Gastrointestinal Helminths in Amietia sp. (Anura: Pyxicephalidae) from the Albertine Rift of Central Africa.

Fourteen Amietia sp. (Pyxicephalidae), from the Albertine Rift of Democratic Republic of the Congo were examined for helminths. Five species of Nematoda were found: Amphibiophilus chabaudi, Aplectana praeputialis, Falcaustra congoensis, Foleyellides duboisi and Orneoascaris chrysanthemoides. Amphibiophilus chabaudi was the most numerous nematode (n = 40) with the highest prevalence (57 %). Five new host records are reported.

Complete recovery after near-fatal venous air embolism during cesarean section.

During replacement to the abdomen of the exteriorized uterus at cesarean section under epidural block, a previously healthy woman developed cardiorespiratory arrest. Tracheal intubation revealed low end-tidal carbon dioxide concentration suggesting embolization. Resuscitative efforts were successful. Uterine exteriorization - as well as the Trendelenburg position - significantly increase the risk of air embolization so that routine use of appropriate monitors is indicated to facilitate early diagnosis.

Tissue expansion prior to revision total knee arthroplasty.

The first case of the use of a tissue expander in revision total knee surgery is reported. A 76-year-old woman presented with extremely adherent scare tissue on the anterior proximal tibia that was the result of multiple debridements and skin grafting for an infected primary total knee arthroplasty. The tissue expander was placed prior to subsequent revision total knee arthroplasty to permit complete excision of the scar and to provide tension-free closure with normal skin at the time of revision. Three years after the surgery, the patient is doing well.

Comparison of sensory aids in deaf children.

A speech perception hierarchy has been developed and applied to assess the influence of cochlear implants and tactile aids on the acquisition of auditory, speech, and language skills in deaf children. Encouraging improvements were noted with both types of sensory aids at the detection level. The House 3M and Nucleus cochlear implant designs appear to offer advantages over the Tactaid II in providing ancillary speech perception cues to deaf children. Preliminary observations suggest that the multichannel cochlear implant design may be superior to the single-channel coding scheme.

Dendritic development of Purkinje and granule cells in the cerebellar cortex of rats treated postnatally with alpha-difluoromethylornithine.

Postnatal administration of alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), is known to curtail replication of granule cells in the cerebellum of the rat, but its effects on post-proliferative neurons is unknown. This Golgi study assessed the influence of daily postnatal injections of DFMO on dendritic development of the Purkinje and granule cells. Although the overall appearance of the Purkinje cells was normal, DFMO affected morphogenesis by causing: 1) a reduction in somatic growth, 2) an elongation of the primary dendrite, 3) a lengthening of the distance between the soma and the pial surface, 4) a reduction in the number of tertiary dendrites, and 5) a disruption of the distribution of the tertiary branches. Many of these effects of DFMO may be mediated via the reduction of granule cells rather than representing a direct effect on dendritogenesis. In addition to reducing the number of granule cells, the distribution and morphology of these cells in the DFMO-treated rats were severely affected. Many granule cells did not complete their migration and remained trapped in the molecular layer, and many of those trapped had greatly elongated dendrites that extended into the internal granule cell layer. These results suggest that ornithine decarboxylase is involved in the postproliferative processes of neuronal migration and differentiation.

Cochlear implantation in the Mondini inner ear malformation.

We report the case of a profoundly deaf 4-year-old boy with congenital deafness as a result of Mondini's dysplasia. The Mondini inner ear malformation is the result of arrested labyrinthine development during embryogenesis and is characterized by both bony and membranous anomalies of the inner ear. The dysplastic cochlear anatomy does not preclude successful cochlear implantation, and electrical threshold measurements are similar to those recorded in pediatric subjects deafened as a result of other causes.