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Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 255

Just when you thought your brain could unwind on a Friday, you realise that it would rather be challenged with some good old fashioned medical trivia FFFF…introducing Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five255


Question 1

What is the Seidel Test?

Reveal the funtabulous answer

Test to detect ocular leaks from the corneal, sclera or conjunctiva following surgery or trauma.

Installation of 10% fluorescein topically will fluoresce only when diluted further by a leak, hence the downward bright green under a cobalt light in a penetrating trauma. 

Named after the German ophthalmologist Erich Seidel (1882-1948)

Seidel Test positive

A flourescein stained eye, showing the three classic signs of a full thickness laceration of the cornea, dilution of the dye at the site if injury, concentration of dye to the sides and top of the injury, and cascading of the down downwards with gravity.



Question 2

What is a fracture blister?

Reveal the funtabulous answer

A relatively uncommon complication of fractures in locations of the body, such as the ankle, wrist elbow and foot, where skin adheres tightly to bone with little subcutaneous fat cushioning.

Fracture blisters are thought to result from large strains applied to the skin during the initial fracture deformation causing a cleavage injury at the dermo-epidermal junction.

Localized tissue hypoxia and cleavage injury are the main pathological mechanisms, thus the injury resembles the changes consistent with a second-degree burn rather than a friction blister.

Blisters are likely best left intact to preserve the sterile environment. Ideally treatment should occur before the blister forms and the current consensus is to wait for any blister formation to resolve before surgery is attempted.

Fracture Blisters Uebbing et al 2011


Question 3

“Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress. When I get fed up with one, I spend the night with the other. Though it is irregular, it is less boring this way, and besides, neither of them loses anything through my infidelity.

 Who wrote this?

Reveal the funtabulous answer

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)

One of Russia’s most famous writers and often argued as one of the greatest short story writers, Anton Chekhov began his medical studies at the Moscow University Medical School in 1879. As a student, he wrote hundreds of short stories to support himself and his family.

Chekhov died at the age of 44 after a long affliction with tuberculosis. 


Schwartz RS. “Medicine Is My Lawful Wife” – Anton Chekhov, 1860-1904. N Engl J Med 2004; 351:213-214


Question 4

A 5 year old Italian boy presents acutely unwell with pallor with mild jaundice, vomiting, lethargy, fever and abdominal pain. What has he been eating?

Reveal the funtabulous answer

Fava beans (broad beans).

Our young friend is experiencing Favism, an acute haemolytic anaemia caused by severe oxidative damage in patients with G6PD (Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency) whom eat Fava beans. 

Fava beans contain high levels of vicine and convicine, which after metabolism through the GI tract create high levels of divicine and isouramil in the erythrocyte. This creates high levels of hydrogen peroxide in the red cell.  In a cell replete with G6PD this superoxide species creates oxidate damage which lyses the cell.

G6PD deficiency is the most common enzyme deficiency worldwide, and may only present when precipitated by certain stressors in previously asymptomatic patients in whom there is no knowledge of the disorder.

G6PD deficiency is an X-linked disorder that is common in Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. It is the most common enzyme deficiency worldwide, with more than 300 known variants.


Luzzatto L and Arese P. Favism and Glucose-6-phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency. N Engl J Med 2018; 378:60-71.


Question 5

Rituximab, Darboietin alpha, Tenectaplase and Etanercept amongst many other are all produced using recombinant technology in the CHO cell. What is a CHO cell?

Reveal the funtabulous answer

Chinese Hamster Ovary.

Today, nearly fifty biologic drugs are produced using the CHO cell.  CHO cells have been a cell line of choice because of their rapid growth in suspension culture and high protein production

In 1948, the Chinese hamster was first used in the United States for breeding in research laboratories.

In 1957, Theodore T. Puck obtained a female Chinese hamster from Dr. George Yerganian’s laboratory at the Boston Cancer Research Foundation and used it to derive the original Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line.


Dumont J et al. Human cell lines for biopharmaceutical manufacturing: history, status, and future perspectives. Crit Rev Biotechnol. 2016;36(6):1110-1122


…and finally


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Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five

Dr Mark Corden BSc, MBBS, FRACP. Paediatric Emergency Physician working in Northern Hospital, Melbourne. Loves medical history and trivia...and assumes everyone around him feels the same...| LinkedIn |

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