Circulating Pancreatic Polypeptide in Patients with Adenocarcinoma of the Bile Duct

Using radioimmunoassay methods, the blood of patients with pancreatic tumors was screened for circulating polypeptide hormones. This screening discovered pancreatic polypeptide in abnormally high concentration in the serum of six of seven patients with adenocarcinomas of the bile duct. the assay appears to be very sensitive finding excessive residual pancreatic polypeptide production after palliative resections. Serum pancreatic polypeptide assays warrant evaluation as an aid in the diagnosis and management of patients with bile duct tumors.     

Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: Medical or surgical treatment? Report of an interactive workshop

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is the most common disease of the upper gastrointestinal tract. With the introduction of proton pump inhibitors medical treatment of GERD has been significantly improved. However, the development of laparoscopic antireflux surgery resulted in an increasing interest of surgeons in this disease. An interactive meeting was organized in order to develop an agreement between gastoenterologists and surgeons regarding therapeutic decisions and this is the main topic of this paper.     

The outcome of nonoperatively treated complete tears of the anterior cruciate ligament in active young adults

The results of nonoperative treatment of 72 patients with complete anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, documented by examination under anesthesia and arthroscopy, were evaluated. All patients had an acute injury with hemarthrosis in a previously normal knee. Patients having meniscal repair were excluded as were those with collateral or posterior cruciate ligament tears or associated fractures. Treatment in all cases consisted of a standard protocol of early rehabilitation and bracing. A detailed rating of symptoms and function was performed at an average of 38 months postinjury (range, eight to 84 months). Overall results were 11% excellent, 20% good, 15% fair, and 54% poor. Thirty-five percent had ACL reconstruction during the follow-up period. Results indicate that young adults who return to a vocation requiring strenuous physical activity frequently can expect unsatisfactory results after nonoperative treatment of an acute complete tear of the ACL.     

Legionella pneumophila serogroup 4 isolated from joint tissue

We report the isolation of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 4 from synovial tissue obtained from an 80-year-old female with chronic swelling of her right metacarpophalangeal joint. Synovial tissue infections caused by L. pneumophila are rare. Interestingly, this isolate was recovered from chocolate agar after 5 days of incubation.     

Evaluation of intestinal parasite morphology in polyvinyl alcohol preservative: comparison of copper sulfate and mercuric chloride bases for use in Schaudinn fixative.

As a result of disposal problems inherent in the use of mercury compounds, many laboratories have considered using copper sulfate as a substitute for mercuric chloride in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) preservative. The primary use for PVA-preserved specimens is the permanent stained smear, the most important technique for the identification of intestinal protozoa. A comparison of organism recovery and morphology was undertaken with PVA containing either copper sulfate or mercuric chloride base. Paired fecal specimens (417 pairs) were collected and examined with the Formalin-ether concentration and Trichrome stain techniques. Numbers of organisms recovered and helminth egg and protozoan morphology were assessed from the concentration sediment. Morphology, clarity of nuclear and cytoplasmic detail, overall color differences, and the ease or difficulty in detecting organisms in fecal debris were assessed from the permanent stained smear. No significant differences were found in the numbers and morphology of organisms seen in the concentration sediment. However, when the trichrome stain was used, the overall morphology of the intestinal protozoa preserved in PVA with copper sulfate was not equal to that seen with PVA with mercuric chloride. We do not recommend switching from mercuric chloride base to copper sulfate base unless that is the only option available for the preparation of permanent stained smears.     

Clinical evaluation of three rapid methods for the detection of significant bacteriuria.

Random urine specimens (848) were screened for significant bacteriuria by using the 30-min Lumac (3M, St. Paul, Minn.), the 2-min Bac-T-Screen (Marion Laboratories, Inc., Kansas City, Mo.), and the 13-h AutoMicrobic system (AMS) urine identification card (Vitek Systems, Inc., Hazelwood, Mo.). MacConkey and 5% sheep blood agar plates were inoculated with a 10(-4) dilution of urine and used for the reference method. Bac-T-Screen results were uninterpretable for 9.1% of the specimens owing to either urine sample pigmentation (5.3%) or clogging of the filter (3.8%). Screen-negative urine specimens made up 49.6, 57.2, and 48.5% of the total number of specimens evaluated with AMS, Lumac, and Bac-T-Screen, respectively. False-positive results with Lumac and Bac-T-Screen were 20.6 and 22.3%, respectively. False-negative results for cultures with greater than or equal to 10(4) CFU/ml were 22.0% with AMS, 29.4% with Lumac, and 25.5% with Bac-T-Screen, and false-negative results for cultures with greater than or equal to 10(5) CFU/ml were 29.6% with AMS, 9.9% with Lumac, and 7.0% with Bac-T-Screen. For each system, greater than 70% of false-negatives at greater than or equal to 10(5) CFU/ml consisted of mixed or pure cultures of common contaminants. With any of these screening methods, a clinically significant isolate at greater than or equal to 10(5) CFU/ml would rarely be missed (less than or equal to 1.7% for all systems). A cost-effective and rapid approach to urine microbiology could consist of screening out negative specimens by either Lumac or Bac-T-Screen and processing only screen-positive specimens by the AMS.     

Comparative evaluation of the Eiken and API 20E systems and conventional methods for identification of members of the family Enterobacteriaceae

To evaluate the accuracy and utility of the Eiken Systek No. 1 (Eiken system; Eiken Chemical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan), we conducted a clinical comparison, with 345 Enterobacteriaceae isolates, of the Eiken System with API 20E (Analytab Products, Inc., Plainview, N.Y.) and conventional methods. The Eiken system is a 21-biochemical-test battery tray stored at 25 degrees C and inoculated in one step. It is similar to the API 20E except that the Eiken system contains malonate, adonitol, and maltose; lacks gelatin, sucrose, melibiose, amygdalin, and arabinose; and uses reagent strips instead of liquid reagents. The API 20E and Eiken systems correctly identified 339 (97.7%) and 276 (79.5%), respectively, and misidentified 3 (0.9%) and 13 (3.7%), respectively, of the isolates. There were no identification codes for 5 (1.4%) organisms with the API 20E and 58 (16.7%) organisms with the Eiken system; of these latter unidentified organisms, 42 were identified as Proteus spp., Morganella sp., and Providencia rettgeri by conventional methods. There was no significant difference between the two rapid systems in total time required for inoculation and reading. Modifications for interpretation of decarboxylase and oxidase tests were needed for the Eiken system, and manipulation of reagent strips required considerable dexterity. However, the Eiken system was easier to inoculate than the API 20E, and, with minor increases in the data base to include more of the Proteus and Morganella spp. and P. rettgeri, the system should be reliable for identification of members of the family Enterobacteriaceae.