Lyme carditis: restitutio ad integrum documented by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Lyme disease is a tickborne illness that could cause, weeks to months later, complications involving the joints, central nervous system, and cardiovascular system. We report a case of cardiac manifestation with transitory higher degree atrioventricular block and dysfunction of the left ventricle. Complete resolution without signs of myocardial scar is demonstrated by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.     

MR-IMPACT: comparison of perfusion-cardiac magnetic resonance with single-photon emission computed tomography for the detection of coronary artery disease in a multicentre, multivendor, randomized trial.

AIMS: To determine in a multicentre, multivendor trial the diagnostic performance for perfusion-cardiac magnetic resonance (perfusion-CMR) in comparison with coronary X-ray angiography (CXA) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). METHODS AND RESULTS: Of 241 eligible patients from 18 centres, 234 were randomly dosed with 0.01, 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, or 0.1 mmol/kg Gd-DTPA-BMA (Omniscantrade mark, GE-Healthcare) per stress (0.42 mg/kg adenosine) and rest perfusion study. Coronary artery disease (CAD) was defined as diameter stenosis > or =50% on quantitative CXA. Five CMR and eight SPECT studies (of 225 complete studies) were excluded from analyses due to inadequate quality (three blinded readers scored per modality). The comparison of CMR vs. SPECT was based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Perfusion-CMR at the optimal CM dose (0.1 mmol/kg) had similar performance as SPECT, if only the SPECT studies of the 42 patients with this dose were considered [area under ROC curve (AUC): 0.86 +/- 0.06 vs. 0.75 +/- 0.09 for SPECT, P = 0.12]; however, diagnostic performance of perfusion-CMR was better vs. the entire SPECT population (AUC: 0.67 +/- 0.05, n = 212, P = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: In this multicentre, multivendor trial, ROC analyses suggest perfusion-CMR as a valuable alternative to SPECT for CAD detection showing equal performance in the head-to-head comparison. Comparing perfusion-CMR with the entire SPECT population suggests CMR superiority over SPECT, which warrants further evaluation in larger trials.     

蒿甲醚和青蒿琥酯对感染曼氏血吸虫小鼠治疗作用的初步研究

目的了解蒿甲醚和青蒿琥酯对小鼠曼氏血吸虫作用的效果.方法将小鼠随机分成12个实验组及1个对照组,以皮下注射的方法,每鼠接种约80条尾蚴,接种尾蚴46 d后,分别以蒿甲醚或青蒿琥酯灌胃治疗,第1天,分别以400、300、200 mg/kg的剂量1次灌胃;第2～7天,则每天分别按以上剂量的半量灌胃,7 d灌胃的总剂量分别为1 600、1 200、800 mg/kg.总量1剂组,在第7天,分别按1 600、1 200、800 mg/kg剂量1次灌胃.另设感染阳性对照组,不加治疗. 结果蒿甲醚7日疗法1 600、1 200、800 mg/kg剂量组减虫率分别为53.0%、49.0%和53.0%,减雌率为78.0%～82.0%,总量1剂组效果与7日疗法基本相同.青蒿琥酯7日疗法相应剂量减虫率分别为16.0%、37.0%和49.0%.结论蒿甲醚和青蒿琥酯对小鼠曼氏血吸虫具有一定的杀虫效果,蒿甲醚在疗效和毒性方面稍佳.     

Serology and serum DNA detection in shingles

AIM: To investigate the sensitivity of various laboratory approaches in the diagnosis of herpes zoster from patient serum. METHODS: Paired sera from 53 consecutive adult patients with acute herpes zoster were tested for the presence of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) antibodies. All acute sera were tested subsequently by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of VZV DNA. In addition, convalescent sera of patients who tested initially positive for VZV DNA underwent PCR analysis. RESULTS: VZV IgM antibodies were found by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) in 5 acute (9%) and 20 convalescent (38%) zoster sera. VZV DNA was detected by PCR in 21 (40%) acute zoster sera and was no longer detectable in the convalescent samples. A seroconversion or a fourfold or greater titre increase was found by complement fixation (CF) test in 41 (77%), by IgG indirect fluorescent antibody assay (IgG IFA) in 43 (81%) and by CF and IgG IFA combined in 45 of 53 (85%) paired zoster sera. The combination of all serological methods detected 51 (96%) and PCR combined with serology identified 52 (98%) of 53 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Optimal laboratory sensitivity in the diagnosis of herpes zoster from serum can be achieved by the combination of PCR and serology of paired serum samples. Serological methods alone are of limited value for early diagnosis of zoster when therapy can be initiated, because CF and IgG IFA need convalescent serum and IgM test sensitivity is insufficient. Early diagnosis of VZV reactivation is possible from serum by PCR in the first days of illness and test sensitivity needs further improvement. The findings highlight the need for future studies into the usefulness of PCR and serology in atypical cases of VZV reactivation.