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Biomedical subjects

M P Vleugels

Publications and source records attributed to M P Vleugels.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Schistosomiasis haematobium as a cause of vulvar hypertrophy.

Schistosomiasis is the most frequently imported helminthic infection in The Netherlands. Patients with Schistosoma haematobium infections usually present with fever, hematuria, dysuria, or urinary frequency. The ectopic localizations in female genital schistosomiasis are frequently misdiagnosed or confounded with sexually transmitted diseases or genital tract cancers. This paper describes a patient who presented with vulvar hypertrophy as a symptom of acute female genital schistosomiasis. The aim of this paper is to draw attention to a neglected parasitic disease that in the future will be encountered in increasing numbers in Western Europe.

Adult↗

Confusing presentation in a retroflexed septate uterus at term.

This case report presents a full-term pregnancy in a retroflexed uterus. Although the fetus presented at first as a cephalic presentation, the longitudinal lie appeared to be breech. Further diagnostic procedures revealed a uterus subseptus. No explanation could be found for this persisting retroflexion during pregnancy.

Adult↗

Cortisol and loss of malaria immunity in human pregnancy.

The concentration of both total (bound to corticoid-binding-globulin plus free) and free cortisol was determined in sera from two groups of pregnant women in Tanzania. One group consisted of 152 pregnant women (57 nulliparas and 95 multiparas) exhibiting clinical malaria during pregnancy, and the other group comprised 527 pregnant women (105 nulliparas and 422 multiparas), who did not have a record of malaria during pregnancy. The serum concentration of total cortisol was significantly higher in women with clinical malaria than in women without recorded malaria, and this is true for both nulliparae and multiparae. Free cortisol fractions did not differ significantly between these groups. Indications were obtained that higher total cortisol levels cause loss of malaria immunity rather than being concomitant with malaria infection only. The data are compatible with those of a murine malaria model.

Female↗

Cortisol levels in human pregnancy in relation to parity and age.

Data are presented of a study on the relationship between cortisol, amenorrhea, parity, and age among pregnant women. Total cortisol concentrations were measured by a radioimmunoassay in healthy pregnant women (n = 527), including 105 nulliparas and 422 multiparas. The serum concentration of total cortisol increased linearly with progression of amenorrhea. Significantly higher cortisol levels were found in nulliparas compared to multiparas and independent of amenorrhea. Since parity and age are strongly correlated, age-dependent changes may contribute to the difference in cortisol level between nulliparas and multiparas. Analysis of the age-dependent changes on this difference in cortisol level showed no significant influence.

Adolescent↗

Fansidar-resistant Plasmodium falciparum infection from Tanzania.

Since 1978 several cases of chloroquine-resistant falciparum malaria have been reported from East Africa (Petterson et al., 1981). Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (Fansidar) has been advised by W.H.O. (Wkly Epidem. Rec., 1982) for therapeutic management of these patients. We describe here a non-immune female expatriate from Tanzania suffering from falciparum malaria, which was resistant to chloroquine (R II-III). She had been working as a medical technician in the Morogoro region, a hyperendemic malarious area. After being treated with Fansidar she was transferred to the Netherlands where a recrudescence developed. She was then treated with a combination of quinine and tetracycline which resulted in the clearance of the parasitaemia. This is the third report of Fansidar-resistant falciparum malaria from Tanzania in the Netherlands (de Geus et al., 1982; Timmermans et al., 1982).

Adult↗

Cortisol and Plasmodium falciparum infection in pregnant women in Kenya.

Women living under holoendemic conditions of malaria in Kenya exhibited an increased prevalence of clinical malaria during pregnancy. In addition parasite rate and density were higher in primigravidae compared to multigravidae. Higher serum cortisol concentrations were found in women with patent malaria during pregnancy and the levels were higher before, during and after the malaria episode. A causal relation between serum cortisol levels and suppression of malaria immunity during pregnancy is discussed.

Adolescent↗