Biomedical subjects
H Y Chu
Publications and source records attributed to H Y Chu.
Graves' disease associated with myasthenia gravis: report of one case.
Exophthalmos occurs in more than half of the patients with childhood Graves' disease, while severe Graves' ophthalmopathy is uncommon in children. Myasthenia gravis is even more rare in association with Graves' disease. A 7-year-old girl is reported; she had ptosis for two years; this was treated irregularly, and she then developed exophthalmos, ophthalmoplegia and thyroid goiter. Her laboratory tests showed T3 496 ng/dl, T4 17.05 ug/dl, TSH < 0.1 uU/ml, fT4 > 4.2 ng/dl. Antithyroglobulin antibody was 1:25600 and antimicrosomal antibody was 1:102400. Myasthenia gravis was confirmed by a positive neostigmine test. Due to allergic reaction to propylthiouracil, she was treated with carbimazole and propranolol. Thereafter the thyrotoxicosis was was well controlled. The ocular-type myasthenia gravis remained stable with minimum medical treatment.
Langerhans cell histiocytosis: a 10-year review.
Hospital records of seventeen patients (11 males & 6 females) with Langerhans cell histiocytosis, confirmed by electron microscopic demonstration of Birbeck granules, were studied retrospectively from October 1982 to October 1992 at Taichung Veterans General Hospital. The ages at presentation ranged from 5 months to 17 years (a median of 6 years). The clinical features were protean and included fever, pain, bony lesions, lung lesions, abnormal dentition, diabetes insipidus, oral ulcer, otorrhea, dermatitis, anemia, thrombocytopenia, lymphadenopathy, and hepatosplenomegaly. Skull and femur were the most common sites of bony lesions. The main therapeutic modalities were excision, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy with vincristine and prednisolone. The young age at presentation, several involved organ systems, presence of organ dysfunction, and clinical diagnosis with Letterer-Siwe disease were poor prognostic factors. Although Langerhans cell histiocytosis is not a rare disease, the cause is still unknown. It needs further research to disclose the mystery.
Childhood non-Hodgkin's lymphoma--results of treatment with ALL high-risk protocol.
Between August 1984 and September 1990, 13 children with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) were treated with ALL high-risk protocol (5 with TCLSG 842 regimen and 8 with TPOG 882B protocol) at Taichung Veterans General Hospital. Diagnosis of NHL was confirmed by histology. Nine had lymphoblastic lymphoma, three had histiocytic lymphoma and one had small non-cleaved cell lymphoma, according to the Rappaport classification. After thorough clinical evaluation eight children were NHL stage IV; four were stage III; and one was stage II. All these children had received chemotherapy as acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) high-risk protocol for a total of three years, including central nervous system (CNS) prophylaxis. Of the 13 patients, 9 (69.2%) gained complete remission. Over-all survival rate was 46.2%, with a median interval of 36 months. The complete remission rate and survival rate for the nine children with lymphoblastic lymphoma was better at 77.7% & 66.6% respectively. Within the nonresponsive group, two failed to remit because of early withdrawal from the protocol; the other two patients were refractory to treatment. Relapse was noted in one patient. As to the side effects, neutropenic fever was the most common problem encountered (9 occurrences in 13 patients). Other major complications included severe mucositis, massive GI bleeding, intracranial thrombosis induced by l-asparaginase and tumor lysis syndrome. Childhood NHL is often of diffuse types in pathology, and most affected children have advanced diseases at diagnosis. Choosing an optimal treatment protocol is important for good treatment results.
The metabolic fate of daidzein.
A method using thin layer chromatography and ultraviolet spectrophotometry for isolation and quantitative determination of daidzein from biological specimens was developed. This method was found to be sensitive and specific and was used in this study for the observation of the metabolic fate of daidzein in animals and human bodies.