Intracranial actinomycosis in juvenile patients Case report and review of the literature

A case of actinomycotic brain infection in a juvenile patient is described. Cases of actinomycosis affecting the head and neck are rare, particularly in juvenile patients. In this case complete resolution of the infection was achieved by means of surgical treatment and prolonged antibiotic therapy. The authors emphasize the importance of a combined approach for treatment of this unusual brain infection and stress the difficulties involved in the diagnosis of this pathology. Received: 3 November 1997     

Susceptibility to ketoconazole of Candida albicans strains from sequentially followed HIV-1 patients with recurrent oral candidosis

The MIC values of the antifungal drug ketoconazole were evaluated on 66 Candida albicans strains. These strains were isolated from 26 HIV-1 infected patients with oral recurrent candidosis. Each episode of oral candidosis observed in these patients was orally treated with ketoconazole (200 mg/day) until the clinical disappearance of the lesions. The most frequent MIC values were 20 micrograms/ml and 10 micrograms/ml, observed in 37 and 19 isolates respectively. Only strains from five patients showed changes in their susceptibility to ketoconazole. This fact could indicate that a different strain causes the subsequent reappearance of the oral lesions, rather than the drug selecting resistant fungal strains. Our results stress the role of host characteristics in the occurrence of candidal infections, pointing to the progressing failure of the immunological response as the most important factor responsible for the recurrence of oral candidosis during HIV-1 infection.     

Naturally occuring antibodies against nerve growth factor in human and rabbit sera: comparison between control and herpes simplex virus-infected patients

Antibodies against nerve growth factor (NGF) in sera were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), by their isolation after passage of sera through NGF immunoadsorbent columns and by their specificity to bind and immunoprecipitate mouse NGF as well as to stain by immunohistochemical methods cellular sites of NGF synthesis. Increased levels of anti-NGF antibodies were found in sera of herpes simplex virus (HSV)-infected patients but not in HSV-inoculated rabbits. As HSV latency is known to be promoted by NGF in vitro, these results may suggest that anti-NGF antibodies modulate the cytokine function of NGF and thus might play a role in HSV infection. The biological function of circulating antibodies against NGF, in general, is now open to future investigation.     

门诊抽血室医院感染标本检测结果分析

目的 :了解门诊抽血室医院内感染情况。方法 :通过对空气培养、医护人员的手、物体表面、使用中的消毒液 4项指标 112 0份标本进行监测分析。结果 :112 0份标本检验结果合格 10 30份 ,合格率 92 % ,不合格标本 90份 ,培养出细菌 87份。结论 :通过监测抽血室的医院感染标本 ,了解了院内感染情况 ,有效地减少和防止了医护人员之间、医患之间以及和家属之间的交叉感染 ,提高了医疗护理质量 ,预防了医院交叉感染的发生。     

肺隔离症的影像诊断和介入治疗

目的探讨肺隔离症的影像学表现及介入治疗的应用价值. 资料与方法对5例肺隔离症患者的X线平片、CT、MRI表现进行分析,并对隔离的肺组织的供血动脉进行栓塞. 结果 X线平片主要表现为囊状或团状高密度影及支气管扩张样改变,CT、MRI可发现部分异常供血动脉,血管造影均能发现供血动脉,经异常供血动脉采用不锈钢圈栓塞后临床症状逐渐减轻、消失,随访6个月～1年,症状未再复发. 结论在影像诊断方面,X线平片难以确诊,CT、MRI可部分确诊,而DSA检查是肺隔离症诊断的金标准.经异常供血动脉栓塞治疗肺隔离症安全,患者痛苦小,并发症少,是一种有效的治疗方法.     

Incidence of hospital-acquired infections associated with caesarean section

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to determine the incidence of post-caesarean infections in a Canadian community teaching hospital using computer algorithms designed for the diagnosis of nosocomial infections. Inferential chart review was done on 1335 women delivered by lower-segment caesarean section (793 primary and 542 secondary) at the Calgary General Hospital between January 1985 and April 1988. The overall infection rates were 42·1 and 46·1% for women delivered by primary and secondary caesarean section, respectively. Incisional surgical wound infection accounted for the largest proportion of post-caesarean infections found. Women delivered by primary caesarean section had significantly higher rates of endometritis, deep surgical wound infection and bacteraemia than those delivered by secondary section. All types of post-caesarean infection, except asymptomatic bacteriuria, caused the duration of the post-partum hospital stay to be significantly increased.     

肺表面活性物质治疗新生儿胎粪吸入综合征的临床研究

目的探讨肺表面活性物质（ＰＳ）治疗新生儿胎粪吸入综合征（ＭＡＳ）的有效性及临床价值。方法采用气管内滴入ＰＳ治疗８例ＭＡＳ患儿，其中６例接受ＰＳ２剂，２例接受ＰＳ３剂。结果给予首剂ＰＳ后１０分钟患儿青紫迅速消失，皮肤转红润，经皮测定血氧饱和度（ＴｃＳａＯ２）升高。３０分钟后患儿低氧血症迅速改善，动脉血氧分压、动脉血氧分压与吸入氧浓度比值、动脉肺泡血氧分压比值、呼吸机有效指数较治疗前显著增高，分别由原来的５２８±０９８ｋＰａ、８６６±３５２ｋＰａ、０１２±００６ｋＰａ及０１４±００６ｍｌ·ｋＰａ－１·ｋｇ－１增加到８９１±１４３ｋＰａ、１６８１±４１８ｋＰａ、０２１±００５ｋＰａ及０２６±００７ｍｌ·ｋＰａ－１·ｋｇ－１；而吸入氧浓度及平均气道压逐渐降低，由原来的０６８±０１９ｋＰａ及２２０±０４２ｋＰａ降低到０５３±００８ｋＰａ及１９３±０４８ｋＰａ。重复应用ＰＳ后亦有相似效果。结论ＰＳ能有效地改善ＭＡＳ患儿肺顺应性及氧合功能。重复应用ＰＳ可巩固和加强疗效。     

Nutritional Anemias

Prevention of nutritional deficiencies should be attained by the consumption of a good diet. Unfortunately, in the case of iron, this is not always possible, and it is advantageous to fortify food with iron. Milk-based formulas and cereals are the most commonly used iron-fortified products in infancy and early childhood. Bioavailability of iron from cereals is low and more clinical studies on the field are necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of iron-fortified cereals in infants and children of developing countries. Infections and excessive blood loss in infancy related to the use of fresh, pasteurized or powdered cow milk result in much of the anemia we currently see in industrialized countries. Vitamin A deficiency interacts with iron metabolism and recent intervention studies have shown that anemia in Vitamin A deficient children can be successfully treated with oral supplements.