Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes involved in children with pleural empyemas in France]

It has been suggested that the incidence of childhood empyema have increased during the last years in France without clear explanation. Streptococcus pneumoniae is responsible for the vast majority of bacteriological documented cases. Potential prevention of pleural empyemas by the heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is dependent on adequation between specific pneumococcal serogroups present in vaccine and those responsible for empyemas. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively collected cases of pleural empyemas registered at the National Reference Center for pneumococci (December 2002 to February 2004). Thirty children, aged 4.1+/-3.3 (SD) years, were included. RESULTS: Ten specific serogroups were identified: 1, 3, 5, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, and 23F. Serogroups 19A and 1 were the 2 dominant serogroups and represented 50% of cases. All children infected with serotype 19A were younger than 5 years, whereas serotype 1 was identified in 80% of empyemas in children older than 5 years. Among the 30 patients enrolled, 20 (69%) were infected with serotypes not included in the conjugate vaccine. CONCLUSION: These results thus limit the potential impact of the heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on the frequency of pleural empyemas in children.     

A comprehensive eye/vision program

As an essential element of the comprehensive rehabilitation efforts at Northport VA Medical Center, and as a service whose demand is projected to increase substantially with the expanding proportion of aging veterans, eye/vision care has become increasingly important. As a result, the administration of the Medical Center decided to heed the suggestions of Congress and the Director of Optometry in VA Central Office and reorganize the delivery of eye/vision services so the ever-increasing demand could be met more rationally, efficiently and effectively. In this paper, the Northport VA Medical Center's Comprehensive Eye/Vision Program, including the residency program in rehabilitative optometry, will be described and the benefits of the reorganization will be discussed.     

Diagnosis of traumatic cardiac contusion

Cardiac contusion following blunt chest trauma remains a diagnostic problem because of a lack of sensitive diagnostic tests. This study evaluated thallous chloride Tl 201 single-photon-emission computed tomography in a series of 48 patients following blunt chest trauma. Of the 48 patients, 23 had normal scans. None of these patients proved to have serious arrhythmias during three days of continuous monitoring. Of 25 patients with abnormal or ambiguous studies, five (20%) developed serious arrhythmias requiring therapy. Single-photon-emission computed tomography scanning thus was sensitive in indicating that group of patients at risk of serious arrhythmias, and may therefore prove to be a useful screening test to determine the need for hospitalization and arrhythmia monitoring following blunt chest trauma.     

Haemophilus parainfluenzae complicating total hip arthroplasty: a rapid failure.

We present a case of rapid failure of a total hip arthroplasty caused by infection with Haemophilus parainfluenzae. The septic loosening occurred over a period of 3 months and followed a dental extraction that had not been covered by prophylactic antibiotics. This failure occurred in a previously well-functioning and asymptomatic prosthetic joint.     

Delusions of disfigurement in a woman with acne rosacea.

A 36-year-old woman with newly diagnosed acne rosacea is presented. Her skin changes were noticeable only under closest scrutiny, but she quit her job, became despondent about her acne, and developed suicidal ideation. The diagnosis and treatment of this patient allow a broader discussion of the somatically focused patient whose ideation reaches delusional intensity.     

Initial experience with a radiology imaging network to newborn and intensive care units

A digital image network has been installed in the James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children on the Indiana University Medical Center to create a limited all digital imaging system. The system is composed of commercial components, Philips/AT&T CommView system, (Philips Medical Systems, Shelton, CT; AT&T Bell Laboratories, West Long Beach, NJ) and connects an existing Philips Computed Radiology (PCR) system to two remote workstations that reside in the intensive care unit and the newborn nursery. The purpose of the system is to display images obtained from the PCR system on the remote workstations for direct viewing by referring clinicians, and to reduce many of their visits to the radiology reading room three floors away. The design criteria includes the ability to centrally control all image management functions on the remote workstations to relieve the clinicians from any image management tasks except for recalling patient images. The principal components of the system are the Philips PCR system, the acquisition module (AM), and the PCR interface to the Data Management Module (DMM). Connected to the DMM are an Enhanced Graphics Display Workstation (EGDW), an optical disk drive, and a network gateway to an ethernet link. The ethernet network is the connection to the two Results Viewing Stations (RVS) and both RVSs are approximately 100 m from the gateway. The DMM acts as an image file server and an image archive device. The DMM manages the image data base and can load images to the EGDW and the two RVSs. The system has met the initial design specifications and can successfully capture images from the PCR and direct them to the RVSs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Distribution and kinetics of 3-O-methyl-6-[18F]fluoro-L-dopa in the rhesus monkey brain

Most attempts to model accurately [18F]-DOPA imaging of the dopamine system are based on the assumptions that its main peripheral metabolite, 3-O-methyl-6-[18F]fluoro-L-DOPA ([18F]3-OM-DOPA), crosses the blood-brain barrier but is present as a homogenous distribution throughout the brain, in part because it is not converted into [18F]DOPA in significant quantities. These assumptions were based mainly on data in rodents. Little information is available in the primate. To verify the accuracy of the above assumptions, we administered 18F-labeled 3-OM-DOPA to normal rhesus monkeys and animals with lesions of the DA nigrostriatal system. No selective 18F regional accumulation in brain was apparent in normal or lesioned animals. The plasma metabolite analysis revealed that only the negatively charged metabolites (e.g., sulfated conjugates) that do not cross the blood-brain barrier were found in significant quantities in the plasma. A one-compartment, three-parameter model was adequate to describe the kinetics of [18F]3-OM-DOPA. In conclusion, assumptions concerning [18F]3-OM-DOPA's behavior in brain appear acceptable for [18F]DOPA modeling purposes.