All India Ophthalmological Society (AIOS) Task Force guidelines to prevent intraocular infections and cluster outbreaks after cataract surgery

Infectious endophthalmitis is a serious and vision-threatening complication of commonly performed intraocular surgeries such as cataract surgery. The occurrence of endophthalmitis can result in severe damage to the uveal and other ocular tissues even among patients undergoing an uncomplicated surgical procedure. If the infections result from common factors such as surgical supplies, operative or operation theater-related risks, there can be a cluster outbreak of toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS) or infectious endophthalmitis, leading to several patients having an undesirable outcome. Since prevention of intraocular infections is of paramount importance to ophthalmic surgeons, the All India Ophthalmological Society (AIOS) has taken the lead in the formation of a National Task Force to help ophthalmic surgeons apply certain universal precautions in their clinical practice. The Task Force has prepared a handy checklist and evidence-based guidelines to minimize the risk of infectious endophthalmitis following cataract surgery.     

Villous adenoma of urinary tract: a common tumor in an uncommon location

The presence of colonic-type epithelium in the urinary tract is not an uncommon occurrence, but tumors derived from it are rare. Tumors arising from colonic-type epithelium, including villous adenoma and adenocarcinoma, have been reported in the renal pelvis, ureter, urinary bladder, and urethra. Villous adenomas of the urinary tract are rare, being most common in the urinary bladder, followed by the urethra. Morphologic features of these tumors are similar to those of the colonic adenomas. The largest published series of villous adenomas of the urinary tract was a study of 23 patients. This study is reviewed and other reports on villous adenomas of the urinary tract are discussed.     

Melanoma of the penis, scrotum and male urethra: a 40-year single institution experience

PURPOSE: Genitourinary melanoma is rare and classically associated with a poor prognosis. We describe our experience with 10 patients with penile or urethral involvement. In addition, we present what is to our knowledge the largest reported series of melanoma of the scrotum (6 cases). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the records of 16 men who presented consecutively to our institution with genitourinary melanoma between 1962 and 2000. Clinical and pathological characteristics were assessed, including Breslow thickness, primary surgical intervention and clinical course. RESULTS: Of 10 patients with penile or urethral melanoma 1997 American Joint Committee on Cancer melanoma pathological stage was T1 (depth less than 0.75 mm) in 4, T2 (0.75 to 1.5 mm) in 3 and T3 (1.51 to 4 mm) in 3. Only 1 of 4 patients with clinically palpable inguinal nodes had inguinal metastases at lymphadenectomy (BILND) and 3 who underwent prophylactic superficial BILND had negative findings. In 7 patients with T1-2N0M0 disease there were no local recurrences after wide local excision (WLE) or partial penectomy at a median followup of 35 months. Six of 7 men were rendered disease-free. One patient died of melanoma that developed at a second primary site. The 3 patients with T3 tumors who underwent partial (2) or radical (1) penectomy with or without BILND died of disease (2) or had progression (1). In all patients with penile melanoma the 5-year actuarial disease specific and recurrence-free survival rates were 80% and 60%, respectively, at a median followup of 39 months (range 20 to 210). Six patients with scrotal melanoma were treated with WLE without local recurrences. Three of the 6 patients had palpable inguinal nodes, of whom 2 died after chemotherapy for unresectable disease and 1 died of other causes 51 months after negative BILND. The 3 men with clinically negative groins who did not undergo prophylactic BILND had distant (1) or regional (2) metastases and died of disease. In patients with scrotal melanoma the 5-year actuarial disease specific and recurrence-free survival rates were 33.3% and 33.3%, respectively, at a median followup of 36 months. CONCLUSIONS: Partial penectomy or WLE provided effective local control for low stage penile or urethral melanomas and all scrotal lesions. Patients showing clinically positive, proven metastasis died despite appropriate surgical procedures and multi-agent chemotherapy. Prophylactic modified inguinal lymphadenectomy should be considered in select patients with penile, scrotal and anterior urethral melanoma.     

Distribution of cytokeratins and vimentin in adult renal neoplasms and normal renal tissue: potential utility of a cytokeratin antibody panel in the differential diagnosis of renal tumors

Adult renal epithelial neoplasms (RENs) comprise several distinct clinicopathologic entities with potential prognostic and therapeutic differences. Individual cases can show overlapping morphologic features, necessitating the use of ancillary methods. The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic utility of cytokeratin (CK) subtype expression pattern in a wide range of adult RENs. RENs (including clear cell [conventional] renal cell carcinoma (RCC), papillary RCC, chromophobe RCC, renal oncocytoma, collecting duct carcinoma (CDC), renal medullary carcinoma (RMC), urothelial carcinoma, metanephric adenoma (MA), tubulocystic carcinoma (TC) (also known as low-grade collecting duct carcinoma), and mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinoma) were immunostained for CK subtypes (CK5/CK6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20), high molecular weight CKs 1, 5, 10, 14 (HMWCK), and vimentin (Vim). The expression pattern of normal kidney was also examined and correlated with RENs. Although there is some overlap, subtypes of RENs show distinctive CK expression profiles that may be useful in several differential diagnostic settings. Clear cell RCCs typically showed a restricted expression pattern of CK8, CK18 and Vim. Papillary RCCs typically expressed CK7, CK8, CK18, CK19, and Vim and could be distinguished from MA (CK7-). Chromophobe RCCs were typically CK7+, CK8+, CK18+, and Vim-, and could be distinguished from oncocytomas (typically CK7-). In oncocytomas, nonspecific staining of unblocked endogenous biotin is a potentially significant diagnostic pitfall. CDC, RMC, and TC demonstrated similar CK expression profiles (with the exception of HMWCK expression limited to CDC), supporting a close relationship between these entities. A panel of CK5/CK6, CK17, and Vim may be helpful in distinguishing CDC (typically CK5/CK6-, CK17-, Vim+) and urothelial carcinoma (typically CK5/CK6+, CK17+, Vim-). In conclusion, CK expression patterns may be helpful in several differential diagnostic situations when dealing with adult RENs.     

Linear and nonlinear measures of blood pressure variability: increased chaos of blood pressure time series in patients with panic disorder

Arterial blood pressure (BP) variability increases progressively with the development of hypertension and an increase in BP variability is associated with end organ damage and cardiovascular morbidity. On the other hand, a decrease in heart rate (HR) variability is associated with significant cardiovascular mortality. There is a strong association between cardiovascular mortality and anxiety. Several previous studies have shown decreased HR variability in patients with anxiety. In this study, we investigated beat-to-beat variability of systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP) in normal controls and patients with panic disorder during normal breathing and controlled breathing at 12, and 20 breaths per minute using linear as well as nonlinear techniques. Finger BP signal was obtained noninvasively using Finapres. Standing SBPvi and DBP BPvi (log value of BP variance corrected for mean BP divided by HR variance corrected for mean HR) were significantly higher in patients compared to controls. Largest Lyapunov exponent (LLE) of SBP and DBP, a measure of chaos, was significantly higher in patients in supine as well as standing postures. The ratios of LLE (SBP/HR) and LLE (DBP/HR) were also significantly higher (P<.001) in patients compared to controls. These findings further suggest dissociation between HR and BP variability and a possible relative increase in sympathetic function in anxiety. This increase in BP variability may partly explain the increase in cardiovascular mortality in this group of patients.     

Influence of habits on masons' blood cholesterol

Plasma total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, glucose and total protein were estimated in (male) masons without any habits (normal masons) and masons with habits (cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and betel-quid cum tobacco chewing) and compared with normal subjects. Masons had less total cholesterol and more HDL cholesterol when compared with normal subjects, which may be due to their occupational physical activities. Among masons, cigarette-smoking masons alone had more total cholesterol and less HDL cholesterol. Blood glucose also decreased in masons and more so in betel-quid cum tobacco chewing masons when compared with normal subjects while total protein content showed no variation.     

Ciprofloxacin treatment in preterm neonates in Bangladesh: lack of effects on growth and development

BACKGROUND: Quinolone-induced arthropathic toxicity in weight-bearing joints observed in juvenile animals during preclinical testing has largely restricted the routine use of ciprofloxacin in the pediatric age group. As histopathologic, radiologic and magnetic resonance imaging monitoring evidence has gathered supporting the safety of fluoroquinolones in children, many pediatricians have started to prescribe quinolones to some patients on a compassionate basis. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to ascertain the safety of ciprofloxacin in preterm neonates <33 weeks gestational age treated at Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital in Bangladesh. METHODS: Long-term follow up was done to monitor the growth and development of preterm infants who were administered intravenous ciprofloxacin in the neonatal period. Ciprofloxacin was used only as a life-saving therapy in cases of sepsis produced by bacterial agents resistant to other antibiotics. Another group of preterm neonates with septicemia who were not exposed to ciprofloxacin, but effectively treated with other antibiotics and followed up, were matched with cases for gender, gestational age and birth weight and included as a comparison group. Forty-eight patients in the ciprofloxacin group and 66 patients in the comparison group were followed up for a mean of 24.7 +/- 18.5 months and 21.6 +/- 18.8 months, respectively. RESULTS: No osteoarticular problems or joint deformities were observed in the ciprofloxacin group during treatment or follow up. No differences in growth and development between the groups were found. CONCLUSIONS: Ciprofloxacin is a safe therapeutic option for newborns with sepsis produced by multiply resistant organisms.