A multi-centre prospective evaluation of the Check-Direct ESBL Screen for BD MAX as a rapid molecular screening method for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae rectal carriage.

Objective: A multiplex extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), performed directly on rectal swabs, was compared with a culture-based protocol to study the discrepancies between the two methods, and identify existing challenges to apply this assay in routine clinical practice. The secondary objective was to assess the performance of the qPCR.

Materials And Methods: In two Dutch teaching hospitals, 573 rectal swabs were collected prospectively.

New screening method to detect carriage of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in patients within 24 hours.

Rapid identification of patients colonized with carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) is essential to prevent introduction and the spread of CPE in the hospital. This article presents the results of a new screening method to detect patients colonized with CPE within 24h after hospital admission. From high-risk patients rectal and throat swabs were collected and incubated overnight, after which DNA was isolated and tested for the most prevalent CPE genes (KPC, NDM, OXA-48, VIM and IMP) by a ligation-mediated real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Endometrial cancer in a cohort screened for breast cancer.

In a cohort of 25,000 women aged 40-65 years at intake in a periodic screening programme for breast cancer the occurrence of endometrial cancer was studied during a follow-up period of up to 18 years. The authors examined whether they could confirm the existence of a number of relationships between this cancer and some reproductive and anthropometric factors which had been found in several case-control studies and in a few cohort studies. A comparison was made between 147 cases of endometrial cancer occurring during the period of follow-up and a random sample of 900 women taken from the cohort (334 being premenopausal and 566 postmenopausal on the day of intake).

Evaluation of a breast cancer screening programme--the DOM project.

In several studies it has been shown that breast cancer screening by means of mammography reduces breast cancer mortality. To ensure that when organising a service screening programme the aim is reached, it is necessary to control and monitor the process. This is possible by several methods.