Structural chromosomal aberrations, in the form of breaks, were found in a significantly higher proportion of bone marrow cells in patients with infective hepatitis than in controls. These anomalies were observed during the first and third weeks after the onset of jaundice but had subsided by the sixth week. Chromosomal aberrations did not appear to be related to the severity of infective hepatitis or to the sex or age of the patients.The distribution of chromosomal abnormalities did not appear to be random; they were observed predominantly in the A(2) and B(4-5) series. Since no abnormalities were detected in the G-group chromosomes, no evidence in support of a relationship between infective hepatitis and Down's syndrome was obtained. Numerical chromosomal aberrations were not observed, nor was any evidence obtained that mitotic activity of bone marrow cells is suppressed in patients with infective hepatitis.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Epidemiology of acute leukemia of childhood in Greece (author's transl)].

A retrospective study of 151 aged less than 15 years children suffering from acute leukaemia is reported, the parameters studied were male: female ratio, type of leukemia, age and seasonal distribution of the illness. The disease started in spring in 53 children (35,1%), in summer in 34 (22,6%), in autumn in 36 (23,8%) and in winter in 28 (18,5%). The difference between spring and winter was statistically highly significant (X2 = 10,54, P less than 0,005). Sixty two children (41%) were 3-5 years old. The male female ratio was 1.75. The disease was of the acute lymphoblastic type in 88,1% of the cases.

Adolescent↗