Caesarean sections in Barbados (1979-1985) - abstract

A retrospective analysis of Caesarean Sections (CS) performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados during the period 1979 to 1985 was done to determine the rate of CS. The medical records of all CS done at the hospital during that period were reviewed and indications for the procedure were noted. Results are shown in the table given. The indications which contributed most to the increase in CS rate were previous CS and breech presentations. Over the 7-year period, the percentage of breech presentations which were managed with CS increased from 32 per cent to 85 per cent, and the corresponding values for previous CS were 60 per cent and 91 per cent, respectively (AU)

Lung transplant

What is the future of lung transplantation in so far as its clinical application is concerned ? The actual surgery is not difficult but, as with all transplantations, the major problems occur post operatively. Our understanding of the immunologic response is still too superficial for us to be too optimistic about overcoming the rejection problem. In none of the human transplants discussed was rejection reported at autopsy. This is not really as encouraging a sign as it might appear, since human transplant centres report rejection only after eighteen days post operatively and none of the patients discussed above lived that long. But, many experimental units and research teams are now hard at work on the rejection problem, and at moment there could be a breakthrough, opening the way for lung transplantation as a form of therapy in chronic pulmonary disease. (Summary)