Caput medusae

Abstract: Medusa-head (EZy~2c.s caput-naedusae), an annual grass with uudesirable forage qualities, is presently estimated to occur on approximately 190,000 acres of rangeland in Idaho. This plant is a serious problem in Gem, Payette, and Washington Counties in southwestern Idaho, where it occurs in extensive stands and grows almost to the total exclusion of other species. Spot infestations have been reported in five other counties in this part of the state and in two counties in north-central Idaho. The long-awned seed is easily carried for great distances by man, machinery, and animals. Seed can be transported in the coat or fleece of animals and also in the digestive tract. Lehrer and Tisdale (1956) report that germinable seeds of medusa-head were recovered in fecal material for a period of four and nine days after ingestion by rabbits and sheep, respectively. The ease with which the seed can be transported poses a threat to many additional thousands of acres of annual type rangelands now free of medusahead. Preliminary studies on the phenology and competitive ability ‘of the plant were reported in an earlier paper by Sharp and Tisdale (1952). Since the publication of that paper, germination tests of medusa-head collected from a number of locations and under a v&iety of conditions have been conducted. It is the purpose of this paper to report the results of these tests as a basis for further studies of the plant and for the formulation nf a control program. Delscription

Abstract: Extensive abdominal wall venous collaterals, with blood flow from the umbilicus toward the thorax, were observed in a newborn infant. Liver function studies and inferior vena cavagram were normal. The umbilical vein was isolated beneath the linea alba, but a probe could not be passed across the umbilical-portal vein junction in the liver. In the embryo, this is the point of "critical anastomosis" between the umbilical vein system of the enfolding abdominal wall and the omphalomesenteric (portal) vein system of the developing liver. Analysis suggests that the abdominal wall collateral veins represent persistence of the distal umbilical vein connections to the right side of the heart as a successful adaptation by the fetus to preserve umbilical venous return from the placenta. With assumption of extra-uterine circulation, and no further need for the umbilical vein collateral flow, the veins gradually recede, as occurred in the infant reported. Unlike the caput medusae of portal hypertension, the caput medusae of the newborn appears to be of no clinical consequence. Expectant observation of the collateral veins can be advised with high confidence for their gradual disappearance.

Abstract: Two patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension had persistent bleeding from caput medusae and ascites. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) resulted in regression of the caput medusae and ascites in both cases.