Percutaneous transtracheal jet ventilation as a guide to tracheal intubation in severe upper airway obstruction from supraglottic oedema.

We report two cases of severe upper airway obstruction caused by supraglottic oedema secondary to adult epiglottitis and Ludwig's angina. In the former case, attempts to intubate with a direct laryngoscope failed but were successful once percutaneous transtracheal jet ventilation (PTJV) had been instituted. In the case with Ludwig's angina, PTJV was employed as a pre-emptive measure and the subsequent tracheal intubation with a direct laryngoscope was performed with unexpected ease. In both cases recognition of the glottic aperture was made feasible with PTJV by virtue of the fact that the high intra-tracheal pressure from PTJV appeared to lift up and open the glottis. The escape of gas under high pressure caused the oedematous edges of the glottis to flutter, which facilitated the identification of the glottic aperture. We believe that the PTJV should be considered in the emergency management of severe upper airway obstruction when this involves supraglottic oedema.

Non-invasive ventilation in surgical patients in a district general hospital.

We have retrospectively audited the use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in surgical patients. We analysed the case notes of 38 surgical patients who received NIV over a 9-month period. Twenty-three patients received NIV following emergency surgery, eight after elective surgery, and seven did not have an operation. Co-morbidity was common. The commonest reasons for starting NIV were chest infection, acute respiratory distress syndrome and pulmonary oedema. NIV was often only one aspect of treatment in surgical patients with complex medical problems. With intensive support from the critical care outreach team, NIV can be safely delivered on a surgical ward, and may sometimes prevent intensive care unit admission. Use of NIV on the intensive care unit may obviate the need for tracheal intubation in some patients. In very ill surgical patients with a poor prognosis, NIV was frequently used as the ceiling of respiratory support.

An attempt to correlate cattle breed origins and diseases associated with or transmitted by the tick Amblyomma variegatum in the French West Indies.

By using biological data and historical research, we have tried to explain the difference between resistance and susceptibility to the diseases transmitted (cowdriosis) or associated (dermatophilosis) with the tick Amblyomma variegatum, in two cattle breeds of the French West Indies: the Creole crossbred cattle of Guadeloupe and the Brahman zebu cattle of Martinique. Have been studied the polymorphisms of 5 independent genetic systems (erythrocytic haemoglobin, serum albumin and transferrin, the class I region of the BoLA complex and the gamma S crystallin gene) in different breeds comprising Bos taurus cattle of Europe and Africa, Bos indicus of West and East Africa, as well as the Brahman of Martinique and the Creole crossbred of Guadeloupe. By comparing the different allele frequencies of these 5 non related polymorphic loci and by using the two different mathematical matrices of NEI and of CAVALLI-SFORZA, have been established the genetic distances between these breeds. It appears clearly that the Creole cattle of Guadeloupe are in an intermediate position between the Bos taurus N'Dama breed of West Africa and two Bos indicus zebu breeds, namely the West African Sudan zebu and the Brahman. Thanks to studies of different archieves in the Caribbean and in Europe, historical evidence have been accumulated on the geographical origins and on the chronology of the establishment of Creole and Brahman cattle in the French West Indies. The high resistance of the Creole cattle of Guadeloupe to diseases associated with or transmitted by the "Senegalese" tick Amblyomma variegatum seems to be due to the inheritance of a pool of genes from West African cattle and more particularly from the N'Dama breed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

An attempt to identify genetic markers of resistance or susceptibility to dermatophilosis in the zebu Brahman population of Martinique.

Dermatophilosis is a disease associated with the tick Amblyomma variegatum, and a genetic predisposition to the manifestation of symptoms has been demonstrated. Indeed, the Creole cattle of Guadeloupe constitute a population which is highly resistant to this disease, whereas the Brahman zebu cattle of Martinique seem very susceptible. However, in this Brahman population there is a gradient regarding the severity of symptoms depending on individuals. In several herds of these pure zebu Brahman, kept under the same farming conditions, we selected susceptible and resistant groups because of the simultaneous presence of animals affected or not by clinical dermatophilosis. In these animals we studied several highly polymorphic genetic systems such as haemoglobin, albumin, the BoLA Complex (class I and II) and the gamma S crystallin gene. Only exon 2 of the BoLA-DRB3 gene, investigated by PCR-RFLP technique, showed interesting polymorphisms. We have established a genotypic map showing at least 4 different alleles of which 1 seems particular to one animal susceptible to dermatophilosis. Before reaching any conclusion further investigations with more DNA samples of susceptible animals are needed.

Transfer RNA and aminoacyl tRNA synthetases in hormone dependent and independent mammary tumors of GR mice: I. Comparative study of the amino acid accepting capacity of the tRNA's in the presence of the homologous and heterologous enzymes.

Transfer RNA and aminoacyl tRNA synthetases were obtained from hormone dependent and independent mammary tumors of GR mice. We have studied the possible changes in the tRNA level by comparing the specific activities of the hormone dependent and independent mammary tumor tRNA's, but no differences were observed. Differences were found in the ability of enzymes from normal male GR mice liver, independent mammary tumor and dependent mammary tumor to cross-react with heterologous tRNA.