Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D A Mitchell.
Solitary bone cysts, also known as haemorrhagic, traumatic or simple bone cysts, of the jaws are a well-recognised entity, being found primarily in the mandible, occasionally in the maxilla and rarely in the zygoma. In this report, routine investigative measures confused the diagnosis of the lesion.
The increasing awareness of the role of obligate anaerobic bacteria in the aetiology of oral disease has led to an interest in their chemotherapeutic control. Many drugs are capable of eliminating anaerobes but in instances where these bacteria are acting as sole or major pathogens it is desirable to remove these specifically. The nitroimidazole group of drugs is specifically anti-anaerobic in nature and includes metronidazole, nimorazole and tinidazole. This paper reviews the literature on metronidazole. This drug is absorbed well from the gastrointestinal tract and can be detected at bactericidal levels in blood and saliva within 1 h of ingestion. The mode of action of metronidazole is unknown but thought to concern intracellular reduction of the molecule. The drug acts specifically against anaerobes and does not disturb the commensal aerobic flora; resistance very rarely develops. The dosage recommended for use in dentistry would appear to be very safe. Metronidazole has important interactions with alcohol, disulfiram and warfarin and there are contraindications to its use. Metronidazole has been proved to be efficacious in treating: acute ulcerative gingivitis, pericoronitis, certain periapical infections, some cases of osteomyelitis and infected socket. The drug may be of use in cases of chronic progressive periodontitis where anaerobes are implicated as pathogens.
In the course of dissection one does not normally pay much attention to the anastomosing loops forming the marginal artery. The observation of a significant precolic anastomosing loop on the descending colon of a spare subject came as quite a surprise. The same was noted on a second subject, an obese male with sagging abdomen and, to a lesser degree, on a third. Such an occurrence would have surgical significance, if only because the evaluation of the blood supply to the segment of bowel that was to be resected would be much more difficult. In addition, the blood supply to the distal bowel could be impaired following resection, depending upon the collateral circulation.
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We monitored a pregnancy in a family at risk for citrullinemia due to argininosuccinic acid (ASA) synthetase deficiency. ASA synthetase activity in cultured epithelioid amniotic fluid cells from the fetus at risk was less than 2% of control epithelioid amniotic fluid cell activity. An increased concentration of citrulline was found in the at-risk amniotic fluid (0.14 mumol/ml) as compared with fluid from six controls and one at-risk but unaffected pregnancy (trace). The pregnancy was terminated, and the in utero diagnosis was confirmed by assay of ASA synthetase activity in cultured fetal skin fibroblasts (4.4% of control activity). In addition, all five fetal tissues studied had significant accumulation of citrulline, whereas control fetal tissues had none. These data provide evidence that, if precise control is maintained over tissue culture variables, citrullinemia can be diagnosed successfully in utero by microassay of ASA synthetase activity in cultured amniotic fluid cells. They also suggest that amniotic fluid citrulline concentrations provide strong adjunctive evidence for this prenatal diagnosis.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.