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Biomedical subjects

V Klauss

Publications and source records attributed to V Klauss.

177 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

Ocular tumors in Africa.

This paper is an analysis of 470 cases of oculo-orbital tumors in Kenya. The present series is compared with the major works conducted in other African and Western countries. We refer to age, sex and geographic characteristics and prevalence of tumors in different populations and stress the differences found. The major emphasis is on retinoblastoma, Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Orbital Hydatidosis is included as a differential diagnosis of unilateral propotosis. Considering all the reviews, retinoblastoma is reported in high numbers in African countries whereas uveal melanoma is extremely rare. Among the tumors of the lids and conjunctiva, squamous cell carcinoma occurs more frequently than in Caucasians. Besides retinoblastoma infiltracting the orbit, Burkitt's lymphoma is the most common orbital tumor, nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Kenya has the third highest incidence in the world. Proptosis is the hallmark of orbital disease and is the commonest manifestation sign at first attendance, a fact which validates the late presentation of most of our patients. The difficulties encountered in early diagnosis and hence the appropriate management are discussed and in concluding remarks some recommendation are made.

Burkitt Lymphoma↗

The role of traditional medicine in ophthalmology in Kenya.

45 Kenyan traditional healers were interviewed with respect to the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases. Traditional management of eye diseases is based on the healers' concept of the disease causation as well as their knowledge of the herbal, animal and chemical substances that possess (or are reported to possess) remedial effect on the disease. While many of the healers interviewed failed to give a clear distinction between the various eye conditions, diseases such as cataract, foreign bodies and injuries were recognized easily. In almost all cases the medicinal substances were first diluted in water before they were applied to the eyes. Human milk, blood and the white of the egg were the animal substances listed as medicinal to various eye conditions. A solution of sugar was one of the chemical substances used in the treatment of specific eye conditions. Given correct information, some of these healers could form a useful media through which the community can be reached regarding the health of their eyes.

Eye Diseases↗

[Gyrate atrophy of the choroid and retina with hyperornithinemia in an African family].

The authors report on a Kenyan family in which 4 of the 5 siblings were suffering from gyrate atrophy of the choroid and retina with hyperornithinemia. All the affected members of the family had myopia, hemeralopia, loss of vision and constricted visual fields but no cataract. To the authors' knowledge this is the first African family with gyrate atrophy to be reported.

Adolescent↗

Bilateral and unilateral mesodermal corneal metaplasia.

We report on 2 infants, one with a bilateral and the other with a unilateral corneal metaplasia. The first case with bilateral corneal metaplasia showed shortening of both upper and lower lids with formation of symblephara. By ultrasonography the right eye presented with microphthalmos, aphakia, and persistent hyaloid, whereas the inner parts of the left eye appeared to be normal. The question remains to be answered whether this is an abortive cryptophthalmos leading to bilateral corneal metaplasia or a primary corneal metaplasia inhibiting the lid growth. No suggestions concerning the aetiology are made. The second case presented with a unilateral corneal metaplasia, normal eye lids, aphakia, and microphthalmos. This aberration was probably caused by an amniotic band, as it is associated with malformation of the nose on the same side. In case 2 the dermoid was excised and a lamellar corneal graft performed. The histology is reported.

Cornea↗

[A report on two year of ophthalmological work in Kenya (author's transl)].

After two years' work as lecturers in ophthalmology at the University of Nairobi we report on our experiences in both teaching as well as outpatient and inpatient-care at the Kenyatta National Hospital. Special emphasis is given to the socio-economical background of the public health service in Kenya, to point out the special aspects of day-to-day medical work as well as the different needs of a postgraduate program in ophthalmology in this country. The main purpose of our work, supported by the Federal German Ministry of Economic Cooperation, Munich University Eye Clinic and many other organizations, was to train ophthalmologists in their own country. Finally, medical research programs currently in progress and concerning special aspects of tropical ophthalmology are reported on. These studies are designed to help find a solution of the problem of blindness, which is briefly analysed, and which is much more urgent in Kenya than in Western Europe.

Education, Medical↗

Post kala-azar uveitis.

Three patients who developed bilateral anterior uveitis at the end of, or soon after, the apparently successful treatment of visceral leishmaniasis are described. The uveitis gave rise to secondary glaucoma in 2 of the patients, and in the third patient the eye lesions were associated with an episode of post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis.

Adult↗

Infrequent detection of HIV-1 components in tears compared to blood of HIV-1-infected persons.

Beside the risk of infection via HIV-1-contaminated blood, ophthalmologists are especially interested in the possibility of HIV-1 infection via tears. Therefore we tried to isolate HIV-1 from tears of 50 HIV-1-infected persons in different stages of disease by reverse transcriptase (RT) and by p24-antigen (p24-AG) in the cultures. Simultaneously we tried to isolate HIV-1 in the supernatant from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), which was successful in 32 of the 50 examined specimens. HIV-1 could not be isolated from the tears of these persons. In addition, polymerasechain-reaction (PCR) was performed to detect proviral sequences (gag, pol, env) of HIV-1 in tears and blood of ten HIV-1-infected patients. While in all the examined patients gag, pol and env could be detected in the blood samples, only one tear sample was found positive for gag and pol DNA fragments. These results indicate that tears of HIV-1-positive contain extremely low quantities of tissue culture infectious doses (TCID) of HIV-1 in contrast to PBL. HIV-1 infection via tears therefore appears to be unlikely.

Adolescent↗