Lipid peroxidative damage in the erythrocytes and elevation of serum LDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein-B, ferritin and uric acid with age and in coronary heart disease patients.

Objectives: To determine the normal serum levels of LDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein-B, ferritin, uric acid, and the extent of erythrocytes lipid peroxidation in healthy control group subjects and to compare them with coronary heart disease patients. Secondly, to study the effects of age and sex on these parameters.

Methods: The blood samples from 150 healthy Libyan control group subjects (110 men and 40 women) were classified into 3 groups according to their age.

Concordant expression of Hirschsprung's disease in monozygous twins.

A monozygous pair of twins with long segment Hirschsprung's disease born to non consanguineous parents is presented. Mother's history was uneventful. In the absence of prenatal and postnatal illness, the concordant lesions in this pair could be attributed to genetic factors.

Junctional epidermolysis bullosa lethalis with pyloric and anorectal obstruction.

The authors present a case of epidermolysis bullosa lethalis (EBL) associated with a double obstruction, one at the pyloric and the other in the anorectal region. Both obstructions could be due to separation of the rectal mucosa during intrauterine life followed by adhesive closure of its wall. Both the gastrointestinal lesions could be part of the generalized denudation process involved in EBL.

Major congenital anomalies at birth in Benghazi, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, 1995.

A study was conducted to investigate the magnitude, nature and associated risk factors of major congenital anomalies (MCAs) at birth in Benghazi, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in 1995. The incidence of MCAs was 7.4 per 1000 live births and 9.

Tumour necrosis factors in childhood asthma.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) and TNF beta levels in serum were measured by enzyme immunoassays in 64 Libyan children (age: 1-12 years, sex: 39 males, 25 females) with mild to moderately severe asthma (Group A). Among these patients, 35 had active disease (AA) and 29 had inactive disease (NA). According to age range, 20, 21 and 23 patients were between 1-3 years (A1), > 3-5 years (A2) and > 5-12 years (A3) respectively.

Growth pattern of primary schoolchildren in Benghazi, Libya.

Objective: To find the growth trends in a sample of schoolchildren in Benghazi (Libya), and to compare it with international and other local growth charts, as a step for setting the national curves.

Method: From 25 February to 31 October 1993, a sample of 2,022 pupils (1,160 boys and 862 girls) were randomly selected from three public primary schools in three different socio-economic areas in Benghazi. A questionnaire consisting of social and scholastic items was distributed to teachers a few days before the examination.

Hyperglycaemia: a morphine-like effect produced by naloxone.

1. Naloxone, which is often regarded as a pure opioid antagonist, produces effects similar to those produced by morphine. 2.

Outcome of minimal surgery for hydatid cysts of the liver in children with reference to post-operative biliary leakage.

Analysis of 30 children with hydatid cysts of the liver who were treated by partial pericystectomy and external tube drainage showed that five (21%) of 24 cases in whom clear hydatid fluid was observed during surgery developed biliary leakage. The cysts in the remaining six contained bile-stained fluid, indicating the presence of cystobiliary communications, and five of these children continued to drain bile post-operatively, in spite of appropriate precautions taken during surgery. Histological examination of the pericyst wall confirmed the presence of openings of small bile ducts in the cyst which probably caused the biliary leak.

Immunoglobulin isotypes in childhood asthma.

Immunoglobulin isotypes (IgG, IgA, IgM, IgD, IgE) in serum were investigated in 64 Libyan children with mild to moderately severe asthma (age: 1-12 years; sex: 39 males, 25 females) (Group A) and in 57 healthy Libyan children (age: 1-12 years; sex: 30 males, 27 females (Group B). The patients were classified according to age into three groups (A1: 1-3 years; A2: > 3-5 years; A3: > 5-12 years); according to disease activity into two groups (AA: active disease; NA: inactive disease); and according to age plus disease activity into six groups (AA1, NA1; AA2, NA2; AA3, NA3). The healthy children were also divided according to age into three groups (B1: 1-3 years; B2: > 3-5 years; B3: > 5-12 years).

In vitro antibiotic sensitivity pattern of common bacterial isolates from cases of acute bacterial meningitis with special reference to ceftriaxone.

Ceftriaxone (RO 13-9904) has only recently been introduced in Benghazi and many parts of the word. We determined its in-vitro antibacterial activity against the primary aetiological agents of childhood meningitis in Benghazi, that included eighteen (23.3%) strains of H.

Surgical and pathological basis for interval appendicectomy after resolution of appendicular mass in children.

Background/purpose: The role of appendicectomy after the resolution of appendicular mass is debatable. A study was conducted to evaluate whether surgical and pathological features of the excised appendices favor the operation in the quiescent period.

Methods: During a 60-month period, 59 patients were admitted in our unit with a diagnosis of appendicular mass and were treated initially with conservative management.

The role of the fissure morphology in caries prevalence of the first permanent molar in Libyan children.

Dental caries is one of the commonest of all dental diseases and is the main cause of loss of teeth in young people. It is a common belief that the high caries susceptibility of occlusal surfaces of posterior teeth is directly related to the morphology of the pits and fissures. Occlusal fissures are deep invaginations of enamel, they can be classified into V-type: Wide at the top and gradually narrowing towards the bottom U-type almost the same width from top to bottom.

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy with papillodema and response to immunoglobulins.

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy is considered as a chronic form of Guillain-Barre syndrome differing from it in response to steroids, course and prognosis. Papillodema although rare is not an uncommon feature. Here we report a case of florid papillodema in a patient of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, discuss the underlying mechanisms in relation to cerebrospinal fluid pressure and protein content and response to intravenous immunoglobulins.

Pattern of pulmonary tuberculosis in Benghazi Region, Libya.

Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version.

Biochemical profiles of hydatid cyst fluids of Echinococcus granulosus of human and animal origin in Libya.

A comparative study on the biochemical parameters in hydatid cyst fluids of sheep, goats, camels, cattle and human cystic forms of Echinococcus granulosus has been made in Libya. Quantitative variations in the levels of sodium, potassium, calcium, cholesterol, glucose, urea, creatinine and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma GT) were found in the cystic fluids of different host origins although these differences were statistically insignificant compared with the hydatid fluids of sheep. However, the concentration of triglycerides and proteins were significantly elevated in the cyst fluids of sheep compared with the other fluids studied.

Tonsil and adenoid surgery for upper airway obstruction in children.

We studied the outcomes of 76 children, aged 3 to 12 years, with large tonsils and/or large adenoids who underwent surgery to relieve upper airway obstruction over a 1-year period. Following surgery, nearly all patients experienced an alleviation of all symptoms, except for enuresis. We suggest that children who have large tonsils and/or adenoids will gain substantial benefit if they are removed, even children who do not have a history of severe sleep apnea or objective evidence from polysomnography.

Hyperlipidaemia in cisplatin-induced nephrotic rats.

The serum and hepatic lipid concentrations were investigated in rats made nephrotic with a single intraperitoneal injection of cisplatin (6 mg kg(-1) b.wt.).

Levels of serum immunoglobulin G, CSF IgG and IgG index in acute bacterial meningitis.

This study characterised the levels of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG), cerebrospinal fluid IgG (CSF IgG) and IgG index as an aid to the diagnosis and prognosis of acute bacterial meningitis (ABM). A total of 28 patients with proven ABM at admission (age range: one month to 10 years; 17 males, 11 females) (group A) and 17 age- and sex-matched control children (group B) were studied. Levels were also compared between patients with neurological morbidity (n = 4; group C) and without neurological morbidity (n = 24; group D) who were subsets of group A.

Comparison of the incidence of colour blindness between sections of Libyan and Indian populations.

Incidence of Red-Green colour blindness was studied in a Libyan population and was then compared with the same in two samples of Indian population. The incidence of the Red-Green colour defect was found to be 2.209% amongst the males and 0.

Thyroid gland papillary carcinoma with fibromatosis-like stroma: case report.

Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid may show a variable degree of fibrosis of the stroma, but proliferation of the stromal fibroblasts mimicking fibromatosis is rare. There appears to be a new variant of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid associated with exuberant proliferation of the fibroblasts resembling fibromatosis. We present one such case in a 50 year old woman and succinctly reviewed the relevant literature of this rare variant.

A prospective study of bacterial meningitis in children from north-eastern Libya.

During a 14-month period, 77 children (excluding neonates) with bacterial meningitis were studied. The causative organisms were identified in 60 children: Haemophilus influenzae in 26 (34%), Streptococcus pneumoniae in 20 (26%), Gram-negative enteric bacilli in nine (12%) and beta-haemolytic streptococci group A in one. No organism was identified in 17 (22%) cases.