Annual mass treatment with albendazole might eliminate human oesophagostomiasis from the endemic focus in northern Ghana.

As a follow-up to the study by Ziem et al., in this issue, efforts to control human oesophagostomiasis and hookworm infections in northern Ghana were pursued, and the results evaluated in collaboration with the Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Programme. This phase of evaluation of the impact of mass treatment was no longer limited to a small-scale research setting: it was done both in the context of an operationally viable national control programme and as a continuation of the Oesophagostomum Intervention Research Project (OIRP).

Mass treatment with albendazole reduces the prevalence and severity of Oesophagostomum-induced nodular pathology in northern Ghana.

Previous surveys conducted in northern Ghana where Oesophagostomum bifurcum is endemic showed that O. bifurcum-induced nodular pathology could be detected in up to 50% of the inhabitants. The impact of albendazole-based mass treatment to control both infection and morbidity is assessed and compared with the situation in a control area where no mass treatment has taken place.

Oesophagostomum bifurcum-induced nodular pathology in a highly endemic area of Northern Ghana.

Human infection with Oesophagostomum bifurcum is rare globally, but focally endemic and common in Ghana and Togo. Two clinical presentations are identified: uni-nodular disease, which may be recognized as a 'Dapaong Tumour', and multi-nodular disease. Here, we describe the prevalence of O.

Intraobserver and interobserver variation of ultrasound diagnosis of Oesophagostomum bifurcum colon lesions.

Infection by the nematode Oesophagostomum bifurcum is focally distributed in Africa and causes a syndrome of abdominal pain, obstruction, or abdominal mass because of its predilection for invasion of colonic mucosa. To determine the reliability of ultrasound for the detection of colon pathology induced by this parasite, three studies to assess the intraobserver and interobserver variation of the technique were performed. In an area of northern Ghana endemic for O.

Ultrasonographic detection and assessment of preclinical oesophagostomum bifurcum-induced colonic pathology.

In northern Ghana and Togo, Oesophagostomum bifurcum infects an estimated 250,000 people, as determined by cultures of stool samples. The juvenile stages of the helminth develop within colonic wall nodules, causing Dapaong tumor or multinodular disease, at the rate of 1 case per week at Nalerigu Hospital in Ghana. Our aim was to discover whether suspected colonic-wall pathology is ultrasonographically visible in asymptomatic individuals living in the area where O.

Evidence for a long-term effect of a single dose of praziquantel on Schistosoma mansoni-induced hepatosplenic lesions in northern Uganda.

Treatment with praziquantel reduces the prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma mansoni infection. However, reversibility of periportal fibrosis of the liver, which potentially leads to fatal complications, is not unequivocally substantiated. In the Nile District of Uganda, 460 patients were parasitologically (Kato-Katz method) and ultrasonographically examined during October 1991, October 1992, and May 1994.

Schistosoma mansoni-related morbidity on Ukerewe Island, Tanzania: clinical, ultrasonographical and biochemical parameters.

One thousand six hundred and ninety-five inhabitants of 3 rural villages on Ukerewe Island, Lake Victoria, Tanzania, were examined by clinical, parasitological, ultrasonographic and--in part--serological means to evaluate Schistosoma (S.) mansoni-related morbidity on a community level. Villagers frequently complained of typical colitis symptoms (abdominal pain 80.

Serum erythropoietin levels in patients with sepsis and septic shock.

The role of the immune system in the control of the production of erythropoietin is still poorly understood. Herein, the levels of circulating immunoreactive erythropoietin, tumour necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-6 were determined in 10 septic patients for up to 4 d following the admission to an internal intensive care unit. The data show that the production of erythropoietin was not suppressed despite an increase in the levels of proinflammatory cytokines.

Amanita phalloides intoxications in a family of russian immigrants. Case reports and review of the literature with a focus on orthotopic liver transplantation.

Alpha-amanitin, the main toxin of the death cap fungus (Amanita phalloides) is one of the most dangerous natural poison. This toxin damages eukaryotic cells by inhibiting their transcription. Lesions are seen in cells with rapid protein synthesis, particular in liver and renal cells, even at low toxin concentrations.

[Pregnancy, labor and postpartum development after kidney transplantation and triple therapy with cyclosporin A--follow-up in relation to literature review].

This report pertains to a 26-year old primigravida three years after kidney transplantation and still on immunotherapy. Her pregnancy progressed without severe complications until the 33rd week of gestation. Then a sudden and rapidly worsening pre-eclampsia led to admission and delivery.

Comparative study on the antihypertensive efficacy of torasemide and indapamide in patients with essential hypertension.

In a double-blind randomized multicenter study the antihypertensive efficacy of 2.5 mg torasemide (1- isopropyl-3-([4-(3-methyl-phenylamino)pyridine]-3-sulfony)urea) and 2.5 mg indapamide was compared in patients with essential hypertension, known as responders to diuretic therapy.

[MR tomography following kidney transplantation].

The results obtained by MR tomography in 30 patients after renal grafting are compared with the clinical and histological data in respect of corticomedullary contrast (CMC). In 22 patients with regular functioning of the transplant the CMC was normal at 19.4%.

Influence of the defective metabolism of sparteine on its pharmacokinetics.

Sparteine is metabolized by N1-oxidation, which in some subjects is defective. The defect has a pronounced effect on the kinetics of the drug. In nonmetabolisers elimination of sparteine proceeds entirely via renal excretion by a capacity-limited process, 99,9% of the dose being excreted as unchanged drug.

Defective N-oxidation of sparteine in man: a new pharmacogenetic defect.

Sparteine, an antiarrhythmic and oxytocic drug, is metabolised by N1-oxidation. The sparteine-N1-oxide rearranges with loss of water to 2- and 5-dehydrosparteine. 18 (i.