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O Neves

Publications and source records attributed to O Neves.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Endothelial cell activation in muscle biopsy samples is related to clinical severity in human cerebral malaria.

To test the hypothesis of vascular sequestration of parasitized erythrocytes in Plasmodium falciparum malaria in vivo, a pathologic and immunohistochemical study was done of the microvasculature of skeletal muscle biopsy samples from P. falciparum malaria patients at different stages of severity. Parasitized red blood cells sequestered in the skeletal muscle vessels were observed in samples from necropsies but were never demonstrated in biopsy specimens. Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and E-selectin expression was consistent only in specimens from cerebral malaria patients. Samples from such patients had strong staining of the constitutive endothelial adhesion molecules tested. The staining intensity gradually decreased in samples from persons with milder forms of the disease. Four of 13 patients with severe malaria had aggregates of red blood cells, occasionally parasitized inside the muscle fibers. These data suggest that skeletal muscle biopsy could be a useful model for the study of the pathogenesis of malaria in vivo.

Adolescent↗

[The Ellis-Van Creveld syndrome. Apropos 2 clinical cases].

The chondroectodermal dysplasia--Ellis-Van Creveld Syndrome--is an unusual form of congenital disease, genetically transmitted with a recessive autosomal pattern, which involves the skeletal system, nails and teeth. In about 50 to 60 percent of cases, the affected individuals show cardiac abnormalities, and the most common are single atrium, large atrial septal defect, ostium primum type. Other abnormalities may accompany these lesions, such as aortic atresia, hypoplasia of the ascending aorta or of the left ventricle. About half of the patients die in the childhood due to cardiorespiratory complications. Two cases are described with this syndrome, a male and a female, with 54 and 45 years old respectively; they were followed in our Departments and showed congestive heart failure and single atrium. These cases led us to review the subject; we believe that the unusual longevity of these patients can be related to their relatively benign cardiac disease.

Ellis-Van Creveld Syndrome↗

Cavernous sinus thrombophlebitis in Zimbabwe.

Cavernous sinus thrombophlebitis (CST) was diagnosed in 19 black African patients who presented to two large, general hospitals in Harare, Zimbabwe, over an eight-year period. Diagnosis was based on clinical criteria. The mean age of patients was 22.5 years (range 8 months-70 years). Only three patients (15.5 pc), all of whom were promptly diagnosed and commenced on a regimen including intravenous, high-dose cloxacillin, recovered completely. In ten cases (52.6 pc), initial treatment was penicillin and chloramphenicol. Four of the 19 patients who had serious sequelae including residual blindness, complete ophthalmoplegia or unilateral proptosis, and six patients (31.6 pc) died. The higher than usual mortality rate in this series can be attributed to various factors including late presentation, delay in diagnosis and delay before initiation of effective antibiotic treatment. Whenever CST is suspected, antibiotic treatment should be administered without delay pending further evaluation, and the initial regimen should include high-dose antistaphylococcal antibiotics.

Adolescent↗