PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

M Natarajan

Publications and source records attributed to M Natarajan.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

Histological changes with combined chemotherapy and immunotherapy in highly bacillated lepromatous leprosy.

Highly bacillated untreated lepromatous cases with an initial BI 4+ of to 6+ were treated with combined multidrug treatment (MDT) and immunotherapy with heat killed Mycobacterium w or BCG. The vaccines were administered intradermally every six months. It was observed that majority of cases on immunotherapy showed increased lymphocytic infiltration (both at local and distant sites) and some cases showed epithelioid cells as well. The lymphocytic infiltration was (slightly) more vigorous in those vaccinated with Mycobacterium w. Such changes were not seen in the patients on MDT alone. Also, the granuloma fraction reduced much faster in cases who were on additional immunotherapy as compared to those on MDT alone. These changes along with evidence of clinical and bacteriological improvements suggest that immunotherapy may have an important supportive role specially in the therapy of anergic lepromatous cases.

Antitubercular Agents

Immune response to purified chick embryo cell culture rabies vaccine manufactured in India.

The immunogenic efficacy of the first batch of indigenous purified chick embryo cell culture grown (PCEC) rabies virus vaccine has been measured in ten subjects. All of them were immunologically naive to rabies virus, and were given 5 doses of the vaccine in the post-exposure regime of injections on days 0, 3, 7, 14 and 30. On day 7, four subjects had developed very low levels of rabies virus neutralizing antibody, as detected and measured in the suckling mouse neutralization test. On day 14, all subjects had protective levels of antibody, which were maintained or enhanced by day 30. With the limited data presented here, the immunogenic efficacy of this batch of vaccine appeared similar to that of a batch of imported PCEC vaccine investigated earlier.

Animals

Ulcerative systematized porokeratosis (Mibelli).

An unusual clinical variant of porokeratosis (Mibelli's disease) appeared in a patient soon after birth; the lesions were widely distributed mostly on the right half of the body. Spontaneous recurrent ulcerations occurred over certain sites. The right foot was grossly deformed as a result of atrophic scarring after ulcerations. Biopsy specimens of the classical lesion showed cornoid lamella. It is suggested that the term "ulcerative systematized porokeratosis" be used to describe this clinical variant of porokeratosis.

Cicatrix

Maduromycosis of the brain. Case report.

A rare case of a gas-containing brain abscess due to verified maduromycosis is described. Blackish material over the abscess cavity revealed the fungal elements. The pus from the abscess contained Streptococcus hemolyticus and Klebsiella organisms.

Adult

A giant schwannoma of cauda equina.

A case of giant schwannoma occurring in a woman 23 years of age with deformity of the foot developing at the age of five years is reported. The gross radiological changes of increased interpedicular distance and erosion of the posterior surface of the vertebra suggested the massive size of the tumour (6'' x 21/2'' x 11/2''). Successful surgical excision of such a large size schwannoma has not been reported previously.

Adult

Lumbar stenosis.

We have analyzed the clinical features, radiologic, myelographic and operative findings in 11 cases of lumbar stenosis. Adequate decompressive laminectomy is necessary in these cases to relieve the symptoms.

Adult

Treatment of paucibacillary leprosy with a regimen containing rifampicin, dapsone and prothionamide.

Ninety paucibacillary leprosy patients having indeterminate (I), tuberculoid (TT) and borderline tuberculoid (BT) type of leprosy with bacterial index (BI) of less than two on the Ridley scale were treated with rifampicin (RFM) 600 mg once a month, dapsone (DDS) 100 mg daily and prothionamide (PTH) 250 mg daily. Treatment was stopped at the end of six months. The patients tolerated the drugs fairly well and in only two patients the drugs had to be stopped (in one due to jaundice and in the other due to gastric intolerance). About 6% of patients had early reactions which subsided with additional steroid therapy. The inactivity rate was 60% at six months and this improved to 96% at 12 months. No cases of late reactions and relapses were encountered in the limited follow-up period of six months; and a longer follow-up is necessary for ascertaining the relapse rates. The preliminary results however suggest that the addition of prothionamide to the standard WHO paucibacillary regimen is well-tolerated with increased inactivity rate and fewer instances of late reactions.

Adolescent

An analysis of lumbar intervertebral disc prolapse.

Clinical findings and operative results of 212 operated cases of disc protrusion are analyzed in this paper. The maximum age incidence is between 21 and 40 years. In our series disc prolapse was most common between the L4-L5 disc space, mostly on the left side, whereas the L5-S1 is more common in white people. Anthropologic differences may account for the discrepancy. A careful search should be made for disc protrusion by flexing the spine and also exploring the intervertebral foramen during surgery.

Adolescent