Volume 99 · Issue 06 · 1986

The author reviews briefly the historical background, epidemiology, control program, progress, and problems of schistosomiasis japonica in China. The infection has a long history and wide distribution, but had been neglected before the founding of the People's Republic of China. A national program for schistosomiasis control took shape in 1955 when the Directing Board for Schistosomiasis Control of the Central Committee of the CCP was founded. As of 1983, of 348 endemic counties, the infection was eliminated in 56, and virtually eliminated in 191; of more than 11 million cases detected, 1ess than one million remained to be treated; oncomelania snails could hardly be found any more in four-fifths of a total 14 billion m2 former snail infected area. Marshlands, lake regions as well as high mountain regions are still problem areas. Great efforts are still needed for complete elimination of schistosomiasis in China.

Tongue inspection is an important method of diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine. It has developed with the application of modern science and technology, such as micro-circulation, hemorrheology, pathology, electromicroscopy, histological chemistry, microradiography and photoelectric trans formation. This paper describes and discusses the innovations in the method of researching tongue inspection, the mechanism of various tongue features. The paper also reports the clinical study of tongue inspection and research into tongue features of various diseases.

The rats, pretreated with pentagastrin, 250 μg/kg, daily for 7 days, were given restraint water immersion stress for 3 hours and observed for lesion index of the gastric mucosa. The results showed that the lesion index of the pentagastrin group was significantly decreased as compared with that of the control group. Light and electron microscopically, the mucosal layer was thickened and both the chief cells and parietal cells were in an active state. This suggests that gastrin has protective effects against the stress-induced gastric lesions through its trophic action on the gastrointestinal tract.

Mice injected 12 times in 16 days with epichlorohydrin (ECH) showed significantly increased micronuclei (MN) in normochromatic erythrocytes (NCE) of the peripheral blood 8 days following treatment. These cells kept increasing during the next 11 days. The number of polychromatic erythrocytes (PCE) in the peripheral blood, weight gain, and number of nucleated cells in the bone marrow were not affected.

Eight cases of malignant and 12 0f benign Brenner tumor are reported, patient ages ranged 31-69 and 39-53 years. The malignant tumor was bilateral in 6 of 8 cases, and the benign in 1 of 12. The greatest diameter of the malignant tumors averaged around 11 cm, and the benign 10. Six of the malignant Brenner tumor patients died, one was lost to follow up, and one survived for 10 years. Pathologic and microscopic findings were presented in some detail. Based on the analysis of the association between the histologic features and type of Mullerian epithelium, we believe that the so called Brenner tumor is in effect a tumor arising from the Mullerian epithelium with a tendency to differentiate into vaginocervical type epithelium.

Thirty-one rabbits experimentally infected with cercariae of Schistosoma japonicum were treated with single doses of praziquantel intragastrically. The female worm reduction rates with 60, 90 and 120 mg/kg were 93.9%, 100% and 100% respectively. Clinically, 47 and 52 patients were treated with single doses of 40 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg of praziquantel respectively. Repeated stool hatchings 2,4,6 and 9 months after treatment showed a cure rate of 94.4% and 88.4%. The single dose regime is easy to administer, well tolerated, less expensive and highly effective. It is recommended for mass treatment.

A clinical and pathological study was made on 53 cases of nonspecific thyroiditis operated on from 1962 through 1982. These included 36 Hashimoto's disease, 7 Riedel's disease and 10 giant cell thyroiditis. There was no operative mortality or serious complication. With Hashimoto's disease, postoperative hypothyroidism occurred in 23 patients (63.9%) and the degree of lymphocytic infiltration of the thyroid appeared to be a more important factor relating to the occurrence of postoperative hypothyroidism rather than the amount of thyroid tissue resected. In mild lymphocytic infiltration hypothyroidism did not appear when resection was limited to less than 50%. Therefore, intraoperative frozen section biopsy is beneficial not only for diagnosis but also for the choice of a proper operative procedure. An association of Hashimoto's disease with hyperthyroidism was found in 10 cases. There were 3 clinical types of such association: Symptoms of hyperthyroidism preceded thyroiditis; thyroiditis occurred first and then the symptoms of hyperthyroidism; and both disorders occurred simultaneously. As thyroiditis is generally considered an autoimmune disease, whether these three clinical types are different stages of the autoimmune reaction needs further investigation.

The characteristics of sellar plain film posteroanterior views have been well described in many countries, but as far as we know they have not been reported in this country. The X-ray manifestations of the shape and size of the sella turcica on posteroanterior plain films in 540 normal Chinese and their relation on posteroanterior and lateral views are analysed. In general, there are 6 shapes of sellar floor in the posteroanterior view. In the majority, the sellar length was 7-8 mm, the depth 616 mm, the width 12-15 mm, and the volume 196-2,312 mm3. In 52% of the adult subjects the depth of the sellar floor was less than 2 mm. No sign of cortical defect or erosion was found.

Choice of optimum filtration conditions and selection of exposure ratios for high energy and low energy scans for a dual energy scan are investigated using a GE CT/T 8800 scanner. A simple removable copper filter ring was designed for both scout view and tomographic dual energy scans for use with the GE CT/T 8800 scanner.