Local Introduction of Drugs into the Arterial Wall: A Percutaneous Catheter Technique

A method is described by which agents can be introduced directly into the arterial wall via the percutaneous approach. A perforated balloon catheter has been developed to accomplish this. Several major theoretical hurdles have been overcome. Specifically, heparin in high doses can be introduced in arterial segments and shown to be retained for at least 48 hours. The use of high dose heparin to inhibit cell proliferation underlying restenosis after angioplasty is discussed. Other potential drug applications for restenosis, atherosclerosis, and study of metabolic activity of arterial tissue are discussed. The advantages of this method over prolonged intravenous drug delivery are obvious. Further studies of clinical applicability seem worthwhile. (J Interven Cardiol 1989:2:4)     

Evaluation of molecular assays for rapid detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

The diagnostic sensitivities of the BD GeneOhm and Cepheid Xpert assays were compared using culture on log-serial dilutions of well-characterized methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and non-MRSA strains and on nasal and groin swabs from patients with histories of MRSA carriage. The sensitivities of GeneOhm and Xpert were high at 10(3)-CFU/ml MRSA concentrations (92.3% and 96.3%, respectively) although decreased considerably (<35%) at a 1-log-lower concentration. Unexpectedly, both assays also detected select coagulase-negative staphylococci, which requires further evaluation.