The performance of an in-house nested-PCR technique for pleural tuberculosis diagnoses.

Introduction: This study evaluated the performance of an in-house nested-PCR system for the detection of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in pleural fluid, blood and urine samples from pleural effusion tuberculosis patients by health services physicians in Pernambuco, Brazil.

Methods: A prospective double-blind study with 37 hospitalized patients of both sexes, aged over 15, was used to investigate the diagnosis of pleural effusion. The criteria used to define the cases included the demonstration of bacillus in biological samples by smear or culture or by a granulomatous finding in the histopathological examination, associated with an evident response to specific treatments to each clinical situation.

Bronchiolitis associated with exposure to artificial butter flavoring in workers at a cookie factory in Brazil.

Objective: To report the cases of four patients with bronchiolitis caused by exposure to artificial butter flavoring at a cookie factory in Brazil.

Methods: We described the clinical, tomographic, and spirometric findings in the four patients, as well as the lung biopsy findings in one of the patients.

Results: All four patients were young male nonsmokers and developed persistent airflow obstruction (reduced FEV1/FVC ratio and FEV1 at 25-44% of predicted) after 1-3 years of exposure to diacetyl, without the use of personal protective equipment, at a cookie factory.

Validation of a case definition for leptospirosis diagnosis in patients with acute severe febrile disease admitted in reference hospitals at the State of Pernambuco, Brazil.

Introduction: Leptospirosis is often mistaken for other acute febrile illnesses because of its nonspecific presentation. Bacteriologic, serologic, and molecular methods have several limitations for early diagnosis: technical complexity, low availability, low sensitivity in early disease, or high cost. This study aimed to validate a case definition, based on simple clinical and laboratory tests, that is intended for bedside diagnosis of leptospirosis among hospitalized patients.

Exogenous lipoid pneumonia: importance of clinical history to the diagnosis.

Lipoid pneumonia is a rare disease resulting from the micro-aspiration of lipid formulations. Making a diagnosis of lipoid pneumonia requires a high degree of clinical suspicion. Herein, we report the case of a female patient with a history of breast cancer, presenting progressive dyspnea and cough, together with radiological findings of bilateral pulmonary infiltrate.