Rabies virus infection of a flying fox bat, Pteropus policephalus in Chandigarh, Northern India.

The present communication reports for the first time in South East Asia an active infection of frugivorous flying fox bat (Pteropus poliocephalus) with a virus belonging to the Rhabdo virus group -- a bat virus. Negri body like structures were demonstrated by Seller's stain and direct immunofluorescence in the brain and salivary gland of the dead bat. The virus was isolated after intracerebral inoculation of homogenate of the bat brain, salivary gland or brown fat separately in new born mice.

Alveolar hydatid disease of the liver with Budd-Chiari syndrome.

Alveolar hydatid disease in man is the intermediate stage in the life cycle of the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. This is a rare disease restricted to very few areas of the world. The occurrence of this disease in India is now described for (so far as the authors are aware) the first time.

Pathogenesis of malabsorption in Giardia infection: an experimental study in rats.

It is well established that infection with Giardia lamblia can cause malabsorption although the pathogenesis of this is unknown. Transport studies were made on the intestinal segments of male albino rats infected with Giardia cysts obtained from human stools to investigate this pathogenesis. The results were compared with those seen in a normal group and in a control group that was fed with a Giardia-free stool suspension.

The pathology of noncirrhotic portal fibrosis: a review of 32 autopsy cases.

A wide spectrum of clinical and morphologic changes in 32 autopsy cases of noncirrhotic portal fibrosis have been described. The disease frequently occurs in younger patients with a long history of splenomegaly, usually with a history of hematemesis. Females are affected almost equally as often as males in contrast to cirrhosis.

Chronic oral arsenic intoxication as a possible aetiological factor in idiopathic portal hypertension (non-cirrhotic portal fibrosis) in India.

Estimates were made of the arsenic concentration in liver specimens from nine patients having idiopathic portal hypertension (IP), and in four livers these were found to be significantly higher than those in patients with cirrhosis and in control subjects. The splenovenogram revealed extensive portosystemic collateral circulation. Corrected sinusoidal pressure and blood flow studies showed higher levels in four patients than in normal subjects.

Effect of corticosteroid and irradiation on caecal amoebic infection in rats.

Albino rats (Wistar strain) were pretreated with corticosteroid, irradiation or both to study the effect on the outcome of amoebic infection given intracaecally. The number of animals with lesions amongst "treated" groups was not significantly different from that amongst untreated control animals (P greater than 0.05) but amoebic pathology was markedly exacerbated amongst the treated animals.

The pathology and pathogenesis of fatal hepatic amoebiasis--A study based on 79 autopsy cases.

The present study is based on a retrospective analysis of 79 autopsy cases of hepatic amoebiasis. An attempt has been made to reconstruct the sequence of events starting from intestinal infection to invasion and transport of amoebae along the radicles of the portal veins, the formation of early Zahn's infarct and the proliferation of amoebae in such foci leading to the formation of small abscesses. The coalescence of small abscesses gives rise to the apparently large abscesses.

Kala-azar in north-western India: a study of 24 patients.

Twenty-four sporadic cases of kala-azar diagnosed over an 11-year period in a referral medical centre in north-western India are reported. Most of the patients were residents of non-endemic areas or where endemicity was low. Certain unusual clinical and laboratory features were seen in some of the cases, namely, lymphadenopathy, nasopharyngeal growth, acute and chronic hepatic involvement and portal hypertension.

Orthostatic hypertension.

A 40 year old man was found to have marked hypertension when he was in the upright position with normal pressures when he was supine. Investigations disclosed normal catecholamine and renin levels. The baroreceptor reflex was somewhat depressed.

Diagnostic value of combined transhepatic venography and inferior vena cavography in chronic Budd-Chiari syndrome.

In a series of 19 patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome, transhepatic venography and inferior vena cavography were used to localize the site of hepatic outflow obstruction. Classification into two types was made on the basis of the site of obstruction. Four cases were grouped as type I, in which obstruction was localized in the hepatic vein alone, and the inferior vena cava (IVC) was patent.

Herbal medicines and veno-occlusive disease in India.

Six cases are described of veno-occlusive disease (VOD) after medicinal herb ingestion. The herb Heliotropium eichwaldii, taken by three patients, was found to contain the toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid, heliotrine. Two patients presented with fulminant hepatic failure while the other four patients had a clinical picture suggestive of decompensated cirrhosis.