Search

Fluorescence microscopy was used to examine Papanicolaou-stained smears of sputum and other secretions from the respiratory tract. Under these conditions Charcot-Leyden crystals (CLC) appear as bright yellow-green fluorescing needles. The study was performed to determine the value of this approach for the diagnosis of allergic lung diseases. The time taken to detect the crystals was recorded and the sensitivity of fluorescence microscopy for the detection of CLC was compared with light microscopy of the same samples. The data show that fluorescence microscopy is superior to light microscopy for the detection of CLC. The characteristic needle-shaped crystal can be recognized easily and fragments of crystals could be easily identified. In doubtful cases of allergic lung diseases, fluorescence microscopy may be used to supplement light microscopy for the detection of Charcot-Leyden crystals.

A method for recording the fetal electroencephalogram (EEG) during labour is described. Technical specifications for the construction of a suitable electrode are detailed. One hundred and twenty-three patients in labour were monitored using this technique and the success rate of obtaining records for analysis was 91 per cent.

We investigated the effect of head compression and acidaemia during labour in 25 African primigravidae. Evidence that head compression had occurred during labour was confirmed by both clinical and radiological means at the end of a trial of labour. No significant difference could be demonstrated in the quantity of fetal electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormality that occurred in the groups with marked head compression as compared to the groups without marked head compression. Deterioration in the fetal EEG to a flat record known as electrocerebral silence (ECS) was associated with the development of acidaemia. As fetal heart rate (FHR) decelerations appeared the percentage of ECS in the fetal EEG record increased significantly (P less than 0.05), and likewise, as fetal acidaemia developed a highly significant increase in ECS in the fetal EEG was demonstrated (P less than 0.001). We concluded that in the management of trial of labour there was no significant deleterious change in the fetal EEG as a result of head compression, unless fetal acidaemia supervened. However, in the majority of these cases a significant increase in ECS to more than 20 per cent occurred in association with only moderate acidaemia (pH 7.25 to 7.30).