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Biomedical subjects

J C de Villiers

Publications and source records attributed to J C de Villiers.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

New methods for the detection of viruses: call for review of drinking water quality guidelines.

Drinking water supplies which meet international recommendations for source, treatment and disinfection were analysed. Viruses recovered from 100 L-1,000 L volumes by in-line glass wool filters were inoculated in parallel into four cell culture systems. Cell culture inoculation was used to isolate cytopathogenic viruses, amplify the nucleic acid of non-cytopathogenic viruses and confirm viability of viruses. Over a period of two years, viruses were detected in 23% of 413 drinking water samples and 73% of 224 raw water samples. Cytopathogenic viruses were detected in 6% raw water samples but not in any treated drinking water supplies. Enteroviruses were detected in 17% drinking water samples, adenoviruses in 4% and hepatitis A virus in 3%. In addition to these viruses, astro- and rotaviruses were detected in raw water. All drinking water supplies had heterotrophic plate counts of < 100/mL, total and faecal coliform counts of 0/100 mL and negative results in qualitative presence-absence tests for somatic and F-RNA coliphages (500 mL samples). These results call for a revision of water quality guidelines based on indicator organisms and vague reference to the absence of viruses.

Cell Culture Techniques↗
PubMed1999

Hospitals in Cape Town during the Anglo-Boer War.

The choice of Cape Town as the site for the base hospitals during the Anglo-Boer War was for many reasons a logical one. The hospitals that existed in the city at the time were inadequate in size and lacked the required facilities. The unexpectedly large number of wounded and the epidemics of typhoid and plague demanded an ever-increasing number of hospital beds. These demands were met by expanding existing hospitals making use of temporary hospitals and converting other buildings into hospitals. Eventually more than 3,000 beds were made available by the 10 hospitals in Cape Town and the system, despite continuing problems, provided a reasonable service under difficult circumstances.

History, 19th Century↗
PubMed1999

Assessment of cell culture and polymerase chain reaction procedures for the detection of polioviruses in wastewater.

WHO considers that environmental surveillance for wild-type polioviruses is potentially important for surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis as a means of confirming eradication of poliomyelitis. The present study investigated methods for detecting polioviruses in a variety of water environments in South Africa. Most polioviruses were isolated on L20B mouse cells, which, however, were not selective: 16 reoviruses and 8 enteroviruses, apparently animal strains, were also isolated on these cells. Vaccine strains of polioviruses were isolated from surface waters during and shortly after two rounds of mass vaccination of children in an informal settlement where there was no sewerage. The results demonstrated the feasibility of poliovirus surveillance in such settlements. It was also evident that neither poliovirus vaccine strains nor other viruses were likely to interfere significantly with the detection of wild-type polioviruses. Optimal isolation of polioviruses was accomplished by parallel inoculation of L20B mouse cells and at least the PLC/PRF/5 human liver and buffalo green monkey (BGM) kidney cell lines. Analysis of cell cultures using the polymerase chain reaction revealed that 319 test samples contained at least 263 human enteroviruses that failed to produce a cytopathogenic effect. This type of analysis thus significantly increased the sensitivity of enterovirus detection.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Surgery in South Africa.

The practice of surgery in South Africa ranges from full-time service in state-funded and academic hospitals serving a largely indigent population to a private sector for medically insured patients. Surgical training occurs at eight medical schools, and specialist registration is obtained after 4 to 5 years with either a university-conferred degree or a fellowship from the College of Surgeons of South Africa. The wide spectrum of First- to Third-World diseases and the high incidence of trauma provide comprehensive experience for practical training. Surgical standards are uniformly high, matching and sometimes pioneering the very best of Western medicine. The health care system is undergoing radical change to correct the imbalances of the apartheid era. Academic institutions are under pressure, and with incipient major financial cutbacks, there is concern that the proud record of service, teaching, and research excellence may be compromised. To facilitate the mission of broadening health care services, diploma training in surgery for rural practitioners is being developed. Outreach programs and closer liaisons with surgical societies in sub-Saharan African countries have also been initiated.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed1995

Arteriovenous malformations of the scalp.

We report twenty-four patients with cirsoid aneurysms of the scalp. For nine patients (38%), the lesions were related to trauma. Each of the patients presented with a pulsatile scalp swelling with a bruit. No focal neurological deficits were noted in any of the patients. Scalp malformations in all patients were confirmed by selective internal and external carotid angiography, with no intracerebral component revealed in any of the patients. Twenty-one patients had the lesions surgically excised, with good results. The remaining three refused surgical intervention. Meticulous surgical technique, which includes removal of the pericranial component of the malformation, was paramount.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Hydatid infestation of the brain: difficulties with computed tomography diagnosis and surgical treatment.

The radiological, surgical and pharmacological management of 11 children with cerebral hydatid disease is presented with special emphasis on the varying CT and MRI appearances and the surgical difficulties we have encountered. All but 2 had enhanced CT scanning and 2 had an MRI. The typical CT appearance of a large non-enhancing cyst of CSF density with minimal oedema was only seen in 3 children. Atypical appearances included irregularity of the cyst wall contour (2), enhancement of the surrounding rim (3), isodensity or heterogeneity of the cyst content (4), surrounding oedema (4) and globular as opposed to curvilinear calcification (2). Complete intact cyst removal was achieved in 3 patients. The reasons for puncturing the cysts or rupturing them at operation were failure to make a definitive pre-operative diagnosis (5), dense adhesions to the skull, dura or falx (3) and the misdiagnosis of an arachnoid cyst and the subsequent placement of a cystoperitoneal shunt (1). Pathological examination suggests that the degree of the inflammatory response to the ectocyst may determine the enhancement characteristics and the ease of surgical removal. There was 1 recurrence which responded well to four 28-day treatment cycles of albendazole.

Brain↗
PubMed1994

Low-velocity penetrating craniocerebral injury in childhood.

Fifty-four children with low-velocity penetrating injury of the skull and brain are described. The incidence of septic complications was 43%, which is significantly higher than that seen in adults. Nine percent of children developed vascular complications. Due to the high septic complication rate, a more aggressive management protocol consisting of craniectomy and dural repair under antibiotic cover is suggested.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Post-traumatic chiasmatic disruption.

Ten patients with traumatic disruption of the optic chiasm are presented. The clinical sequence of fronto-facial trauma and CSF rhinorrhoea, followed days later by diabetes insipidus and discovery of a bi-temporal visual field loss constitute a characteristic syndrome which should be recognized by the attending medical staff. Magnetic resonance imaging, not previously reported, and post-mortem evidence point to a physical disruption of the chiasm and infundibulum as the cause of the visual and hypothalamic signs. The resulting field defect is permanent but the diabetes insipidus is transient in 50% of patients and can be adequately managed with manipulation of the patient's fluid intake.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Bacterial intracranial aneurysms.

This is a retrospective study of 25 patients with bacterial intracranial aneurysms treated in a single department over a 20-year period. The clinical presentation, investigation and treatment of these patients is discussed. The outcome of the treatment is assessed and is thought to be not as poor as previously reported.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

A few thoughts on the history of epilepsy.

The history of epilepsy is a saga of the struggle by which scientific understanding of an unusual disease was gained by a long and circuitous route. In the beginning this affliction was attributed to demon possession and defied understanding for centuries when it was still regarded as a sacred disease and surrounded by superstition and mysticism; therapy of necessity had to follow similar lines of reasoning. The gradual realisation that cerebral dysfunction was the cause of this disease was highly significant although still followed by misunderstanding and misinterpretation--those two essential steps to progress. Clear, inspired reasoning and lucid clinical descriptions of epilepsy by John Hughlings Jackson and William Gowers set the scene for what was to follow. Experimental neurophysiology, cortical simulation, cortical localisation, new technologies of electro-encephalography, modes of visualisation of structures histologically and radiologically led to our present-day concepts of this complex disorder. We have been brought to new thresholds of understanding through the co-operative exertions of many workers from all parts of the world and this saga tells of some of the highest scientific accomplishments in medicine.

Epilepsy↗
PubMed1991

Lipoma of the corpus callosum associated with frontal and facial anomalies.

Seven patients with a corpus callosum lipoma associated with a frontal cranial defect with or without a superficial lipoma or a fronto-nasal dysplasia, were encountered over a period of 12 years. This group of patients is reported as these associated lesions may provide a lead to the cause of lipomas of the corpus callosum as well as of the different lesions in the fronto-facial region. From our experience and that of others, the frontal lesion may be an extracranial lipoma, a frontal bone defect, with or without an external lipoma, a lipomeningocele connecting the extracranial lipoma through a frontal defect with the corpus callosum lipoma, a frontal encephalocele. Fronto-nasal dysplasia associated with a corpus callosum lipoma, seems to form an independent group although some of these patients may have other extracranial lesions as well. It is suggested by the authors that as the primitive mesenchyme gives rise to the meninx primitiva as well as to the fronto-facial skeleton a disturbance of the neural crest may give rise to these combined lesions. Further analysis of similar cases may indicate the timing of these events, and perhaps reveal a common causative factor.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Bilateral facial nerve palsies: Groote Schuur Hospital experience.

Bilateral facial nerve palsies are rare. This article details the Cape Town experience of 24 patients with this condition seen over the past 20 years and highlights the three main groups in which these bilateral facial nerve palsies occurred. These are Bell's palsy, fracture of the temporal bones and sclerosteosis. A variety of other rare causes was also found. Bell's palsy remains a diagnosis of exclusion though there has been some evidence to suggest implication of the Herpes simplex virus. The mechanism whereby temporal bone fractures cause bilateral facial nerve palsies is discussed. The clinical presentation and management of sclerosteosis is also discussed.

Adolescent↗