Localised cutaneous blastomycosis : Response to fluconazole.

A case of atypical cutaneous blastomycosis is reported. Patient responded to oral fluconazole 200 mg per day given for 9 months.

A preliminary study of glycosylation of hair in diabetes mellitus.

Glycosylation of hair was studied in 30 diabetic (15 IDDM and 15 NIDDM) patients and in 30 age and sex matched healthy non-diabetic subjects. A positive correlation occurs between glycosylation of proximal portion of hair and the simultaneously measured glycosylated haemoglobin. The hair glycosylation remains stable along the length of hair from scalp to tip in normal subjects and suggests that a sufficiently long hair sample may offer a long term record of degree of hyperglycaemia.

Quantitation of proteinuria by use of single random spot urine collection.

Measurements of protein to creatinine ratios in single voided urine samples were compared with 24 hour urinary protein excretion for quantification of proteinuria in 20 healthy control and 30 patients of various renal diseases. The range of proteinuria in study group was 1.46-6.

Meige's syndrome.

A case of Meige's syndrome is reported who presented with blepharospasm and oromandibular dystonia along with dislocation of jaw, due to severe dystonia. Such severe form of dystonia are very rare.

Alcohol consumption and hypertension.

The effect of acute alcohol consumption was studied in healthy subjects (Group-I) and in nondrinking hypertensive (Group-II) and in regularly drinking hypertensive patients (Group-III). All subjects consumed alcohol (1gm/kg body weight daily) for 5 days, then abstained for 5 days. Blood pressure was recorded in standing and supine position every morning.

Leprosy of the tongue.

Ten out of the twenty-five lepromatous leprosy patients studied showed clinical evidence of involvement of the tongue, and they presented with various symptoms like loss of taste, stiffness of tongue, bleeding, pain etc. Various types of lesions ranging from small nodule to granuloma formation, ulceration, macroglossia and fissured cracked tongue were noted. The tongue lesions were found to be related to the severity of leprosy.

Coronary-prone behaviour pattern and myocardial infarction.

Seventy five patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) and forty matched control subjects were assessed for coronary-prone behaviour pattern by a self administered scale. Analysis of the results showed a higher incidence (P < 0.001) of type A behaviour pattern in acute (MI) patients, as compared to controls.

Role of QT interval at onset of acute myocardial infarction in predicting early phase ventricular arrhythmia.

In this study, the QTc interval was determined in 51 patients of acute myocardial infarction and the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias in them was noted. It was found that the QTc interval was prolonged (more than 0.44 sec) in all the 33 patients who developed ventricular arrhythmias, while it was below 0.

Assessment of left ventricular function in chronic severe anaemia. An echocardiographic study.

Left ventricle (LV) performance was assessed by echocardiography (2-D and M-mode) in 30 patients with chronic severe anaemia and an equal number of age and sex matched healthy controls. Patients with anaemia were divided into two groups: those with tachycardia (pulse rate more than 100 per min) and those without. LV performance indices computed were LV ejection fraction (LVEF), % fractional shortening (FS), cardiac index (CI) and stroke volume index (SVI).

Serum immunoglobulins in leukaemia and malignant lymphoma.

The serum immunoglobulin levels were studied in 25 healthy control subjects and 23 cases of leukaemia (6 cases of acute lymphatic leukaemia, 5 cases of acute myeloid leukaemia, 2 cases of chronic lymphatic leukaemia and 10 cases of chronic myeloid leukaemia) and 17 cases of malignant lymphoma (13 cases of Hodgkin's lymphoma and 4 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma). The mean levels of IgG, IgA and IgM in 25 control subjects were 1573.56 +/- 91.

Neurological manifestations associated with bronchogenic carcinoma.

Neurological manifestations of bronchogenic carcinoma were studied in 50 cases, 42% of whom showed neurological abnormalities with 6% having more than one type. Recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis (20%) was the commonest, phrenic nerve paralysis (2%), paraneoplastic syndrome (12%), Pancoast's syndrome (10%) and metastatic involvement of central nervous system (4%) were other neurological manifestations. No evidence of encephalitis, motor neurone disease, myelopathy, Eaton-Lambert syndrome, myositis and drug-induced peripheral neuropathy was found in this study.

Portal hypertension therapy with oral propranolol. A short-term study.

Thirty patients were evaluated in a blind fashion to study the effect of oral propranolol on portal hypertension of varied aetiology. The dose of oral propranolol (administered to 15 patients) was adjusted to reduce the resting heart rate by approximately 25%. Splenic pulp pressure served as the parameter for portal pressure.