1/14. central nervous system candidiasis in preterm infants: limited value of biochemical markers for diagnosis.Two rare cases of isolated central nervous system (CNS) candidiasis in preterm infants have been diagnosed in a tertiary neonatal centre over the past 6 years. Despite the life-threatening nature of the disease, biochemical infection markers were not useful for the early identification of localized fungal infection. Because the infection was likely to have been blood borne, we postulated that the initial fungal load was probably low and that the organisms were rapidly eliminated from the circulation after a few had been deposited in the CNS. Hence, the absence of fungaemia or systemic involvement precluded the activation of cytokines and cellular markers. Clinicians should be aware of the limitation of biochemical infection markers so that diagnosis and treatment of fungal infection will not be delayed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/14. Giant urinoma in spinal cord injury: report of two cases.BACKGROUND: A urinoma is a cyst formed by the extravasation of urine from any constituent of the urinary tract; that is, via the kidney, ureter, urinary bladder, or the urethra. It may vary in its site and size according to its etiology, the point of the extravasation, and its duration and time of diagnosis. It commonly is associated with obstruction of the lower urinary tract by an impacted urinary calculus. METHOD: case reports. FINDINGS: Two cases of fatal intra-abdominal urinomas in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). CONCLUSION: Complications of SCI place these patients at risk for the development of urinoma. risk is highest among individuals with recurrent urinary tract infection, stone disease, and obstructive uropathy. Providers need to be alert to this potentially curable condition that may be obscured by the paucity of intra-abdominal findings due to the nature of the spinal cord syndrome.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/14. amphotericin b-associated hyperbilirubinemia: case report and review of the literature.A 53-year-old woman with an intraabdominal infection secondary to candida albicans experienced hyperbilirubinemia after receiving amphotericin b in two different formulations--amphotericin b deoxycholate and amphotericin b lipid complex. Only a few case reports of amphotericin b-induced hyperbilirubinemia have been documented in the literature, each with different patterns of corresponding abnormalities in liver function tests. The unpredictable nature of this adverse effect warrants monitoring of bilirubin levels and liver function at baseline and potentially during therapy with amphotericin b, regardless of formulation, dosage, or duration of therapy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/14. The neurological complications of cardiac transplantation.review of the neurological complications encountered in 83 patients who received cardiac homografts over a seven-year period leads to the following conclusions: (1) Neurological disorders are common in transplant recipients, occurring in over 50 per cent of patients. (2) Infection was the single most frequent cause of the neurological dysfunction, being responsible for one-third of all CNS complications. (3) The infective organisms were typically those considered to be usually of low pathogenicity: fungi, viruses, protozoa and an uncommon bacterial strain. (4) Other clinical neurological syndromes were related to vascular lesions, often apparently from cerebral ischaemia or infarction occurring during the surgical procedure, metabolic encephalopathies, cerebral microglioma, acute psychotic episodes and back pain from vertebral compression fractures. (5) The infectious complications and probably the development of neoplasms de novo, are related to immunosuppressive therapy which impairs virtually all host defence mechanisms and alters the nature of the host's response to infective agents or other foreign antigens. (6) Because neurological symptoms and signs were usually those of behavioural changes or deterioration in intellectual performance, the neurological examination was often of little value in diagnosing the nature or even the anatomical site of the neuropathological process. (7) The possibility of an infectious origin of the neurological manifestations must be aggressively pursued even in the absence of fever and a significantly abnormal spinal fluid examination. The diagnostic error made most frequently was to ascribe neurological symptoms erroneously to metabolic disturbances or to "intensive care unit psychosis" when they were in fact due to unrecognized CNS infection. (8) maintenance of mean cardiopulmonary bypass pressures above 70 mmHg, particularly in patients with known arteriosclerosis, may reduce operative morbidity. (9) Though increased diagnostic accuracy is possible with routine use of a variety of radiological and laboratory techniques, two further requirements probably must be met before a significant reduction in the frequency of neurological complications will occur: the advent of greater immunospecificity in suppressing rejection of the grafted organ while preserving defences against infection; and a more effective armamentarium of antiviral and antifungal drugs.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/14. Undetected diabetes and the plastic surgeon.Plastic surgery candidates are generally healthy. Therefore, major postoperative complications are rare. Should they happen, the surgeon should search for possible causes, one of which is undetected diabetes mellitus. Six patients are presented who, based on the individual or family history or the unusual nature of their complications, were suspected of having diabetic tendencies. This experience necessitated our in-depth search into the role of silent or undetected diabetes. This report emphasizes the importance of positive family history of diabetes and the role of glucose tolerance tests on suspected cases. Even with normal glucose tolerance tests, however, some of these patients with a positive family history of diabetes and history of previous infections suffer from deficiencies in the chemotactic immune system. We recommend full discussion of the increased risk of infection and delayed healing with these patients, conservatism during surgical procedures, and prophylactic use of antibiotics perioperatively.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/14. heparin-like anticoagulant associated with systemic candidiasis.A 15 year old girl with aplastic anemia developed a heparin-like anticoagulant during the course of systemic candidiasis. This was initially detected in the laboratory by an elevation of the thrombin clotting time which corrected with toluidine blue but not by mixing with normal plasma. In vivo and in vitro the anticoagulant was remarkably resistant to neutralization by protamine sulfate. Nevertheless, its heparin-like nature was confirmed by its sensitivity to heparinase and its dependence on antithrombin iii.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/14. Mannan and D-arabinitol concentrations in serum from a patient with candida albicans endocarditis.In an attempt to clarify the comparative values of serological and microbiological examinations for the early diagnosis of systemic candidiasis, antibodies against candida albicans, serum mannan, and the D-arabinitol creatinine ratio were investigated in a patient with aortic valve endocarditis associated with carcinoma of the bile duct. Candida precipitins and the antibody titer against Candida cell wall mannan were examined by an immunodiffusion technique and hemagglutination test, respectively. serum mannan was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the biotin-streptavidin procedure. The upper limit of negativity of the assay was determined by adding 0.06 to the absorbance of pooled serum from healthy laboratory workers. This value was about 0.8 ng/ml with ELISA. The D-arabinitol concentration in serum was examined by an enzymatic fluorometric method. Rising antibody titers against C. albicans, mannan antigenemia, and an elevated D-arabinitol creatinine ratio were first observed between the 11th and 12th hospital days. blood cultures obtained on 8th, 9th, and 11th hospital days grew C. albicans after 3 to 4 days of incubation. Of 11 serum samples, 5 were positive for mannan, whereas D-arabinitol creatinine ratio was positive in 7 of 9 samples. blood cultures was the earliest evidence of Candida infections in our cases. However, because of saprophytic nature of Candida species, tests for antibodies, antigenemia, and the D-arabinitol creatinine ratio in combination with blood cultures are necessary to confirm systemic candidiasis at an early stage of infection.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/14. Candida endophthalmitis after intravenous drug abuse.patients with endogenous Candida endophthalmitis associated with intravenous (IV) drug abuse may manifest ocular and systemic signs different from those seen in other forms of endogenous Candida endophthalmitis. There may be a sparcity of evidence of systemic candidiasis, including negative serology and normal physical examination results. Anterior uveitis and extensive vitreous involvement are common and do not necessarily have associated typical retinal lesions, which are more commonly seen in the compromised host. This may occur either because of the more transitory nature of choroidal or retinal lesions or because these patients often seek treatment at later stages. Even with a typical clinical picture, it is difficult to get culture confirmation of the diagnosis. Material obtained by vitrectomy must be concentrated before inoculation of media because of the known difficulty of culturing Candida from the vitreous cavity.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/14. Hepatic candidiasis in cancer patients: the evolving picture of the syndrome.Focal hepatosplenic candidiasis has been recognized with increasing frequency in recent years. We reviewed the cases of eight patients seen between 1982 and 1985, and information on 60 patients whose cases have been reported in the world literature. The characteristics of focal hepatosplenic candidiasis include persistent fever in a neutropenic patient whose leukocyte count is returning to normal, often coupled with abdominal pain; an elevated alkaline phosphatase level; and less commonly, rebound leukocytosis. The characteristic "bull's eye" lesions seen with hepatic ultrasound examination or computed tomography generally are not detectable until neutrophil recovery has occurred. Diagnosis can be established only by biopsy evidence of yeasts or pseudohyphae in the granulomatous lesions. Cultures are frequently negative, however, especially in patients who have been pretreated with antifungal agents. We review the evolving nature of hepatosplenic candidiasis, focusing on diagnosis and treatment.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/14. The surgical management of fungal pulmonary infections in children with acute myelogenous leukemia.Infections are the primary cause of complications and death in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia. Current aggressive treatment protocols have improved patient survival but produce extended periods of profound neutropenia during which the patients are particularly susceptible to opportunistic infections. Candida and aspergillus species are the most common of the fungi causing invasive infections in these patients. In a group of 77 previously untreated children with acute myelogenous leukemia begun on treatment from March 1976 to June 1984, four patients developed localized fungal infections of the lung. These initially appeared as pulmonary infiltrates on chest roentgenograms during periods of severe neutropenia (three during remission induction and one after intensive consolidation therapy). Endobronchial cultures failed to identify the infectious organism in all cases. Computerized axial tomography best defined the cavitary nature of the lesions in 2 patients. All four patients underwent surgical resection, both to establish a diagnosis (three patients) and as part of therapy. There was no operative morbidity. The organisms involved were aspergillus (2), Torulopsis (1), and penicillium (1). Three patients were cured of their fungal infections. The fourth patient failed to enter remission and died of a cerebral fungal abscess that developed shortly after thoracotomy. We report these cases to encourage early surgical intervention in leukemics with a localized pulmonary process consistent with a fungal infection. Resection of the primary focus obviates the risk of life threatening pulmonary hemorrhage or dissemination of the fungus and allows for early reinstitution of chemotherapy which is vital to these patients' survival.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = nature (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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