Complementary medical health services: a cross sectional descriptive analysis of a Canadian naturopathic teaching clinic.

Background: Historically, alongside regulatory and jurisdictional differences in scope of practices, practice patterns of naturopathic doctors (NDs) have varied widely to promote holistic or whole-person treatment using a variety of therapies including: controlled substances, minor surgery, a variety of complementary therapies, as well as both novel and conventional assessments. However, little is known about the observed practice patterns of NDs, the services provided to their patients, or the type of conditions for which patients of NDs are seeking treatment. In order to address this gap, a cross-sectional descriptive analysis of the largest Canadian teaching clinic for NDs was undertaken to better understand the services provided to the community and increase the knowledge regarding the use of naturopathic medicine.

Microscopic patterns in surgically removed spleens.

348 spleens surgically removed have been examined microscopically and classified into 3 groups: (I) 154 emergency splenectomies (86 traumatic ruptures, 44 enlarged supramesocolic exeresis, 44 cirrhosis), (II) 143 therapeutic splenectomies (135 cases of hypersplenism among which 10 apparently primitive, 7 myeloproliferative syndromes, 1 hairy cell leukemia), and (III) 51 diagnostic splenectomies (7 non specific inflammations, 2 tuberculosis, 1 mycosis, 6 echinococcosis, 12 leukemias, 9 non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, 13 Hodgkin's lymphomas, 1 primary splenic hemangioma). The study of the first group material, obtained especially of traumatic rupture, has been very valuable to follow the spleen microscopic structure in normal humans of different age. The latter two group cases have raised interesting problems of microscopic diagnosis, permitting at the same time a better understanding of the pathology of this organ.

Clinical and pathological questions concerning the tumor-like giant cell granulomas of the peritoneal cavity.

Seven patients with tumor-like granulomatous lesions of the peritoneal cavity were cured, except one, by correct surgical intervention removing the inflammatory hyperplastic tissues and restoring the permeability of the alimentary tract. The exact diagnosis was suggested by the existence in the personal history of the patients of one or several interventions on the peritoneal cavity (6 of 7), and was confirmed by intraoperative, sometimes repeated, microscopic examination, rendering evident a fibrogenous giant cell granulomatous process; the presence of foreign bodies, especially suture threads or crystals (the latter characterized in polarized light) is very helpful for the diagnosis of these tumor-like inflammations.