PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R C Mitra

Publications and source records attributed to R C Mitra.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Electrocardiographic changes in tetanus: a serial study.

Serial electrocardiograms (ECGs) were recorded in 20 consecutive male patients admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Calcutta with generalised tetanus. Age of patients varied from 5 to 40 years (mean age 20.4 years). Ten patients died. ECGs were recorded daily for the first week after admission and later every 2nd or 3rd day. Altogether, 167 ECGs were analysed. Sinus tachycardia was present in 17 (85%) patients, prolonged QT interval in 12 (60%) patients, non-specific ST-T abnormalities in 12 (60%) patients and P wave changes in 10 (50%) patients. Other abnormalities recorded, included short PR interval, supraventricular tachycardia, intraventricular conduction delay, sinus bradycardia, 1 degree A-V block, abnormal axis deviation, right ventricular hypertrophy and sino-atrial Wenckebach phenomenon, although all of the findings cannot clearly be attributed to tetanus. Spatial QRS-T angle was calculated in 18 of these patients to determine any possible change in this parameter of prognostic significance. Two out of 9 who survived had abnormally wide (greater than or equal to 55 degrees) spatial QRS-T angle on admission; the angle narrowed with recovery. In the non-survivor group, 4 patients had abnormally wide QRS-T angles on admission; further widening was noted in patients on whom follow-up tracings were available. The difference in spatial QRS-T angle between the survivor and the non-survivor groups was statistically significant (p less than 0.05). Spatial QRS-T angle changes have not been reported in tetanus before. Although non-specific, serial study in individual cases would be useful in assessing prognosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1972

Gastric acidity in cholera and noncholera diarrhoea.

Gastric acid production, unstimulated and following stimulation with betazole hydrochloride, was measured in Indian men with cholera or acute vibrio-negative diarrhoea-Measurements were made during acute illness and after different periods of convalescence. Men from the same socioeconomic group and from a higher one served as controls. Stimulated acid production was severely reduced during diarrhoea caused by V. cholerae and related vibrios but not during acute vibrio-negative diarrhoea. Acid production returned to stable convalescent values 1-3 days after cessation of diarrhoea. Stimulated acid production was significantly lower in controls from the lower socioeconomic group than in those from the higher socioeconomic group. Achlorhydria that did not respond to betazole administration occurred in 32% of the convalescent cholera patients but in none of the controls or convalescent vibrio-negative diarrhoea patients. It is concluded from these results that diarrhoea produced by V. cholerae and related vibrios is accompanied by transient inhibition of gastric acid secretion, that cholera occurs largely in a population with impaired acid secretion, and that preexisting achlorhydria may predispose to infection with V. cholerae.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1970

Intestinal fluid and electrolyte transport in human cholera.

The site, nature, magnitude, and duration of fluid and electrolyte loss into the small intestine during the acute and recovery phase of human cholera was defined in 27 Indian patients. 11 subjects without cholera served as controls. The marker perfusion technique employed was shown, in preliminary experiments, to measure accurately jejunal and ileal fluid and electrolyte transmucosal transport rates under conditions of cholera diarrhea. Fluid loss into the lumen occurred from jejunal and ileal mucosa. The fluid was isotonic in both regions. Bicarbonate concentration was significantly higher in ileal than jejunal fluid during all phases of the disease. Bicarbonate concentration in both regions was significantly higher in acute cholera than during convalescence. Fluid loss into the intestinal lumen ranged from 0.07 to 10.9 ml/hr per cm. Losses were significantly greater from jejunum than ileum. Net ileal absorption was recorded in five of 10 acute cholera studies. During the acute phase of the disease, net jejunal fluid transport showed a positive correlation with fasting intestinal flow rate and stool output. Stool output was also positively correlated with jejunal fasting intestinal flow rates. Recovery of normal fluid and electrolyte absorptive function was usually complete in both jejunum and ileum by the sixth day after admission. These findings in human cholera validate the animal models of choleraic diarrhea and suggest that similar measurements of small intestinal secretory function in other nonspecific diarrheal diseases using the marker perfusion technique may be rewarding.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1968

Controlled comparison of tetracycline and furazolidone in cholera.

A controlled comparison of furazolidone and tetracycline in the treatment of cholera indicates that, in either dosage used, furazolidone reduced total stool volume by 50% and duration of diarrhoea by 40%. These results are comparable to those achieved with tetracycline, which was given in presently recommended dosage. Both furazolidone and tetracycline significantly reduced the rate of stool output within 18 to 24 hours of starting antibiotic treatment. Furazolidone was significantly less effective than tetracycline in rapidly and consistently terminating vibrio excretion. One convalescent carrier of cholera vibrios was identified among control patients; none was identified among patients treated with either tetracycline or furazolidone. All Vibrio cholerae strains tested were sensitive to tetracycline and furazolidone, but larger concentrations of the latter were required to achieve inhibition of growth. It is concluded that tetracycline remains the antibiotic of choice in cholera but that furazolidone would be a useful adjunct to cholera therapy when tetracycline is unobtainable or if strains of V. cholerae with clinically significant resistance to tetracycline should be encountered.

Adult↗