Seagrass wasting disease: Nitrate enrichment and exposure to a herbicide (Diuron) increases susceptibility of Zostera marina to infection.

Seagrass meadows suffered large-scale declines in the past century. The 'wasting disease', pathognomonically associated with Labyrinthula zosterae, reduced populations of Zostera marina on both sides of the North Atlantic in, and since, the 1930s, coinciding with intensive agricultural use of artificial fertilizers and herbicides. This study tests the long-standing hypothesis that nutrient enrichment and a herbicide increases vulnerability to pathogens. Z. marina shoots from the Thames Estuary grown in elevated nitrate concentrations had significantly higher rates of infection by L. zosterae than controls, but not by Aplanochytrium sp., another slime-mould like protist. Z. marina shoots grown in 2µg·l-1 Diuron solutions and infected separately by L. zosterae and Aplanochytrium sp. had significantly higher wasting indices than controls. The results identified Aplanochytrium sp. as another opportunistic pathogen causing a seagrass wasting-type disease and support the hypothesis that pollution by herbicides and nitrate increases the susceptibility of Z. marina to infections.

Carbon monoxide: the elusive environmental toxicant.

The pivotal role of carbon monoxide (CO) in understanding the pathology of diseases is long overdue. The significance of this odourless, inert gas was trivialised throughout the years in advancement of corporate interest, with over-riding emphasis on economic gains. Thus, under the auspices of advancement of socioeconomic interest, the role of carbon monoxide, an extremely dangerous biproduct of incomplete combustion of any hydrocarbon, was inevitably obscured by the lure of profitability. Although odourless and inert, CO is a potent chemical asphyxiant whose primary toxic action is through hypoxia. It is on the basis of its prolonged effects at cellular level, by alteration to redox state of each and every single living cell, that, the author argues, it contributes to the ever-increasing levels of neurodegenerative, autoimmune, maladaptive, behavioural syndromes known to be especially prevalent within industrialised western societies.

Duplication of the vermiform appendix. Report of a case: review of the classification and medicolegal aspects.

Duplication of the vermiform appendix is uncommon; however appendicectomy is frequently performed. Failure to recognize this condition may have serious clinical and medicolegal consequences. A case is reported and the classification reviewed; medico-legal aspects are discussed. A greater awareness of the condition amongst junior surgical staff is recommended.

The surgical anatomy of the marginal artery.

Two examples of the clinical importance of the marginal artery are given. They should alert the colorectal surgeon to the possibility of anatomical abnormalities leading to major complications in this surgical field.

Amoebiasis: a surgeon's view.

A small series of patients with amoebiasis presenting to the surgical service in Seychelles is described. The varied nature of the symptomatology indicates that this may be a local pattern of the disease process. The value of specific clinical features and the use of a therapeutic trial for diagnosis is emphasised. The features of common 'Third-World' diseases should be well known to all surgeons wherever they practise in view of the rapidity with which people can now travel from country to country.

Necessity into choice. An appraisal of inguinal herniorrhaphy under local anaesthesia.

A policy of using local anaesthesia whenever possible for the repair of inguinal hernias was adopted in Seychelles primarily because a constant supply of anaesthetic gases could not be depended upon. The technique adopted is described and the results obtained over an 18-month period are reported. Experience has shown that local anaesthesia for this operation has many advantages and few disadvantages and is now preferred to general anaesthesia except when contraindicated by special circumstances.