Southern medical journal
-
We have reported a case of severe frostbite due to direct exposure to liquid Freon gas (monochlorodifluoromethane), a fluorinated hydrocarbon widely used as refrigerants, propellants, and industrial solvents. The patient was treated for severe third- and fourth-degree frostbite to the hand. The severity of the injury was apparently the result of direct through-and-through injury from exposure to the liquid (boiling point -40.5 degrees C) and a possible systemic vasoconstrictive effect on arterial smooth muscle due to inhalation of Freon gas.
-
Southern medical journal · Sep 1991
Case ReportsAortoiliac dissection after percutaneous insertion of an intra-aortic balloon pump.
Aortic or aortoiliac dissection may complicate percutaneous intra-aortic balloon pump insertion in various ways. Thrombosis can escape clinical recognition if no major obstruction develops. Death due to perforation after dissection is not uncommon. In this case study, aortoiliac dissection led to bilateral iliac artery stenosis, an unusual complication of percutaneous femoral cannulation for insertion of a balloon pump.
-
Southern medical journal · Sep 1991
HIV-related characteristics of migrant workers in rural South Carolina.
After finding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in a migrant worker named as a syphilis contact, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control offered HIV counseling and testing and syphilis screening to migrant workers in the surrounding two-county area. In addition, a brief questionnaire was administered to document demographics and risk behavior. Of the 265 workers aged 16 and older in 15 migrant camps, 198 (75%) consented to the survey and testing. ⋯ Twenty-five (13%) were HIV antibody positive, and 32 (16%) had reactive serologic tests for syphilis. Of the 166 workers who reported the frequency of condom use, 77 (46%) indicated they never use condoms. We conclude that there is a relatively high rate of HIV infection in these rural South Carolina migrant workers, whose behavior puts them at risk for HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases.