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Biomedical subjects

T V Rao

Publications and source records attributed to T V Rao.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Continuous intravenous regional anesthesia.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of continuous intravenous regional anesthesia for prolonged operations on the upper extremity. The factors evaluated include patient's sex and age, number of procedures performed, tourniquet on and off times, anesthetic doses, adjunctive drugs used, technical complications, and side effects. Seventy-two procedures were done on 34 patients. The first tourniquet time averaged 58 minutes. Off time averaged 10 minutes. Second tourniquet time averaged 33 minutes, and the mean total tourniquet time was 91 minutes. The mean first anesthetic dose was 275 mg. Mean second anesthetic dose was 128 mg. Mean total anesthetic dose was 402 mg. There were two (6%) technical complications and two (6%) patients had side effects. Continuous intravenous regional anesthesia offers the prolonged anesthesia of brachial plexus block or general anesthesia and the safety, reliability, and ease of intravenous regional anesthesia. Continuous intravenous regional anesthesia should be considered an alternative choice of anesthetic method in upper extremity surgery.

Adult

Age independent anthropometric index for identifying undernourished children in the age group 5-10 years.

An age-independent anthropometric index to identify undernourished children in the age group of 5-10 years is described. Employing a mathematical approach (linear regression analysis) on data from 238 children, the index was derived to be wt/(ht)2. Employing this index, a classification rule for identifying the undernourished was evolved, using as the 'Gold standard' a WHO classification based on NCHS standards. The sensitivity of the classification rule was 95%, the specificity was 92% and the overall efficiency was 92%.

Anthropometry

Progressive supranuclear palsy. Report of 14 cases with special reference to unusual features.

The clinical features and course of 14 patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) were analysed. PSP formed 2.3 percent of the parkinsonian population. Blepharospasm, hypersomnia, athetosis, action dystonia, action myoclonus and family history of dementia were the unusual features. Half of the patients had dementia at presentation. Drug therapy was uniformly disappointing. The mean duration from onset to death in 4 patients who died was 4.5 years. The histopathological features in a patient with the disease for one year and who died of acute myocardial infarction showed moderately severe changes characteristic of the disease.

Brain

A modified technique to process peripheral nerves for light microscopy.

A new technique is described to fix, paraffin embed and cut routine peripheral nerve biopsies for light microscopy. Buffered glutaraldehyde pH 7.4 is used as a common fixative for both light and electron microscopy. The nerve bits for LM are embedded in paraffin using the 'reverse embedding' method and blocks are trimmed to cut sections on the ultra microtome using glass knives. The uniformly thin sections can be utilised for any special stain and the good resolution of these thin sections facilitates better observation and documentation.

Biopsy

Intramedullary cysticercosis.

We are reporting two cases of intramedullary cysticercus cysts. Both patients presented with a clinical picture of progressive cord compression. One of them also had bilateral radicular pain. In the female patient the symptoms became exaggerated during her two consecutive pregnancies which is a rare and interesting observation. Excision of cyst resulted in significant improvement in both the patients.

Adult

Switching of Candida albicans during successive episodes of recurrent vaginitis.

Strain relatedness and switching were monitored in Candida albicans strains isolated from different body locations through three episodes of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis separated by two treatment-latency periods in a single patient. Strain relatedness was assessed by comparing Southern blot hybridization patterns with the relatively immobile mid-repeat sequence Ca3. The following conclusions are demonstrated. (i) Three different strains of C. albicans colonized the mouth, the area under the breasts, and the vulvovaginal, anal, and rectal regions, respectively, at the time of the first infection. (ii) The same strain of C. albicans was responsible for the three vaginal infections. (iii) Switching of colony phenotype occurred with each new vaginal infection. (iv) Enrichment of drug-resistant switch phenotypes (assessed in vitro) was unlikely the basis for the changes in the switch phenotypes of the strain found in the vulvovaginal, anal, and rectal areas after treatment of the first infection with clotrimazole. (v) The same strain of C. albicans was responsible for the recurrent increases in mouth colonization and was distinct from the recurrent vaginal strain. The results of this case study demonstrate the need for further detailed analyses of full-body mycofloras, strain relatedness, switching repertoires, and changes in drug susceptibility during successive episodes of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis.

Antifungal Agents

Paraganglioma of the orbit with extension to the middle cranial fossa: case report.

Intraorbital paragangliomas are rare. A case of intraorbital paraganglioma with extension to the middle cranial fossa is reported. Progressive throbbing, hemicranial headaches, unilateral proptosis, and visual failure are the presenting symptoms. The computed tomographic and operative findings suggested a meningioma. Surgical removal of the tumor resulted in total relief of symptoms and recovery of vision. The pathogenesis and pathological findings are discussed.

Adult

Role of squash-smear technique for rapid diagnosis of neurosurgical biopsies--a cytomorphological evaluation.

The biopsy material obtained from lesions of CNS are subjected to squash smear technique for rapid diagnosis as it is easier to make and the cytological features of cells are well preserved. During the year 1982-1983 one hundred and seventy eight squash smears were made to offer rapid diagnosis to the operating surgeon. The diagnosis was verified on paraffin sections. Correct diagnosis was made in 87% of cases. Various lesions have distinct cytomorphological features on smears. These distinct characters and efficacy of the method are discussed.

Biopsy

Multiple Candida strains in the course of a single systemic infection.

Species and strain variabilities have been monitored during the history of a prolonged Candida infection in a single compromised bone marrow transplant patient by analyzing sugar assimilation patterns, high-frequency switching repertoires, and Southern blot hybridization patterns with two cloned mid-repeat sequences (Ca3 and Ca7) which are species specific for Candida albicans and one cloned mid-repeat sequence (Ct13-8) which is species specific for Candida tropicalis. Evidence is presented that during the course of this infection (i) two strains of C. albicans and three strains of C. tropicalis were distinguished by their switching repertoires, Southern blot hybridization patterns, and sugar assimilation patterns; (ii) the three C. tropicalis strains were in a high-frequency mode of switching; (iii) two C. tropicalis strains coexisted in the blood and three C. tropicalis strains coexisted in the throat at different times during the history of the infection; (iv) amphotericin B treatment selectively removed one of two C. tropicalis strains coexisting in the blood and this strain exhibited greater susceptibility to amphotericin B in vitro (the remaining strain was subsequently removed from the blood by flucytosine treatment); and (v) both the strain removed from the blood by amphotericin B and the strain removed from the blood by flucytosine reappeared several days later at another site of infection. It is demonstrated for the first time that C. tropicalis is capable of high-frequency switching of colony morphology just as C. albicans is, that there is more than one strain-specific switching repertoire in C. tropicalis, and that a C. tropicalis mid-repeat sequence can be used for discriminating species and assessing strain relatedness, as previously demonstrated for C. albicans mid-repeat sequences.

Adult

Acuity of selective mechanisms operating on ABO, Rh, and MN blood groups.

Selection in ABO, Rh, and MN blood groups was studied in 216 matings and their children in an endogamous population. Incompatibility status with respect to these three systems was considered simultaneously. There is no effect of incompatibility on number of pregnancies. Analysis of variance between groups confirms that prenatal loss is associated with incompatibility, and it is greater when the matings are incompatible for any two systems. There is no significant intergenerational change in ABO and Rh polymorphisms. Segregation analysis for the ABO system suggests that there is no significant difference in the proportion of A, B, and O children, based on the compatibility of the parents, while analysis for Rh-D system showed a segregation distortion which is not related to the known antigenic specificities (mother-child incompatibility).

ABO Blood-Group System

Hemiatrophy and glioblastoma.

There are very few recorded instances of brain tumors with ipsilateral secondary brain atrophy. All 10 cases in the literature are from Japan. We report a case of primary cerebral hemiatrophy with ipsilateral glioblastoma. As far as we are aware, no such case has been described in the literature.

Adult

Birth weight and survival in relation to natural selection.

Birth weight and perinatal mortality of 11,241 single born infants in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh, South India) are studied by fitting multiple regression techniques, with the natural log of the ratio of survivors to non-survivors. The optimal birth weight values are almost 475 g above the corresponding means. Selection intensity and selective mortality are relatively high.

Birth Weight

Proportion of low birth weight infants in Visakhapatnam (India) and its relationship with maternal age, parity and infants survival.

The percentage of low birth weight infants (LBWI) weighing less than 2270 g in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) is relatively higher (12.8%) than in other parts of India. The frequency of LBWI is high at birth order 1 and 2. Thereafter the curve does not show any consistency although the mean per cent of LBWI is lesser than in birth order 1 and 2. The minimum frequency is at birth order 3. The maternal classes less than or equal to 20-29 years show a gradual decrease in the frequency of LBWI with increasing age. For mothers of greater than or equal to 30-39 years of age a general U-shaped relation is found. The overall distribution of neonatal deaths is bimodal, with a peak at less than 1350 g and at 1810 g.

Adult