Medicinal leeches: Stuck on you

Medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) attacking and killing adult amphibians

Aeromonas hydrophila infection associated with the use of medicinal leeches.

The use of medicinal leeches (Hiruda medicinalis) is becoming more common after plastic surgery to control venous congestion of skin grafts. We describe a patient with Aeromonas hydrophila infection whose graft was treated with medicinal leeches. The infection required systemic antibiotic therapy. A. hydrophila is the predominant bacterial flora in the gut of the leech, where it plays an essent...

Diffuse cutaneous pseudolymphoma due to therapy with medicinal leeches.

Report of aCase |Awomanonher50spresentedwitha6-month historyofmultiple, firm, reddish, pruritic andexcoriatedpapulesandnodulesextensivelydistributedontheback (Figure 1). The patient was otherwise healthy, with a medical history of only fibromyalgia, andbothclinical examinationandbloodtest findings were unremarkable. Histologic examination of 2 punch biopsy specimens taken from the nodules on th...

Neural circuits controlling behavior and autonomic functions in medicinal leeches

In the study of the neural circuits underlying behavior and autonomic functions, the stereotyped and accessible nervous system of medicinal leeches, Hirudo sp., has been particularly informative. These leeches express well-defined behaviors and autonomic movements which are amenable to investigation at the circuit and neuronal levels. In this review, we discuss some of the best understood of th...

On exploration of geometrically constrained space by medicinal leeches Hirudo verbana

Leeches are fascinating creatures: they have simple modular nervous circuitry yet exhibit a rich spectrum of behavioural modes. Leeches could be ideal blue-prints for designing flexible soft robots which are modular, multi-functional, fault-tolerant, easy to control, capable for navigating using optical, mechanical and chemical sensorial inputs, have autonomous inter-segmental coordination and ...