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Biomedical subjects

P Ma

Publications and source records attributed to P Ma.

82 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Some social and medical correlates of pregnancy outcome.

The separate and joint influence of certain social and medical risks and of early prenatal care on pregnancy outcome was studied in a cohort of 129,739 single live births in upstate New York in 1973. The births were categorized by maternal age, the presence or absence of four putative risk factors, and the provision or nonprovision of early prenatal care. Low birth weight and infant death rates of these categories varied directly with the number of risk factors present. For women exposed to the same risks, however, these rates were significantly lower in those who received prenatal care in the first trimester. But early prenatal care was least common among women at highest risk.

Adult↗

Isospora belli diarrheal infection in homosexual men.

Unsporulated Isospora belli oocysts were detected in the stool specimens of three homosexual men. The oocysts were ellipsoidal measuring 23-33 X 12-15 micron. It is acid fast with modified cold kinyoun stain (MCK) and reveals orange fluorescence with the Truant's stain. Sheather's sucrose flotation method is effective in concentrating Isospora oocyst as with other coccidial oocysts. One specimen showed many Charcot-Leyden crystals. All three patients responded to treatment. Isosporiosis is rare in this country and is endemic in the tropics and subtropics. Although one case acquired the infection after returning from an endemic area, the other two cases had no travel history. This raised the suspicion that this, like other parasitic infections (amebiasis, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis) may be sexually transmitted. Such exotic parasitic infections in homosexual men during the outbreak of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome adds another unusual infectious agent to the differential diagnosis of diarrheal disease in this high risk group of population.

Adult↗

Naegleria and Acanthamoeba infections: review.

Infections caused by small, free-living amebas are still unfamiliar to many clinicians, pathologists, and laboratorians. As of 31 July 1989, more than 140 cases of primary amebic meningoencephalitis caused by Naegleria fowleri and more than 40 cases of granulomatous amebic encephalitis caused by Acanthamoeba species (including two cases in patients with AIDS) and possibly by other free-living amebas had occurred worldwide. The recent increase in acanthamoeba keratitis (more than 200 cases), especially in contact lens wearers, has generated new interest in this group of amebas. Effective treatment is still lacking. Risk factors, clinical manifestations, and laboratory parameters helpful in the recognition of infections of the central nervous system (i.e., granulomatous amebic encephalitis and primary amebic meningoencephalitis) and acanthamoeba keratitis are reviewed.

Acanthamoeba↗

Brain stem glioma complicated by Strongyloides stercoralis.

The simultaneous occurrence of brain stem glioma and disseminated Strongyloides stercoralis infestation in an Ecuadorian male is reported. The unusual finding of Strongyloides larvae in the potassium hydroxide preparation for fungi and in the Gram stain for bacteria from a sputum during hemoptysis fortuitously established the diagnosis of disseminated strongyloidiasis. Of interest was the demonstration of various stages of Strongyloides in the sputum during treatment. Strongyloides infestation must be assiduously searched for in susceptible patients who are, or who are to be, immunosuppressed.

Adult↗