AIMS To evaluate the role of bilharzial hepatic fibrosis--whether pure or combined with chronic hepatitis B virus infection--on the functional activity of vitamin K dependent coagulation proteins. METHODS Coagulation screening using prothrombin time (PT), partial thromboplastin time (PTT), and thrombin time (TT) was carried out on 31 patients with endemic Egyptian hepatosplenomegaly and on 14...

The size of the liver and spleen of 32 patients was assessed by four clinicians from a clinical examination and by four radiologists from a plain radiograph of the abdomen. The latter assessment was found to be subject to less variation than the former, particularly in regard to the liver. Large livers and spleens were more easily seen radiologically than small ones. Most of the variation among...

In this paper we present a study of members of 265 nuclear families, aged six or more. This study is based of family heredograms, and takes into account the clinical form of schistosomiasis observed before treatment with oxamniquine. The probability of occurrence of two or more cases of hepatosplenomegaly is low, notwithstanding the fact that it was observed in 38 families. Even less frequent i...

In many parts of the tropics the mean haemoglobin values of rural populations are very much lower than the values accepted as normal elsewhere. For example, among Bougainville Islanders Cotter et al. (1958) found means of 13.09 and 11.97 g./100 ml. for adult males and females respectively. They suggested controlled experiments were needed to assess the relative importance of each individual fac...

This study was conducted to determine the malariometric indices of children in three different settings in Ibadan, Nigeria. Children were recruited from an urban slum (Oloomi) and a periurban (Sasa) and a rural community (Igbanda) in Ibadan. Children aged between 2 and 10 years were randomly selected from primary schools in the urban and periurban areas. In the rural community, children were re...

In sub-Saharan Africa, chronic hepatosplenomegaly, with palpable firm/hard organ consistency, is common, particularly among school-aged children. This morbidity can be caused by long-term exposure to malaria, or by Schistosoma mansoni, and it is exacerbated when these two occur together. Although immunological mechanisms probably underlie the pathogenic process, these mechanisms have not been i...