Leech infestation can cause many different clinical symptoms such as epistaxis, haemoptysis, haematemesis, and vaginal bleeding. Therefore leech infestation should be considered as a cause of unexplained severe anemia in rural areas where aquatic leeches are common. In this paper we report a case of pharyngeal leech infestation (Limnatis nilotica) presenting with haemoptysis, and epistaxis whic...

a 65–yrs-old man referred for an ocular discomfort and red eye. the clinical diagnosis was leech in the left eye and its species confirmed as being limnatis nilotica . ocular leech infestation should be considered in patients with a history of swimming or washing their face in streams and lakes. attention should also be given to ocular leech infestation in the differential diagnosis of ocular t...

The monoclonal antibody Lan3-15 identifies a novel protein, Hillarin, that is localized to the axon hillock of leech neurons. Using this antibody we have identified a full length cDNA coding for leech Hillarin and determined its sequence. The gene encodes a 1274 residue protein with a predicted molecular mass of 144 013 Da. Data base searches revealed that leech Hillarin has potential orthologu...

To date, parasitic leech species have not been intensively studied in Turkey, and studies on the leeches of Turkey have concentrated primarily on lakes. According to literature data, a total of 13 parasitic leech species (3 species from marine fi sh, 8 species from freshwater fi sh, 1 species from brackish water fi sh, and 1 species from aquarium fi sh) have been recorded in diff erent parts of...

Stimuli in the environment, as well as internal states, influence behavioral choice. Of course, animals are often exposed to multiple external and internal factors simultaneously, which makes the ultimate determinants of behavior quite complex. We observed the behavioral responses of European leeches, Hirudo verbana, as we varied one external factor (surrounding water depth) with either another...

The medicinal leech (genus Hirudo) is a classic model animal in systems neuroscience. The leech has been central to many integrative studies that establish how properties of neurons and their interconnections give rise to the functioning of the animal at the behavioral level. Leeches exhibit several discrete behaviors (such as crawling, swimming and feeding) that are each relatively simple. Imp...

This is a case report about a rare oropharyngeal foreign body causing oropharyngeal symptoms such as sore throat, dysphagia and hemoptysis. We reported a 7 year-old boy who had ingested a leech from a bottle which had been filled with water and it had attached to the palate within 4 days. The leech was identified as approximately 3 cm in length. Leech was removed under premedication by using mo...

Hirudotherapy (HT) is the application of medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) for therapeutic use. It is one of the oldest remedies, being employed by various medicinal practitioners. HT involves the attachment of cultured leeches onto the affected areas. Leech therapy involves an initial bite, which is usually a painless bite, followed by the sucking of 5 and 15 ml of blood. Its major therap...

a note entitled 'A Leech in the Nasal Cavity and Its Removalwhich prompts me to draw attention to ? method of dealing with the situation which may not be generally known, but upon which I stumbled by accident in Bakloh some years ago. An Officer of the local regiment brought to me his spaniel which had been afflicted for some days with a leech in the nose. "e tried the water treatment, but the ...

OBJECTIVES To compare three radiological scores in the study of fecal impaction in children with constipation. To investigate whether these radiological scores are useful in the assessment of fecal disimpaction therapy and if they present a relation with total colonic transit time. METHODS The Barr, Blethyn and Leech scores were measured by three observers, independently, in 123 abdominal rad...