Mycobacterium bovis Infection in Humans and Cats in Same Household,Texas, USA, 2012

Mycobacterium bovis infection of cats is exceedingly rare in regions where bovine tuberculosis is not endemic. We describe the diagnosis and clinical management of pulmonary M. bovis infection in 2 indoor-housed cats and their association with at least 1 M. bovis–infected human in Texas, USA, in September 2012.     

Biliary strictures after liver transplantation. Predictive factors for response to endoscopic management and long-term outcome

BACKGROUND: Biliary strictures after liver transplantation are frequent. The long-term prognosis and predictive factors of response to endoscopic treatment are not well known. METHODS: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the role of endoscopic treatment, predictive factors of response, and outcome in patients with biliary stricture after liver transplantation. We performed a retrospective review of medical records of all consecutive post-liver transplantation patients who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiography in our center during the period from October 2001 to October 2006. RESULTS: Twenty-five of 43 patients referred for endoscopic retrograde cholangiography had biliary stricture. Eighteen had stricture at the area of the anastomosis alone, 2 patients had a stricture at the area of the anastomosis and also another area, and 5 had nonanastomotic biliary strictures. Twenty-one patients had a single stricture and 4 had more than 1 stricture. Initially 19 of 24 patients (79%) responded to endoscopic management with normalization of liver enzymes. Four patients (16%) did not respond clinically despite a successful endoscopic approach. All patients who did not respond to endoscopic dilation had more than 1 area of stricture. There was a significantly better response to endoscopic treatment in patients with an anastomotic stricture versus patients with nonanastomotic strictures 17/19 versus 2/5 (P = 0.042). CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, endoscopic treatment of anastomotic biliary strictures is highly effective with a good long-term outcome. The presence of nonanastomotic and multiple strictures should be considered a factor associated with poor response to endoscopic management.     

用乙肝诊断试剂盒对新疆野生啮齿动物进行血清学调查

目的调查新疆野生啮齿动物的血清中乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原的存在状态.方法应用乙肝表面抗原诊断试剂盒和乙肝表面抗体诊断试剂盒,对野生啮齿动物进行了血清学调查.结果灰旱獭(Marmota baibacina)的阳性率为17.8%(24/135)、长尾黄鼠(Citellus undulatus)阳性率为17.4%(12/69)和赤颊黄鼠(Citellus erythrogenys)阳性为(8/15).结论血清学调查表明,野生啮齿动物血清中存在乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原.     

Long Term Effect of Intensive Lifestyle Intervention on Cerebral Blood Flow

Objectives

To determine whether long‐term behavioral intervention targeting weight loss through increased physical activity and reduced caloric intake would alter cerebral blood flow (CBF ) in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Design

Postrandomization assessment of CBF.

Setting

Action for Health in Diabetes multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial.

Participants

Individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were overweight or obese and aged 45 to 76 (N = 310).

Interventions

A multidomain intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI ) to induce weight loss and increase physical activity for 8 to 11 years or diabetes support and education (DSE ), a control condition.

Measurements

Participants underwent cognitive assessment and standardized brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI ) (3.0 Tesla) to assess CBF an average of 10.4 years after randomization.

Results

Weight changes from baseline to time of MRI averaged ?6.2% for ILI and ?2.8% for DSE (P < .001), and increases in self‐reported moderate or intense physical activity averaged 444.3 kcal/wk for ILI and 114.8 kcal/wk for DSE (P = .03). Overall mean CBF was 6% greater for ILI than DSE (P = .04), with the largest mean differences between ILI and DSE in the limbic region (3.39 mL /100 g per minute, 95% confidence interval (CI ) = 0.07–6.70 mL /100 g per minute) and occipital lobes (3.52 mL /100 g per minute, 95% CI = 0.20–6.84 mL /100 g per minute). In ILI , greater CBF was associated with greater decreases in weight and greater increases in physical activity. The relationship between CBF and scores on a composite measure of cognitive function varied between intervention groups (P = .02).

Conclusions

Long‐term weight loss intervention in overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with greater CBF .

     

Risk Adjustment and the Assessment of Disparities in Dialysis Mortality Outcomes

Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) reported by Medicare compare mortality at individual dialysis facilities with the national average, and are currently adjusted for race. However, whether the adjustment for race obscures or clarifies disparities in quality of care for minority groups is unknown. Cox model-based SMRs were computed with and without adjustment for patient race for 5920 facilities in the United States during 2010. The study population included virtually all patients treated with dialysis during this period. Without race adjustment, facilities with higher proportions of black patients had better survival outcomes; facilities with the highest percentage of black patients (top 10%) had overall mortality rates approximately 7% lower than expected. After adjusting for within-facility racial differences, facilities with higher proportions of black patients had poorer survival outcomes among black and non-black patients; facilities with the highest percentage of black patients (top 10%) had mortality rates approximately 6% worse than expected. In conclusion, accounting for within-facility racial differences in the computation of SMR helps to clarify disparities in quality of health care among patients with ESRD. The adjustment that accommodates within-facility comparisons is key, because it could also clarify relationships between patient characteristics and health care provider outcomes in other settings.     

Frequency of O6‐methylguanine‐DNA methyltransferase promoter methylation in cytological samples from small cell lung cancer

Background. In a phase II study for patients with relapsed small cell lung cancer (SCLC), the administration of Temozolomide, an alkylating agent used in gliomas and anaplastic astrocytoma, showed a effective activity when O⁶‐methylguanine‐DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) gene promoter was methylated. Methods. We tested the feasibility of MGMT promoter status evaluation in small biopsies and cytological specimens routinely processed for diagnostic purposes. We tested samples from 56 patients with SCLC: 30 tissue biopsies, 17 fine‐needle aspiration biopsy, 8 bronchial washing, and 1 was a sputum. Biopsies and fine‐needle aspiration biopsy were fixed in formalin, bronchial washing and sputum in Dubosq Brazil. DNA was extracted after macrodissection of the areas containing the maximum number of cancer cells. MGMT promoter methylation status was assessed by methylation specific PCR. Results. Methylation analysis was obtained in 54 samples (54/56) and failed in two bronchial wash. MGMT promoter was methylated in 35.2% of the cases without any significant difference between histological and cytological samples (37.9% vs. 32%). Conclusion. MGMT promoter methylation is present in SCLC and cytological samples are perfectly adequate for methylation analysis, even if they were taken during routine diagnostic procedures, using different fixative and with low number and percentage of cancer cells. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2015;43:947–952. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.