Report of the Committee of Management and Medical Director : 1945 / Papworth Village Settlement.

  • Papworth Village Settlement (Cambridge, England)
Date:
1945
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Committee of Management and Medical Director : 1945 / Papworth Village Settlement. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    We are much indebted to the following members of our Honorary Staff and of the Addenbrooke’s Hospital Staff for their kindness in seeing our patients both at Papworth and at Cambridge when occasion arises : Dr. Campbell Canney, Mr. Ghey, Dr. F. B. Parsons, Mr. Vernon Pennell, Mr. A. S. H. Walford and Dr. C. H. Whittle. Orthopaedic Clinic R. Weeden Butler, F.R.C.S., M.Chir., Hon. Orthopaedic Surgeon. Mr. Butler has continued his monthly visits throughout the year, and we are greatly indebted to him for the care and treatment given to our orthopaedic cases. Total number of Patients seen ... 109 Total number of Attendances ... 195 Psychological Clinic H. Banister, M.Sc., Ph.D., Hon. Psychologist. Twenty-one patients, most of whom were suffering from severe psychological distur¬ bances, have recei\red treatment at the psychological clinic during the year. A number of these patients had been invalided from the services ; their war-time experiences combined with the diagnosis cf tuberculosis had produced severe strain and anxiety. The majority of the patients have responded well to treatment with consequent beneficial results in ether ways. RESEARCH DEPARTMENT E. M. Brieger, M.D. I. BACTERIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY (I) Life History. Research into the life history of various strains of mycobact. tb. av. has been continued with the view cf studying the genetical rela¬ tionship between the rpycelial actinomycetes- like structures and the bacillary rods. The observations have been made on coverslip smear cultures. The technical difficulty of promoting active growth in coverslip smears was overcome by placing a small piece of Loewenstein medium in the centre of the coverslip and by adding a drop of fluid medium —3% glycerol egg yoke water or hemolysed blood or Long’s medium. By this technique it became possible to follow up the develop¬ ment of mycelia from single elements into micro-colonies of acid-fast rods, and to study the influence of various media combfinations. Micro-cinematographic records were made by Dr. Hughs, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge. It could also be shown that most inter¬ mediate forms which exist belong to the mycelial growth phase and are non-acidfast. They are only demonstrable either by dark- ground observation, or by a combination of the Ziehl-Neelsen with the Nigrosin method. A study of these non-acidfast forms is now being made. (2) Chromatinic Structures. The study of chromatinic structures in¬ growing tubercle bacilli carried out in co¬ operation with Dr. Robinow, Strangeways Research Laboratory, was completed. Chrom¬ atinic structures were demonstrable by the H.CI/Giemsa method, similar to those des¬ cribed by Robinow in other bacteria. They underwent developmental changes which differed to some extent from those seen in ordinary bacteria. Furthermore, there was no evidence of cell-wall formations as a pre¬ liminary to bacterial cell divisions. The filaments resembled multi-nucleate units and no significant difference existed between the chromatinic changes in single filaments com¬ pared with those seen in the mycelial struc¬ tures. These observations suggest the process of reproduction in myco-bacterium Tb. av. differs from that of other bacteria, even though the morphological changes suggest a similar mode of reproduction. (3) Tissue Response. The joint research with Dr. Honor B. Fell, Director of Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge, on the tissue response and the control of infection by living tissue in tissue culture has been continued. One of the main findings was that a balanced host-parasite relationship is established, with the explant showing normal healthy growth in spite of the virulent infection, while the bacilli, which are largely ingested by macrophages, were in¬ hibited in their multiplication. In spite of the [8]