20 percent of men and 7 percent of women. (3) Both aortic dilatation and arterial pressure in these subjects were apparently unrelated to their present serological status. Positive serological reactions were found in about 25 percent of affected and controls. The possible role of syphillis and/or yaws in association with hypertension in producing aortic dilatation is discussed. A relationship between aortic dilatation, often gross, and hypertension has been demonstrated and this combination appears to have a high prevalence in West Indian negroes. Whatever the role of treponemal infection it is apparently not the most important single factor in the production of either the aortic dilatation, the associate hypertension, or the resulting aortic regurgitation. The significance of uncomplicated aortic dilatation, in terms of morbidity and mortality, remains to be determined by follow-up studies of these groups (Summary)