Prevalence of chronic suppurative otitis media among the children living in two selected slums of Dhaka City.

Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM) is one of the important health problems in our country. Serious complications may arise from it. As such the study was aimed to find out the prevalence of CSOM among the children of two-selected slum dwellers in Dhaka City.

Mutation analysis of the GJB2 (connexin 26) gene in Egypt.

Fifty to eighty percent of autosomal recessive deafness is due to mutations in the GJB2 gene encoding connexin 26. Among Caucasians, the c.35delG mutation in this gene accounts for up to 30 to 70% of all cases with early childhood deafness.

Use of a synthetic peptide epitope of Asp f 1, a major allergen or antigen of Aspergillus fumigatus, for improved immunodiagnosis of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis.

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is an immunologically complex allergic disorder caused by the fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Elevated levels of total immunoglobulin E (IgE), specific IgE, and IgG antibodies in sera are important immunodiagnostic criteria for ABPA. International reference standards or standardized immunodiagnostic assays are not available due to a lack of well-defined diagnostic antigens.

Impact of housing conditions on the health of the people at al-Ama'ri refugee camp in the West Bank of Palestine.

Al-Ama'ri camp is situated to the south of Ramallah city in the West Bank of Palestine. It is densely populated, with a total population of 4046, divided into 760 households, on a surface area of 93 dunums (93000 m(2)). In this research, the relationship between the housing conditions at Ama'ri camp and the prevalence and incidence rates of upper respiratory tract diseases has been studied.

[Temporary emergency cardiac pacing under continuous echocardiographic control. Feasibility and safety of the procedure without using fluoroscopy].

Background: Cardiac pacing often turns out to be the only effective treatment of severe brady-arrhythmias. Several invasive and noninvasive temporary pacing procedures are known, whose application is sometimes difficult or time-consuming. An alternative temporary cardiac pacing procedure is described in this article, which is based on echocardiographic control.

Retrovirus-mediated human heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) gene transfer into rat endothelial cells: the effect of HO-1 inducers on the expression of cytokines.

The present study was conducted to investigate if the mechanism of human heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) mediated angiogenesis was through the induction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Also, the effect of HO-1 on the expression of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta),was studied in the presence and absence of HO-1 inducers. Rat lung microvessel endothelial cell line transduced with human HO-1 gene was subjected to cell culture (six separate experiments).

Circulating interleukin-6, soluble interleukin-2 receptors, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and interleukin-10 levels in juvenile chronic arthritis: correlations with soft tissue vascularity assessed by power Doppler sonography.

Nineteen patients with juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA), ten with systemic (s)-JCA, and nine with polyarticular-onset (p)-JCA were examined for interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, IL-2R, and IL-10 levels. Power Doppler sonography (PDS) for the more affected knee was used in all of them to evaluate soft tissue vascularity. Serum levels of IL-6 were significantly higher in JCA patients than in controls (P<0.

Identification of Cardiobacterium hominis by broad-range bacterial polymerase chain reaction analysis in a case of culture-negative endocarditis.

Culture-negative bacterial endocarditis may be attributed to fastidious microorganisms, prior institution of antibiotic treatment, or both. We describe a case of culture-negative endocarditis in which a modified Steiner stain revealed bacterial structures in the resected heart valve material. Prompted by this finding, broad-range polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of small-subunit ribosomal DNA (16S rDNA) was performed, and Cardiobacterium hominis sequences were detected.

Incidental discovery of pelvic cholelithiasis on diagnostic laparoscopy.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, although a safe technique for removal of the gallbladder, is associated with surgery-related complications. We report a complication caused by this procedure in a young woman, in whom a diagnostic laparoscopy led to the incidental finding of retained gallstones in the pelvis. A 30-year-old woman underwent diagnostic laparoscopy for exclusion of an ectopic pregnancy.

The influence of husbands on contraceptive use by Bangladeshi women.

This study uses the 1993-94 Bangladesh DHS to evaluate the effect of the woman's perception of her husband's approval of family planning on her current and future use of modern contraception, after controlling for selected socioeconomic and demographic factors. While most husbands support family planning, contraceptive use among those whose husbands do not approve of family planning is much lower. In some areas of Bangladesh, however, husband's disapproval of family planning is still a major deterrent factor for woman's fertility control.

Area variations in use of modern contraception in rural Bangladesh: a multilevel analysis.

This study in Bangladesh found that inter-cluster variation in the use of modern reversible methods of contraception was significantly attributable to the educational levels of the female family planning workers working in the clusters. Women belonging to clusters served by educated workers had a higher probability of being contraceptive users than those whose workers had only completed primary education. At the household level, important determinants of use were socioeconomic status and religion.

Transient otoacoustic emissions in children with chronic renal failure.

This study was conducted on 34 children with chronic renal failure: 27 on regular haemodialysis and seven on conservative treatment. Twenty normal healthy children served as controls. They were subjected to clinical examination including otoscopic examination, basic audiological assessment and transient otoacoustic emission testing (TOAE).

Acute promyelocytic leukemia with t(15;16;17;19) and unusual fluorescence in situ hybridization pattern with PML and RARA probes.

We report a 58-year-old female with typical morphological and clinical features of acute promyelocytic leukemia in whom a complex translocation involving chromosomes 15, 16, 17 and 19 was detected using conventional cytogenetics and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with chromosome specific paints. RARA-PML fusion was not evident by FISH, but the RARA signal was split in 74.5% of cells.

Influence of family head's reproductive behaviour on the use of modern contraceptive methods by other members of the family in rural Bangladesh.

A study in Bangladesh showed that the probability of use of modern contraception by eligible family members of a household increases significantly if the household head himself is a user. Multinomial logistic regression showed that contraceptive use was also significantly related with maternal age, parity, education, socioeconomic status and experience of child mortality. Inclusion of ever use of modern contraceptives by the family head or his wife, showed family head's religiosity to be a significant predictor of use, apart from his age and parity, and after controlling for socioeconomic correlates.

Mechanisms of constipation in older persons and effects of fiber compared with placebo.

Objective: To investigate the mechanisms of constipation and the effect of fiber supplementation on physiology, mechanisms, stool parameters, and colonic transit times in a group of constipated older patients.

Design: Single-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled fiber intervention with crossover.

Setting: A university-based outpatient center.

Auditory evoked potentials in epileptic patients.

Auditory brain stem response (ABR) and middle latency response (MLR) were recorded in 49 epileptic patients. Responses were evoked and recorded at 90 dB nHL down to threshold. A statistically significant number of epileptic patients showed elevated ABR (30.

Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions in different racial groups.

To determine if there are racial differences in the prevalence of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs), both ears of 20 Negro, 20 Asian and 20 Caucasian subjects were examined for the presence of SOAEs. Within each racial group, equal numbers of normally hearing males and females were tested. Significant differences in the occurrence of SOAEs were found between the three racial groups, with Negroes expressing more SOAEs than Caucasians, and Asians demonstrating an intermediate number of these emissions.

Delayed gastrointestinal transit times in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Anorectic and bulimic patients frequently report symptoms of constipation, bloating, and abdominal pain suggestive of abnormal gastrointestinal motility or transit. However, except for studies of gastric emptying, gastrointestinal motility and transit in these eating disorders have not been investigated. Ten anorectic and 18 bulimic inpatients were compared with 10 healthy controls.

A simple radiologic method to estimate the quantity of bowel gas.

Patients with functional bowel disorders frequently complain of bloating and abdominal pain, but no practical method is available to measure intestinal gas objectively. To evaluate a new technique, we evaluated 54 abdominal radiographs from 19 patients. A gastroenterologist and a radiologist independently outlined the intestinal gas bubbles in these films.

Endobronchial actinomycosis simulating bronchogenic carcinoma. Diagnosis by bronchial biopsy.

Five cases of actinomycosis of the main bronchi or trachea which were suggestive clinically of bronchogenic carcinoma are described. In four patients the correct diagnosis was made by a bronchial biopsy or wash, or both. Three of them recovered following antibiotic treatment, and one died a few days after bronchoscopy.