Severe Malnutrition Associated with α-Heavy Chain Disease: Response to Tetracycline and Intensive Nutritional Support

A 20-yr-old black male was admitted with a 5-month history of profound weight loss and diarrhea. Appetite and dietary intake had been remarkably well preserved up until the week before admission. The severity of his depletion was evidenced by a body weight of only 38% of standard, multiple electrolyte deficiencies, and reduced metabolic expenditure, protein turnover, protein synthesis, and pancreatic function. Immunological defects included diminished lymphocyte numbers, lymphocyte transformation, gamma-globulin concentration, and cell-mediated immunity. A diagnosis of alpha-heavy chain disease (alpha-HCD) was made on endoscopic duodenal biopsy and serology--lymphoma being excluded by scanning and laparotomy. Treatment consisted initially of intravenous nutrition (because of the extreme malnutrition, severe diarrhea, and malabsorption of fluid, electrolytes, carbohydrates, and fat) and oral tetracycline. Response was dramatic, with a doubling of body weight within 6 wk, and resolution of malabsorption. He was discharged on a normal diet and long-term oral tetracycline (250 mg/day), and at 1-yr follow-up, nutritional status and gut function were normal despite persistence of duodenal mucosal abnormalities and markers of alpha-HCD and bacterial overgrowth. These results suggest that the malabsorption initially identified in this patient was not due simply to the mucosal abnormalities that characterize alpha-HCD, but was more a consequence of the superimposition of nutrient maldigestion and absorption resulting from the extreme state of protein deficiency and its effects on gut and pancreatic function.     

Outcome of surgery in patients with hematological malignancies: A 12-year retrospective analysis

Background: Surgical intervention in patients with malignant hematological disorders is a major undertaking due to the expected risks of bleeding, infection and poor wound healing. Methods and materials: A retrospective study of patients treated at the Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital, Saudi Arabia between January 1991 and December 2002 was conducted. The results of patients with acute leukemia and lymphoma who underwent surgical procedures (study group) were compared with those of a control group composed of patients with the same spectrum of disorders treated over the same period of time and given the same treatment protocols but never required any surgery. Results: No single death occurred intraoperatively or in the immediate postoperative period due to surgical therapy per se. However, follow up of both groups of patients revealed a shorter long‐term survival and higher rates of relapse and severe invasive infections in the surgical group compared to the control group of patients. The mean survival for the study group was 1871 ± 307 days versus 3094 ± 279 days for the control group of patients (P = 0.0027). Thirty (75%) study patients suffered relapses of their malignant hematological disorders versus 23 (37.1%) control patients. Forty‐five relapses were encountered in the study group of patients (1.5 relapses per relapsed patient) versus 26 relapses in the control group (1.13 relapses per relapsed patient). Various infections occurred in 37 (92.5%) study patients and 32 (51.6%) control patients. Recurrent infections developed in 30 (75%) study patients and 22 (35.5%) control patients (P = 0.00008). Infections causing tissue invasion were encountered in 29 (72.5%) study patients and 22 (35.5%) control patients. Conclusion: Even major surgical procedures can be performed in patients with leukemia or lymphoma provided enough preparatory measures are made to minimize bleeding and infectious complications. Surgery may, however, be associated with long‐term complications such as a high incidence of relapse of the primary malignant hematological disorder and an increased rate of severe and invasive infections.     

A diagnostic algorithm for male genital oedema

Male genital oedema can be defined as swelling or the appearance of swelling of the scrotum and/or the penile shaft and prepuce. Despite the various causes of genital oedema reported in the published work, a concise approach to the evaluation and management has not been sufficiently addressed.     

CYP1A Expression in Caged Rainbow Trout Discriminates Among Sites with Various Degrees of Polychlorinated Biphenyl Contamination

It has become increasingly apparent that resident fish can develop resistance to chemicals in their environment, thus compromising their usefulness as sentinels of site-specific pollution. By using a stream system whose resident fish appear to have developed pollutant resistance (Brammell et al., Mar Environ Res 58:251–255, 2005), we tested the hypothesis that the pollutant-inducible biomarker, cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A), as measured in field-caged juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), would reflect relative pollution differences between reference and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated sites. Trout were caged in the Town Branch/Mud River system (Logan County, KY), a stream system undergoing remediation for PCBs. Fish were held in remediated (Town Branch), unremeditated (Mud River), and reference sites for 2 weeks during spring 2002. At the end of this period, gill and hepatic CYP1A expression were measured. To evaluate the relative PCB exposure of caged trout and provide a reference point against which to calibrate CYP1A response, PCB levels were quantified in sediments from each site. Hepatic CYP1A expression in caged trout clearly detected the presence of PCBs in the Town Branch/Mud River stream system. Sediment PCB levels and hepatic CYP1A expression in caged trout produced identical pollution rankings for the study sites. Gill CYP1A expression, although suggestive of site differences, was not statistically different among sites. Unlike resident fish, which failed to show site differences in hepatic CYP1A expression in this waterway (Brammell et al. 2005), caged fish proved to be a sensitive discriminator of relative PCB contamination in this system. In summary, we determined that CYP1A expression in caged fish reflected relative in situ pollutant exposure. The exposure paradigm confirmed that 2 weeks was a sufficient caging period for evaluating CYP1A response in this species at these temperatures (13–19°C). In addition, these studies demonstrate that tissue-specific CYP1A expression can provide insights into likely routes of exposure. We conclude that CYP1A expression in caged trout is a reliable and inexpensive first-pass determination of relative environmental pollutant exposure and bioavailability in aqueous systems.     

Antibiotic prescribing for chronic skin wounds in primary care

The aim of this study was to describe and quantify systemic antibiotic prescribing for patients with chronic skin wounds presenting at the primary care, nonspecialist setting. Data for 1 year were extracted from a general practice morbidity database comprising approximately 185,000 patients attending family medical practitioners in Wales. Patients with chronic wounds (PCW) were identified using Read Codes and compared with nonwound patients who were randomly selected after matching for age-band, sex, and general practice. PCW received a significantly greater number of antibiotic courses than nonwound patients (p<0.001). This increased level of prescribing was evident for flucloxacillin, co-amoxiclav, cefaclor, cefalexin, erythromycin, trimethoprim, metronidazole, and ciprofloxacin (p<0.01 for all). While PCW also had a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes (16.5% compared with 6.6%, p<0.001), and attended at general practice significantly more frequently than nonwound patients (median (interquartile range) of 25 (17-40) visits per year compared with 12 (4-20), p<0.001), importantly, exclusion of diabetic patients and analysis of the proportion of visits on which patients received antibiotics did not affect the significance of the difference in antibiotic consumption. These data show a strong association between occurrence of chronic wounds and prescribing of antibiotics in primary health care, and wide variation in the type and duration of antibiotic therapy for chronic wounds. Further work is now indicated to rationalize this prescribing and determine the role that this exposure to antibiotics plays in the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in this at-risk elderly population.