The high prevalence of Legionella pneumophila contamination in hospital potable water systems in Taiwan: implications for hospital infection control in Asia.

BACKGROUND: The major sources of Legionnaires' disease (LD) are the potable water systems of large buildings including hospitals, nursing homes, and hotels. Culturing the hospital water system for Legionella allows a preventive approach for hospital-acquired LD. However, hospital-acquired LD is rarely reported in Taiwan, and environmental cultures of Legionella in hospital water systems in Taiwan have never been systematically performed. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine if Legionella is present in hospital water systems in Taiwan. Water quality analysis was also performed to determine if geographic differences in water quality result in different Legionella positivity rates. METHOD: The water systems of 16 hospitals throughout Taiwan were tested for Legionella by culture. Standardized culture procedures were followed. RESULTS: Legionella pneumophila was isolated from 63% (10/16) of the hospital water systems; 19% (3/16) of the hospitals had an L. pneumophila positive rate greater than 30%. L. pneumophila serogroups 1 and 6 (strains that are most responsible for Legionella infections) were isolated from 80% (8/10) and 60% (6/10), respectively, of the hospitals that yielded L. pneumophila in their water distribution systems. CONCLUSION: As was shown in epidemiological studies in the USA and Spain, hospital-acquired legionellosis may be prevalent but underdiagnosed in Taiwan.     

An adult case of Chryseobacterium meningosepticum meningitis

Chryseobacterium meningosepticum is an uncommon pathogen causing adult bacterial meningitis. Herein, we report the case history of one 21-year-old woman with this uncommon central nervous system infection. A diagnosis of adult C. meningosepticum meningitis can only be confirmed by a positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture. The patient had insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus as the underlying condition associated with this infection. The clinical presentations were fever, headache, consciousness disturbance, and seizure. CSF analysis revealed a purulent inflammatory reaction. After a 21-day course of intravenous cefepime (6 g/day) treatment, this patient was discharged in a state of complete recovery.     

Long-term follow-up of partial thrombosis of the superior mesenteric vein in a cirrhotic patient with hepatocellular carcinoma: a case report

Superior mesenteric venous thrombosis (SMVT) is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening disorder. We describe a cirrhotic patient with hepatocellular carcinoma who had partial SMVT for at least 28 months. Our experience may help in the management of such patients. The partial SMVT was not treated at the time of discovery because there was no evidence of bowel infarction. Moreover, the patient had a tendency to bleed severely and was in a poor condition. SMVT was followed using regular ultrasonography and the pattern of SMVT did not change significantly during the follow-up period. A symptom that may have been related to SMVT was abdominal colic pain after meals, which was sometimes followed by diarrhea and / or nausea and vomiting. There was no evidence of bowel ischemia or infarction during follow-up. Abdominal discomfort can be successfully treated using anticholinergic drugs with or without analgesia.     

125I粒子植入治疗肝癌多发肺转移瘤的疗效分析

【摘要】 目的 探讨125I粒子植入治疗肝细胞癌（HCC）多发肺转移瘤的临床疗效及其预后的影响因素。方法 回顾性分析陆军军医大学第一附属医院微创介入与放射性粒子诊疗中心45例行CT引导下125I粒子植入治疗HCC 多发肺转移瘤患者的临床及影像资料。随访观察肿瘤近期局部疗效及并发症,用Kaplan-Meier法分析粒子植入后的总体生存率,用Cox比例风险模型对潜在危险因素进行多变量分析。结果 共对177个肺转移瘤进行粒子植入治疗,6个月后评估近期疗效显示46.3%的肺转移瘤为CR、32.8%的肺转移瘤为PR、11.3%的肺转移瘤为SD、9.6%的肺转移瘤为PD;DCR为90.4%。中位随访期为22个月,粒子植入后1年、2年和3年的OS率分别为71.1%、45.7%和25.7%。血管侵犯（HR=3.01,95%CI:1.26～7.21,P=0.01）、肺转移瘤的数量（HR=2.69,95% CI: 1.05～6.89,P=0.04）是粒子植入治疗HCC 多发肺转移瘤的独立危险因素。结论 CT引导下125I粒子植入是HCC 多发肺转移瘤患者的治疗选择,且无血管侵犯及肺转移瘤数≤3的患者125I粒子植入治疗后的生存预后更好。     

High-dose chemoradiotherapy and autologous blood stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma: results of a phase II trial involving 63 patients

Sixty-three patients with high tumor mass multiple myeloma were treated with high-dose chemotherapy and total body irradiation supported by autologous blood stem cell transplantation. After high-dose therapy, they were monitored for a median of 44 months. Seven patients died early from toxicity. All the other patients, including those whose disease was resistant to previous therapies, showed a tumor mass reduction. At 6 months postengraftment, 40 (71%) of the surviving patients had minimal residual disease and 11 (20%) were in apparent complete remission. During follow-up, 25 out of the 63 (39%) patients relapsed and 16 of these died; 31 (49%) had a sustained remission. The median overall and event-free survival times after transplantation were 59 and 43 months, respectively. The initial serum beta 2-microglobulin value (> or < 2.8 mg/L) and length of previous therapy (> or < 6 courses of chemotherapy) were the only significant prognostic factors. In all surviving patients, blood stem cell autograft provided satisfactory and sustained haematopoietic reconstitution most often within 15 days. High dose chemoradiotherapy followed by autologous blood stem cell transplantation is thus an important therapeutic option for young patients with aggressive multiple myeloma.     

Growth rate of asymptomatic hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinical implications

The growth rate of 31 asymptomatic hepatocellular carcinomas (diameter less than or equal to 5 cm) discovered in 28 patients by a prospective screening program was determined by real-time ultrasonography over 36-860 days. Except for one tumor that shrank on follow-up, the doubling time ranged from 29 to 398 days, with a median of 117 days, an arithmetic mean of 136 days, and a geometric mean of 110 days. In 17 tumors with more than two measurements, the growth rate remained exponential in nine, declined in growth in seven, and showed an initial lag period in one. Doubling time correlated with initial tumor diameter but was independent of the patient's age, sex, hepatitis B surface antigen status, tumor location, liver function tests, stage of liver cirrhosis, histologic type, or grade of malignancy. Although initial alpha-fetoprotein levels did not correlate well with growth rate, in 14 patients with an exponential increase of serum alpha-fetoprotein, the alpha-fetoprotein doubling time was closely related to the tumor doubling time. Based on the above data, the median detectable subclinical period of hepatocellular carcinoma was deduced to be 3.2 yr, and the suitable screening interval for its early detection in our area was 4-5 mo.     

Adiponectin levels among patients with chronic hepatitis B and C infections and in response to IFN-alpha therapy.

AIMS: The study was designed to survey the change of adiponectin levels before and after interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C infections. METHODS: Twenty-one biopsy-proved patients with chronic hepatitis B (10 cases) and hepatitis C (11 cases) were given IFN-alpha for a total of 24 weeks. Fasting plasma glucose, insulin and adiponectin levels were obtained before and 12 weeks after completion of IFN-alpha therapy. Insulin suppression test was conducted before and within 1 week after IFN-alpha therapy. RESULTS: The change of adiponectin levels differed significantly between responders (eight cases) and non-responders (13 cases) to IFN-alpha treatment (-4.8+/-2.2 vs. 0.5+/-1.0 microg/ml, P=0.03). After adjusting for age, gender and change in body mass index, the study found the change of adiponectin levels still significantly related to the response to IFN-alpha (P=0.04). When hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients were separately analyzed, the adiponectin levels reported a trend to decrease in HCV responders (11.9+/-3.2 vs. 10.8+/-3.0 microg/ml, P=0.02, n=4) and HBV responders (17.7+/-4.1 vs. 9.2+/-1.0 microg/ml, P=0.10, n=4). In addition, a significant decrease of steady-state plasma glucose in insulin suppression test was noted in responders (13.6+/-1.8-11.7+/-1.2 mmol/l, P=0.03), but not in non-responders (12.3+/-1.1-11.0+/-1.0 mmol/l, P=0.20), after IFN-alpha therapy. CONCLUSIONS: IFN-alpha resulted in a decrease of serum adiponectin levels but an improvement of insulin resistance in responders to the treatment. The result contradicts previous concept of the relationship between insulin resistance and adiponectin levels. Whether and how the augmented immune response, which was supposed to result from the disappearance or the profound down-regulation of the virus or viral antigens in responders to IFN-alpha treatment, contributes to the lowering of adiponectin levels needs to be further investigated.     

Transthoracic or transhiatal resection for middle- and lower-third esophageal carcinoma?

Transthoracic esophagectomy (TTE) and transhiatal esophagectomy (THE) are two common methods of resection for esophageal cancer. Although many studies have been performed in Western countries, there are still controversies over which method is the better procedure. In this study, postoperative improvement in dysphagia and the degree of postoperative pain were compared. The cases of 50 patients undergoing TTE and 23 undergoing THE for esophageal cancer between March 1997 and October 2002 were retrospectively reviewed. The location of the lesion, clinical stage (TNM), operative time, operative blood loss, hospital stay, complications, number of lymph nodes dissected, and survival duration were recorded. Pre- and postoperative dysphagia scores and postoperative pain perception (using a visual analog scale) were analyzed. Preoperative clinical stage and lesion site were not significantly different in the TTE and THE groups. The operative time was longer and the number of lymph nodes removed was larger in the TTE group. However, there were no differences in operative blood loss, hospital stay, complications, survival duration, and improvement in dysphagia. Pain perception in the THE group was significantly better than that in the TTE group. THE is a safe and rapid procedure, with recovery and survival periods similar to those for TTE. Both patient groups enjoyed the same ability to eat. Therefore, THE is an acceptable alternative to TTE for patients with middle- and lower-third esophageal cancer. Moreover, THE caused much less postoperative pain than TTE, which made patients more comfortable.     

Inhibition of diacylglycerol metabolism in isolated cardiac myocytes by U-57 908 (RHC 80267), a diacylglycerol lipase inhibitor

U-57 908 (RHC 80267) inhibited diacylglycerol (DG) lipase activity in soluble and microsomal subcellular fractions from cardiac myocytes isolated from adult rat hearts; half-maximal inhibition was observed at a concentration of 3.5 microM. Monoacylglycerol lipase activity was much less sensitive to inhibition, but U-57 908 reduced lipoprotein lipase activity in cardiac myocytes with the same sensitivity as observed for DG lipase. DG kinase activity was not inhibited by U-57 908. DG metabolism by intact cardiac myocytes was studied in incubations with a cell-permeable DG analog, [3H]-dioctanoylglycerol (diC8). DiC8 was mainly metabolized by conversion to mono-octanoylglycerol (monoC8) and glycerol (lipase pathway); much less radioactivity was incorporated into the triacylglycerol and total phospholipid fractions. U-57 908 reduced the loss of radioactivity from the exogenous diC8 substrate, with a corresponding decline in the formation of radiolabelled monoC8 and glycerol. The incorporation of radioactivity into phospholipids was slightly reduced, but triacylglycerol synthesis from diC8 was increased in the presence of U-57 908. Therefore, U-57 908 is an effective inhibitor of DG metabolism by the lipase pathway in intact cardiac myocytes.     

肺动脉血管紧张素转换酶在缺氧性肺动脉高压演进过程中的作用

目的探讨肺动脉局部肾素－血管紧张素系统对缺氧性肺动脉高压（ＰＡＨ）的影响。方法采用常压缺氧ＰＡＨ动物模型，观察缺氧后肺动脉收缩压（ＰＡＰｓ）、肺动脉血管紧张素转换酶（ＡＣＥ）活性、胶原蛋白含量（Ｈｐ）及血管平滑肌细胞（ＳＭＣ）超微结构的变化，以及ＡＣＥ抑制剂－西拉普利对以上变化的影响。结果缺氧期间ＰＡＰｓ、ＡＣＥ活性、Ｈｐ显著增高，ＳＭＣ转为分泌型。西拉普利组ＡＣＥ活性下降，ＰＡＰｓ、Ｈｐ降至正常，ＳＭＣ恢复收缩表型。结论肺动脉ＡＣＥ参与缺氧性ＰＡＨ形成、转归过程中肺动脉胶原代谢、ＳＭＣ表型变化的调节。