Homeopathic treatment of acute childhood diarrhea: results from a clinical trial in Nepal.

Objective: To investigate whether the finding in a previous study that homeopathic medicines decrease the duration of acute diarrhea in children could be replicated in a different study population.

Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Setting: Private, charitable health clinic in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Computerised tomography scans of the head in a district general hospital.

We report the results of a retrospective study of all computerised tomography (CT) brain scans of adult patients carried out over a 10-week period, based on radiological and clinical records. The commonest scan results were normal (51%) and stroke (26%), with an overall diagnostic accuracy of 43/80 (54%). On the basis of a retrospective blind survey by a neurologist, 42% of scans were thought not to be indicated.

Prevalence of Cyclospora species and other enteric pathogens among children less than 5 years of age in Nepal.

Stools from 124 Nepalese children aged 6 to 60 months with diarrhea were examined for organisms of the coccidian genus Cyclospora and for other enteric pathogens. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Giardia Lamblia, Campylobacter species, Cyclospora species, and Cryptosporidium species were the most common pathogens identified. Cyclospora species were detected in none of 74 children < 18 months of age compared with 6 (12%) of 50 children > or = 18 months of age (P = 0.

Radiographic patterns of intrathoracic disease in breast carcinoma: prognostic implications.

The chest radiographic appearances of patients with intrathoracic metastases from breast cancer are variable and their relationship to patient outcome is unknown. This study aimed to classify and determine the frequency of various radiographic patterns and, in addition, to establish whether these patterns can be used to predict patient prognosis. A retrospective study was made of the patients of a major breast unit who over a 3 year period were found to have developed intrathoracic metastases.

Ultrasonic and computed tomographic appearances of paraganglioma simulating pancreatic mass.

We report two cases of paraganglioma in which the tumour was situated adjacent to the head of the pancreas simulating a pancreatic mass lesion. The absence of biliary or pancreatic duct dilatation on ultrasound in the presence of a large mass suggested a retroperitoneal tumour rather than a pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Functional activity in these tumours is common and should be excluded before biopsy.

Multiple myeloma: appearance at MR imaging.

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging examinations of the lumbar spine and clinical and laboratory findings in 32 patients with multiple myeloma were reviewed. On T1-weighted images, signal intensity (SI) of the vertebrae approximated that of muscle in 14 cases and was intermediate (between the SIs of muscle and fat) in 18. Definite foci of decreased SI were seen in eight cases (25%), and foci of increased SI, representing fatty infiltration, were seen in 12 (38%).

Primary renal carcinoid--case report.

Carcinoid tumour is a rare cause of a renal mass. Only fourteen cases have been reported since it was first described in 1966. This case illustrates most of the commoner features.