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Biomedical subjects

A Khalil

Publications and source records attributed to A Khalil.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

The effect of desert conditions on the reactivity of Libyan schoolchildren to a range of new tuberculins.

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of desert conditions on the pattern of delayed hypersensitivity to mycobacteria in school children aged 6-10 and 11-18 years. A new range of tuberculins prepared from ultrasonic lysates of living mycobacteria belonging to 12 different species was employed. Three centres were chosen for study, a sea port and two desert towns differing greatly from each other. The results obtained were compared with those of a previous study using the same reagents in Kenya. As expected both the range of mycobacterial species to which the children reacted, the rate of acquisition of specific hypersensitivity with age and the total percentage of children reacting to individual reagents differed from centre to centre. The harsh desert conditions of Ajdabia produced the least, and the proximity of the people's dwellings to those of their farm animals in Kufra produced the most positive reactors to essentially environmental species. The greatest number of reactions to our Tuberculin were found in Benghazi where the cosmopolitan urban conditions probably lead to a high contact with open cases of tuberculosis. As assessed by skin test reactivity, immunization with BCG in Libya was much less effective than in Kenya. The interpretation of the differences between the results from the different test centres and between those for Libya and Kenya are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Histologic reactions of the thymus, spleen, liver and lymph nodes to intravenous and subcutaneous BCG injections.

The tissue reactions of non-tumor-bearing F1 (DBA/2 X C57B16) mice to i.v. and s.c. injected BCG were studied in animals sacrificed at planned intervals following the injection. No appreciable changes were observed prior to day 6, when the thymic cortex and medulla began to show hyperplasia of epithelial cells; many of them had PAS positive cytoplasm and some of these cells were contiguous with the walls of small blood vessels and large cystic spaces containing PAS-positive secretions. The thymic cortical lymphocytes showed, on day 6, a pronounced pyroninophilia and increased mitotic activity without increase in thymic weight. These changes were considerably more striking in the i.v. than in the s.c. injected animals. On the same day a pronounced multifocal lymphocytic infiltration involving the red pulp and the parafollicular and periarteriolar zones of the spleen were observed. It was more pronounced in the i.v. than in the s.c. injected animals. The thymic changes were seen only in animals killed on day 6 and day 10, but were no longer observed on day 14. Beginning with day 14 a pronounced histiocytic granulomatous reaction was observed in the liver. On day 18, this granulomatous reaction was also seen in the spleen, lymph nodes, and lungs of i.v. injected animals. It persisted until day 45. In the s.c. injected animals histiocytic granulomas were seen only at the site of injection and in the regional lymph nodes.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Immunoblastic lymphosarcoma, a cytological and clinical entity?

We have studied 20 cases of haematosarcomas belonging to lymphosarcomas (T or B-cell markers, absence of the reticulosarcoma characters in sections, on smears, with conventional and scanning electron microscopy). Their cells which appear as large pyroninophilic cells on sections, as large very basophilic cells with blastic nuclei and often cytoplasmic vacuoles on smears, as having many polyribosomes and usually no ergastoplasm with conventional electron microscopy, and as large cells of the lymphocytic series with scanning electron microscopy resemble the cells which we described in adenitis in 1955 (9) and in the graft-versus-host-reaction in 1961 (6), which Gowans (15) showed resulted from lymphocyte transformation, and which Dameshek (10) called immunoblasts. Many of these cases of immunoblastic lymphosarcoma (ILS) identified on their cytohistological characteristics [also recognized by Lukes et al. (24, 25) and Lennert et al. (21, 22)], present aetiological, clinical and pronostic characters which let us suppose that it may be not only a cytological entity but also a cytoclinical entity : a) it affects males in 85% or the subjects; eight patients came from mediterranean countries outside France; two patients had a history of chronic rheumatoid manifestations; b) the disease was at stage IV at the first presentation in 10 patients out of 20; it was revealed by profound (mediastinal or abdominal) localizations in 60% of cases (12 out of 20); it presented a hypoglobulinaemia in eight out of 13 patients; in six out of the 15 patients treated before leukaemic conversion, the chemotherapy usually efficient in lymphosarcoma (LS) failed to induce remission. This type of LS has a poorer prognosis than other types of LS (median for all stages : eight months). It led to the death either after its conversion to leukaemia (nine out of 20 cases), or by vital organ (as brain or kidney) infiltrations.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Brucella-infected ovarian dermoid cyst causing initial treatment failure in a patient with acute brucellosis.

A 37-year-old woman was diagnosed with acute brucellosis. Despite appropriate antimicrobial therapy, high fever persisted. A contrast enhanced CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis revealed a left ovarian dermoid cyst. On the first postoperative day after left ovariectomy and right ovarian cystectomy were performed, the patient defervesced abruptly and continued to be completely afebrile. Cultures from bone marrow and dermoid cyst grew Brucella melitensis. The observation of a Brucella-infected ovarian dermoid cyst, which has not been previously reported, illustrates the importance of localized brucellosis as a cause of persistent infection despite appropriate antimicrobial therapy.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A familial case of recurrent hydatidiform molar pregnancies with biparental genomic contribution.

Hydatidiform mole is a benign trophoblastic neoplasia characterized by an abnormal development of the embryo and proliferation of placental villi. Using microsatellite markers amplified by the polymerase chain reaction, we have performed a genetic study on eight independent molar tissues occurring in two sisters. Karyotype and genotype data demonstrate a diploid and biparental constitution in seven of the analyzed moles suggesting a common mechanism underlying the etiology of the various molar pregnancies in this family. The data reported here suggest that complete and partial hydatidiform moles are not always separate entities and that women with familial recurrent hydatidiform moles are homozygous for an autosomal recessive mutation.

Diploidy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cure of metastatic uterine carcinosarcoma to lungs: a case report.

Most patients with advanced or recurrent uterine sarcoma experience disease progression and ultimately die. We present a case of uterine sarcoma with lung metastasis treated with systemic chemotherapy and with no evidence of disease for more than 5 years. A 77-year-old woman underwent total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for carcinosarcoma of the uterus followed by external pelvic radiotherapy. Ten months later, the tumor recurred in the apex of the vagina and was treated with brachytherapy. After 6 months of remission, she presented with pulmonary metastasis. After four cycles of systemic chemotherapy with cisplatin and ifosfamide, the pulmonary nodules completely disappeared. Currently she is still in complete remission after more than 5 years, but unfortunately she has developed myelodysplastic syndrome. This is the first reported case in the literature of cured metastatic uterine carcinosarcoma to lungs, with long-term survival of 5 years.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Study of the paraoxonase and platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase activities with aging.

The purpose of this study was to investigate, with aging, the activity of two enzymes associated to HDL and responsible for its anti-atherogenic activity; paraoxonase (PON1) and platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH). Ninety-five subjects aged between 26 and 77 years were recruited for the study. The prevalence of phenotype A, AB, and B in our subjects group was 69.47,21.05 and 9.47% respectively. Plasma as well as HDL paraoxonase activity decreased significantly with aging (r =-0.218, P < 0.039) and (r = -0.280, P < 0.006) respectively. PAF-AH activity was unchanged with aging however, we noted a negative correlation between PAF-AH and PON1 activity in HDL (r = -0.243, P < 0.02) and in LDL vs HDL (r =-0.462, P < 0.001).

1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Placental site trophoblastic tumor in a patient with secondary infertility and radiological findings consistent with a leiomyoma: a case report.

Placental site trophoblastic tumor (PSTT) is the rarest form of gestational trophoblastic diseases. We report a 40-year-old woman who presented initially after a year of secondary infertility with prolonged menstrual flow. Her last pregnancy ended in a suction dilation and curettage at 8 weeks' gestation for a missed abortion. A hysterosalpingogram revealed a solid 5 x 4.5 cm filling defect impinging on the endometrial cavity suggestive of a submucosal leiomyoma. A vaginal sonogram confirmed the findings. The patient underwent a laparotomy for excision of the 5-cm friable, necrotic mass that was performed by curetting. Pathologic examination of the specimen revealed sheets of intermediate trophoblastic cells characterized by large polyhedral cells and positive human placental lactogen staining consistent with PSTT. The patient eventually underwent total abdominal hysterectomy 4 weeks later with no evidence of residual tumor on histologic examination.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Long-term survival following aggressive surgery and radiotherapy for pelvic fibromatosis.

Desmoid tumors of the female pelvis are rare. The efficacy of the available treatment modalities in improving survival and decreasing recurrence remains controversial. A 32-year-old woman presented with an asymptomatic large ischeorectal mass. Computed tomography scan revealed a large tumor adherent to the pubic bone and impinging on the bladder neck and the rectum. Aggressive surgical removal of the mass including partial osteotomy of the pubic bone was followed by radiotherapy. The patient is still alive 6 years later with no evidence of disease. Aggressive surgical management followed by radiotherapy is an acceptable means of treatment of locally invasive desmoid tumor of the female pelvis.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Haemostatic changes in children with cyanotic and acyanotic congenital heart disease.

This study was undertaken to screen children with congenital heart disease for coagulation abnormalities and to compare the groups of cyanotic and acyanotic children with congenital heart disease with respect to abnormalities of the coagulation system. Following investigations were done in all the patients: complete blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, peripheral smear examination, bleeding time, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, assay of fibrinogen, D-dimer, factors VII and VIII and antithrombin III. Red cell indices were determined in 12 control, 12 acyanotic and 20 cyanotic children. Twenty-five patients each, with echocardiographically proven cyanotic and acyanotic congenital heart disease under 12 years of age constituted the study group; as many children of the same age group were included as the control group. The results showed isolated abnormalities of laboratory tests with equal frequency (28%) in acyanotic and cyanotic groups but coexisting abnormalities of more than one test were seen in significantly larger number of cyanotic children (5/25 and 16/25, respectively). A significant association was noted between thrombocytopenia and a high haematocrit in cyanotic patients. It is concluded that laboratory abnormalities of tests of haemostasis are more common in cyanotic congenital heart disease patients. The patterns of laboratory abnormalities suggest a chronic compensated disseminated intravascular coagulation at a subclinical level, reduced synthesis of clotting factors and/or deranged platelet aggregation in different subgroups of patients.

Blood Coagulation Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Bleeding from an epiphrenic oesophageal diverticulum.

A 49-year-old woman with a 2-month history of mild dysphagia and three episodes of haematemesis was found at endoscopy and barium swallow to have an epiphrenic oesophageal diverticulum containing an ulcerating crypt, but no ectopic gastric epithelium. Diverticulectomy and lower oesophageal myotomy gave a good result.

Adult↗