Severe Diminution Research Articles

Convulsions following abrupt withdrawal of barbiturate: Clinical and electroencephalographic studies

1. A case of a 49-year-old female who had been habituated to barbiturates for some period is presented in which convulsive seizures resulted following abrupt cessation of therapy. After gradual withdrawal of the drug, no further seizures resulted. 2. Electroencephalograms were taken at the time of hospitalization when marked abnormality was noted, and repeat-records were taken over a period of months with gradual diminution in the severity of the abnormality to a point where the record exhibited almost a normal pattern. These latter findings were associated with concomitant improvement in the clinical psychiatric picture. 3. A convulsive pattern was not clearly evidenced in the records at any time, and it is presumed, therefore, that a “constitutional convulsive tendency” did not exist in the patient and could not have been primarily responsible, therefore, for the development of the seizures.

Hypoplastic congenital anemia

Summary A case of congenital hypoplastic anemia is presented. The outstandingfeatures were a severe diminution in the erythropoietic and granulocytic bone marrow elements with a less marked decrease in thrombocytes. There were no evidences of blood regeneration or of destruction. Life was maintained only by repeated transfusions, and none of the blood-producing substances were of any value. The infant seemed able to adjust himself perfectly to low hemoglobin and red cell levels. In spite of rather low platelet counts there was no hemorrhagic tendency. At the age of 21 months the count suddenly began to rise and at this writing is practically normal. No etiologic factor was discovered. An interesting sidelight is the remarkable resistance to infection and recuperative power of this infant, even during periods of profound anemia.

The effect of jaundice on intradermally injected salt solution

Abstract The intracutaneous salt solution test was studied in fifteen cases of jaundice (hepatic). In fourteen of the fifteen cases there was a definite relationship between the severity of the jaundice and the disappearance time of the saline wheal. With increasing jaundice the disappearance time of the saline wheal decreased; with diminution in the severity of the jaundice the disappearance time of wheal became prolonged and approached or reached the normal.