Iron Deficiency and its Relation to Folic-acid Status in Pregnancy: Results of a Clinical Trial

Abstract

BRITISHIsotope~~~b MEDICAL JOURNAL impression that multiple metastases are more readily shown by scanning than by pneumography or angiography. Single metastases are often revealed by these latter methods, but second or third ones are not often shown.While it is possible to predict the pathology of a certain number of lesions by studying the topography, this is by no means always so. Planiol (1963) uses an entirely different technique by means of which she is able to make a specific diagnosis in a much higher percentage of cases. Her method depends upon the change in count rate at fixed points on the skull at intervals of 2, 24, and 48 hours after an intravenous injection of radioiodinated human serum albumin. She has shown that meningiomas take up the isotope early and metastases late, while the astrocytomas take it up at an intermediate SummaryThe results of 100 brain scans are described. All the scans were made with 203Hg chlormerodrin using a standard technique. There was no selection of cases referred by neurologists and neurosurgeons, except that patients under the age of 18 were excluded.There were 53 positive scans, and all these patients appeared to have lesions, though not all these were confirmed histologically. There were 42 negative scans. Of these, 22 were probably truly negative. The remaining 20 were proved to be false-that is, these patients harboured tumours not demonstrated by the method. The causes of the false negatives are discussed and their reduced number in the future is foreshadowed.There were five equivocal scans. These showed some departure from the normal, but the appearances were not sufficiently clear-cut for definite diagnosis.Since a positive scan always denotes a lesion and the scanning process is painless and free from risk, it seems that, ideally, this investigation should be made before angiography and/or pneumography. But a negative scan in the face of positive clinical evidence of a mass always requires further investigation.The method is particularly valuable in the investigation of out-patients and of patients whose clinical picture hardly justifies submission to the more traumatic procedures which also carry some morbidity.Scanning has been a great help in the diagnosis of metastases, because the older-established neuroradiological procedures tend to show only the larger ones. The results in these cases suggest that secondary deposits in the brain are more often multiple than was previously suggested by classical neuroradiological investigation, although well known by pathologists.Location of brain turnours by modern scanning techniques is accurate. In some cases the contour and topography allow a precise pathological diagnosis to be made. Unfortunately this is by no means always so, but it is hoped that still greater accuracy will be achieved by refining the technique.Isotope encephalography has clearly earned its place alongside other neuroradiological contrast methods of investigation. , 1965, 1, 480-485 The application of newer methods to the detection of vitamin...

Influence of Routine Administration of Folic Acid and Iron during Pregnancy

“…Other biological deficiencies have been reported but their effects are not manifest: such is the case of folic acid deficiency [1,2], A former study on folic acid and iron status during pregnancy has. in our hands [3], confirmed the findings of other authors [4][5][6][7] with regard to folic acid defi ciency: 30% of the women at delivery had serum folic acid levels of less than 3 pg/1 and 38% had red cell folate levels of less than 150 pg/1. An observa tion of particular importance was the correlation between duration of preg nancy and maternal serum folate levels at parturition.…”

Neutrophil Hypersegmentation in Children With Iron Deficiency Anemia

“…Chanarin et al [8] reported the association of iron de® ciency with NH in 1965. Later some relevant case series were published, but in these patients IDA was usually associated with gastrointestinal diseases, such as gastritis, peptic ulcer, carcinoma, and polyp of colon, postgastrectomy [4,5].…”

Simple Test for Ingested Iron in Hospital and Domiciliary Practice

“…By counting tablets prescribed, Chanarin, Rothman, and Berry (1965) concluded that on the average two out of three tablets a day were taken. Thus the results obtained in the present survey are in agreement with previous assessments.…”