24 research outputs found
Decline of suitable habitats and conservation of the endangered lion-tailed macaque: land-cover change at a proposed protected area in Sirsi– Honnavara, Western Ghats, India
Habitat fragmentation, loss of habitat and other
anthropogenic activities have caused a population
decline in many species, caused restriction in their
distribution or even led to their local extinction. We
attempted to understand the impact of such pressures
on the newly identified and possibly the largest population
of the endangered lion-tailed macaque, Macaca
silenus in the Reserve Forests of Sirsi and Honnavara,
Karnataka, using a temporal series of satellite images.
Classified images showed a major increase in open
area with a rapid decline in vegetation cover of about
11.5% in the wet evergreen forests over the last
decade, amounting to a loss at the rate of 1.9% per
year. We thus consider habitat protection and restoration
of evergreen forest as the top priority along with
the enforcement of conservation steps, including legal
action against encroachment, extraction of timber and
further fragmentation, to protect this critically important
habitat of the lion-tailed macaque
Communicating hydrocephalus due to cerebral venous sinus thrombosis treated with ventriculoperitoneal shunt
Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVT) is a rare cerebrovascular disease with variable presentation. CVT rarely causes hydrocephalus. Communicating hydrocephalus due to CVT is extremely rare. We describe a patient of CVT presenting with chronic headache and communicating hydrocephalus. The patient was successfully treated with ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt. A 40 year old man presented with moderate to severe headache since six months and progressive visual loss since two months. Head Computed tomogram showed mild hydrocephalus without obstruction. Lumbar puncture (LP) demonstrated elevated pressure but was otherwise normal. Magnetic resonance venogram showed extensive CVT. Repeated CSF drainage and thecoperitoneal shunt did not relieve the severe headache hence a VP shunt was placed. Post shunt headache subsided with resolution of hydrocephalus. CVT can present as communicating hydrocephalus. Gradual reduction of intra-ventricular pressure by repeated LPs followed by VP shunt can safely treat hydrocephalus due to CVT
Severe neuropsychiatric presentation of Wilson's disease
Wilson's disease (WD) is a relatively rare disease of copper metabolism. The diagnosis is often missed initially. The presentation is usually neurologic or hepatic, seen in 40% of patients. Psychiatric presentation of WD is reported in only 15% of patients. We present a 32-year-old patient with severe psychiatric manifestations. On examination, he had mild rest and postural tremors and a KF ring was seen. Serum ceruloplasmin was low and 24-hour urinary copper was elevated. The patient responded to penicillamine, lorazepam and quetiapine, and is being followed up