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Biomedical subjects

J Seaman

Publications and source records attributed to J Seaman.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Visceral leishmaniasis in southern Sudan: status of healthy villagers in epidemic conditions.

A combination of interview, serology and skin testing was used to investigate the status of apparently healthy villagers during a visceral leishmaniasis epidemic in southern Sudan. The number of people who had died equalled the number who were alive at the time of the survey. The direct agglutination test (DAT) identified 10% of the people as being serologically positive. Most young children (36/39) and 34% (22/64) of adults had neither positive serology nor skin test. About 64% (42/66) of adults had positive skin tests. In two villages, 54% and 76% of those over four years of age showed evidence of having been infected. The mortality associated with infection was estimated as at least 69%; 25% of those infected appeared to have cured spontaneously. The outcome for the remaining 6% was still doubtful. Even in this devastating epidemic there is, therefore, evidence of a considerable amount of infection without severe disease. Serological tests, while useful clinically, are apparently not useful for detecting early cases. Combined skin testing and serology produces a comprehensive though partially hypothetical picture.

Adolescent

Pancreatoblastoma in an adult.

A 37-year-old man with a history of abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weight loss was found to have an 8-cm-diameter tumor in the head of the pancreas, a biopsy specimen of which revealed histologically and ultrastructurally typical pancreatoblastoma. The tumor was unresectable and demonstrated no response to chemotherapy; however, substantial tumor shrinkage resulted from intraoperative and external beam radiation therapy. This rare tumor, to our knowledge not previously reported in an adult, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of adults as well as children with pancreatic epithelial tumors.

Adenoma, Islet Cell

The effects of drought on human nutrition in an Ethiopian province.

In mid 1974 the authors conducted a survey of Harerghe Province, Ethiopia in order to verify reports of serious effects of drought six months earlier. Information was obtained on anthropometric nutritional status, mortality, livestock, and market prices from a random sample of 62 villages in four ecological zones - the highlands, the northern and southern rangelands and an intermediate zone of mixed economy. The rangelands and intermediate areas had experienced heavy human and livestock losses during the drought but this had not occurred in the highlands. Although a high prevalence of malnutrition was found in every area studied, the geographical and height distribution of malnutrition within population groups suggested that this could only be clearly attributed to the effects of unusual food shortage in one part of the southern rangelands.

Adolescent

Post-operative renal failure caused by disseminated intravascular coagulation.

A 22-year-old man suffered a stab wound of the femoral artery and vein. This was followed by disseminated intravascular coagulation. Renal failure then occurred presumably due to fibrin deposition in the small vessels of the kidney. The D.I.C. was successfully treated with heparin and the renal failure with peritoneal dialysis. It is suggested that D.I.C. and consequent alterations in regional blood flow following trauma are not uncommon, and search should be made for these phenomena in every case of major trauma.

Acute Kidney Injury