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Biomedical subjects

D O Hourihane

Publications and source records attributed to D O Hourihane.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Coeliac disease during the teenage period: the value of serial serum folate estimations.

A group of teenage coeliac patients has been followed at three monthly intervals in the Outpatient Department to assess their progress and also to monitor their ability to maintain a gluten-free diet. After a follow-up period of four to six years a detailed reassessment was carried out in hospital on 10 patients, only five of whom had persevered with a gluten-free diet. The jejunal mucosal histology of those patients who did not persist with a gluten-free diet remained ;flat' although these patients appeared to have remitted clinically. Those subjects who did persist with a gluten-free regime had a normal or near normal mucosal histology. It was difficult on the basis of clinical, haematological, or biochemical criteria to separate the two groups. The best single assessment of whether these patients were maintaining a gluten-free diet was serial serum folate estimations. It is often extremely difficult to say whether teenage coeliac patients are keeping to their diet unless repeated jejunal biopsies are obtained, and this study suggests that serial serum folate estimations can act as a reasonable criterion of whether subjects are maintaining a gluten-free regime.

Adolescent↗

Ectopic Enterobius vermicularis.

Enterobius vermicularis (the pinworm) commonly infests the lumen of the intestine but on rare occasions has been found in the wall or in the tissues outside the gastrointestinal tract. Three such patients have been encountered in whom Enterobius vermicularis was found in the wall of the colon, in the retrocaecal tissues, and on the peritoneum. The pathological lesions and their relationship to the clinical features are discussed. A brief review of the literature is given. It is concluded that Enterobius vermicularis can only penetrate the wall of the gastrointestinal tract if this is diseased. Once in the tissues the worms can cause an inflammatory reaction simulating carcinoma and Crohn's disease, and, by perforation of the intestine, cause a generalized peritonitis.

Cecal Diseases↗

Ischaemic lesions of the alimentary tract.

The clinical and pathological findings in 23 patients with ischaemic lesions of the alimentary tract (ischaemic enterocolitis) are described. These are compared with findings in 13 patients with occlusive thrombosis of the superior mesenteric artery. The pathological features distinguishing the two conditions are discussed. Ischaemic enterocolitis was found to be a relatively common condition (0.6% of necropsies). The occurrence of mucosal fibrosis (a hitherto undescribed feature) has been of help in the biopsy diagnosis of ischaemic lesions of the gut.

Adult↗

Suppression of erythropoiesis by alcohol.

Serial measurements in alcoholic subjects showed a profound fall of serum iron for three days after withdrawal of alcohol and a reversion of abnormal accumulation of erythroblastic haemosiderin to normal. These findings suggest an interference in normal haem synthesis, most probably by a direct effect.

Adult↗

Infected infarcts of the testis: a study of 18 cases preceded by pyogenic epididymoorchitis.

Eighteen cases of infected infarcts of the testis are presented, and evidence is put forward that these result from venous occlusions in the epididymis and cord. The venous lesions probably result from thrombosis during the course of an attack of epididymoorchitis. Granulomatous orchitis was present in some part of half of the orchidectomy specimens, and the clinical histories, bacteriological findings, and histological data all suggest that this form of inflammation results from pyogenic infection of the testicle. What the factor is which determines whether the inflammation is granulomatous or not is unknown.

Adult↗

Editorial.

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Acetates↗