https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/38188 2026-04-30T09:54:08Z 2026-04-30T09:54:08Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20088 2017-06-25T01:23:34Z 1984-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Diabetic ketoacidosis Abstract: The diabetic-related comas listed in order of their probable frequency are; 1) Hypoglycaemic coma. 2) Diabetic Ketoacidosis 3) Hyperglycaemic Hyperosmolar 110n- ketotic coma. 4) Lactic acidosis. Whilst in general, diabetic ketoacidosis occurs in patients with the insulin-dependent form of the disease, and the syndrome of hyperosmolar non- ketotic coma is commoner in the elderly diabetic, it is not uncommon to meet a combination of these disorders in a variable degree of severity in the same patient. This discussion, taken from studies and accounts by leading investigators including Foster and McGarry in the U.S.A. and 'Alberti, Johnston and Owens in England (see chart) wll concentrate on diabetic ketoacidosis. Although as stated above a combination of diabetic comas can occur, in general, Insulin . Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (LD.D.M) patients ordinarily do not progress to marked hyperosmolar coma, but hyperosmolar non-ketotic coma can develop in a patient with a Type I diabetes.

1984-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20087 2017-06-25T01:23:19Z 1984-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The first open heart surgery in Malta Abstract: Although in 1947 Professor P.P. Debono courageously closed a patent ductus arteriosus in a young patient, with quite good results, the operation itself was really an extended thoracotomy. The first ever open heart surgery to be performed in Malta, on the 8th November 1983, is the one about to be described: Throughout the time the heart was stopped; for over an hour, its work was taken over by a heart lung machine operated by local and foreign technicians, the latter having come over with the surgeon Mr. A Yates of Guy's Hospital, London, U.K. Besides the aortic valve replacement, the surgeon performed another cardiac operation, a mitral valvotomy on a young woman.

1984-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20085 2017-06-25T01:23:32Z 1984-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Alcoholism and related problems Abstract: Alcoholism is a condition in which the individual has lost control over his drinking or is unable to abstain. Problem drinking is a term used to describe abnormal drinking which has not yet progressed to the stage of dependence. It is important from the clinical point of view because heavy bouts of drinking on weekends may be dangerous to the family, to the self and to others like driving, work etc. The Characteristics of Alcoholism are (Jellinek 1946) as follows: Pre-Alcoholic Phase: when alcohol is more taken as a relief and this becomes more regular while tolerance is increased; Prodromal Phase: marked by blackouts in which the drinker, after a moderate amount of alcohol by his own standards, may show no signs of intoxication and be able to carry out acts requiring a high degree of coordination of which he subsequently has no recollection - an important warning. At this point the patient has more blackouts alternating between a superficial attitude to his problem and short periods of insight and guilt. The Crucial Phase is ushered in by a loss of control in which the ingestion of even a very small quantity of alcohol sets up a compulsive demand for more which ceases only when his stomach or nervous system calls a halt. The Chronic Phase is marked by prolonged periods of intoxication with absence from work, serious deterioration in ethical attitudes, covered by a variety of shallow realisations of his drinking behaviour; difficulty in obtaining the usual spirits may now lead to drinking of cheap spirits like methylated spirit.

1984-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/20084 2017-06-25T01:23:21Z 1984-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Intraventricular and periventricular haemorrhage in the newborn : a frequent early complication in the low birth weight infant Abstract: Intraventricular Haemorrhage (IVH) is the most important single event in the early neonatal period which imparts such a catastrophic effect on the prognosis of the ill preterm, both as regards mortality as well as morbidity. A number of aetiological factors . are concerned in the causation of this complication; a few, at least, are preventable to a certain extent. ,Various workers in the field have over the past few years thrown new light on the pathogenesis and diagnosis of this problem, to a degree which begs a : eappraisal of the concept.

1984-01-01T00:00:00Z