Rahnella aquatilis bacteremia in a patient with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Rahnella aquatilis infections are rare. We report the case of a 46-y-old African-American male with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia who had R. aquatilis bacteremia after beginning reinduction chemotherapy.

Significant post-transplant hypogammaglobulinemia in six heart transplant recipients: an emerging clinical phenomenon?

Background: The recent development of powerful agents such as mycophenolate mofetil and tacrolimus has altered current regimens for the prevention and treatment of allograft rejection. Questions have been raised about these newer regimens in terms of susceptibility to opportunistic infections and effects on host defenses. Severe hypogammaglobulinemia has been infrequently described in solid organ transplant recipients, but has been recently noted in six heart transplant recipients at one center, of whom five were receiving a combination of tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisone.

Rapid diagnosis of Histoplasma capsulatum endocarditis using the AccuProbe on an excised valve.

Histoplasma capsulatum is an infrequent but serious cause of endocarditis. The definitive diagnosis requires culture, which may require a long incubation. We demonstrated the ability of the Histoplasma capsulatum AccuProbe to accurately identify this organism when applied directly on an excised valve that contained abundant yeast forms consistent with H.

Effect of intracameral acetylcholine on latanoprost in preventing ocular hypertension after phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of intracameral acetylcholine on latanoprost in preventing ocular hypertension in the early period after phacoemulsification with posterior chamber intraocular lens (PC IOL) implantation.

Setting: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong, China.

Methods: Patients with uncomplicated cataract having phacoemulsification with PC IOL implantation were included in this prospective randomized double-masked clinical trial.

Immediate diode laser peripheral iridoplasty as treatment of acute attack of primary angle closure glaucoma: a preliminary study.

Purpose: To study the efficacy and safety of diode laser peripheral iridoplasty as a first-line treatment of acute primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) without the use of systemic anti-glaucoma medications.

Patients And Methods: Nine consecutive patients with acute PACG were recruited into the study. Each patient received topical pilocarpine (4%), timolol (0.

Nevus of Ota: a new classification based on the response to laser treatment.

Background And Objective: For 60 years, Tanino's classification has been used to classify the extent of nevus of Ota. However, such classification not only fails to address variants such as phacomatosis pigmentovascularis but also cannot be used to predict the therapeutic outcome. Our objective is to retrospectively study our series of laser-treated patients with the aim of re-classifying nevus of Ota, so that such important issues can be taken into account.

Weissella confusa (basonym: Lactobacillus confusus) bacteremia: a case report.

Infection with Lactobacillus is rare, and only a handful of species have been identified as being clinically significant: Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Lactobacillus leichmannii. The literature contains one case report of bacteremia caused by Weissella confusa (basonym: Lactobacillus confusus), but the clinical significance of the infection was unclear. We describe a case of W.

Absence of trabecular meshwork-inducible stretch response (TISR)/oculomedin gene and proximal promoter mutation in primary open angle glaucoma patients.

We investigated the coding exon and promoter sequence in the trabecular meshwork-inducible stretch response (TISR)/oculomedin gene for mutations in Chinese primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) subjects. The entire TISR/oculomedin coding sequence, together with 138 bp of promoter sequence 5' to the start codon and 170 bp of the 3' untranslated region in 110 Chinese POAG patients and 108 unrelated control subjects without glaucoma, aged 50 years or above, were screened for alterations by DNA sequencing. One heterozygous sequence alteration, K28E, was identified in one control subject, and two homozygous sequence alterations, K28K and 135+36delC, were universally found in every sample.

A retrospective analysis of complications in the treatment of nevus of Ota with the Q-switched alexandrite and Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers.

Background: Studies on the use of Q-switched alexandrite (QS alex) and QS Nd:YAG lasers in the treatment of nevus of Ota were limited to case reports and small series. There was no study that looked at the complication rate of these systems.

Objective: To retrospectively study the complication rate of nevus of Ota patients that were treated with QS alex laser, QS Nd:YAG laser, or a combination of both.

Regulators of membrane trafficking and Mycobacterium tuberculosis phagosome maturation block.

The biogenesis and maturation of phagosomes is an area of study which has been employing aspects of proteomic analyses and variations on that theme by identifying components on isolated organelles and following their dynamic changes and interactions with the endocytic pathway. In the case of Mycobacterium tuberculosis phagosome, the arrest of its maturation in infected macrophages, referred to in classical texts as the inhibition of phagosome-lysosome fusion, represents a phenomenon that is used to functionally dissect the phagosomal maturation pathway. In this review, we summarize the recent studies on regulators of membrane trafficking and other organelle components in the context of phagosomal biogenesis and mycobacterial phagosome maturation arrest.

Efficacy and safety of inferior 180 degrees goniosynechialysis followed by diode laser peripheral iridoplasty in the treatment of chronic angle-closure glaucoma.

Purpose: To report the efficacy and safety of inferior 180 degrees goniosynechialysis followed by diode laser peripheral iridoplasty in the treatment of chronic angle-closure glaucoma with total synechial angle closure.

Methods: Five patients with chronic angle-closure glaucoma and total synechial angle closure whose intraocular pressures were higher than 21 mm Hg while taking maximally tolerated medications underwent goniosynechialysis followed by diode laser peripheral iridoplasty to the inferior half of the angle. Intraoperative complications, postoperative visual acuity, intraocular pressures, and complications were evaluated.

Diagnosis and management of infections involving implantable electrophysiologic cardiac devices.

Background: Optimal treatment of infections related to implantable electrophysiologic cardiac devices is poorly defined.

Objective: To describe the clinical presentation, treatment, and outcome of patients with such infections.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Use of an HBV-DNA hybridization assay in the evaluation of equivocal hepatitis B virus tests in solid organ donors.

Context: Serological markers for the hepatitis B virus are routinely used in the evaluation of potential organ donors. However, serological tests can be associated with significant false or equivocal results and may not be indicative of the true risk of hepatitis B infection. Studies have recently questioned the significance of an isolated hepatitis B core antibody test in evaluating the suitability of solid organs for transplantation.

The association between cigarette smoking and ocular diseases.

Objective: To review the effect of smoking on common ocular disorders.

Data Sources: Medline literature search, 1966 to 1999.

Study Selection: The following key words were used: smoking; Graves' disease, age-related macular degeneration; glaucoma; cataract.

Efficacy and safety of the Ahmed glaucoma valve implant in Chinese eyes with complicated glaucoma.

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the Ahmed glaucoma valve implant in Chinese eyes with complicated glaucomas.

Methods: This retrospective study reviewed the final intraocular pressure, visual outcome, and incidence of complications in all patients with the Ahmed glaucoma valve implant performed at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, between June 1996 and November 1998.

Results: A total of 65 eyes from 60 patients were treated with the Ahmed glaucoma implant.

Truncations in the TIGR gene in individuals with and without primary open-angle glaucoma.

Purpose: To investigate the coding exons in the trabecular meshwork-induced glucocorticoid response protein (TIGR) gene for mutations in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in Chinese subjects.

Methods: Ninety-one Chinese patients with POAG and 113 of their family members without glaucoma were screened for sequence alterations in the TIGR gene by polymerase chain reaction, conformation-sensitive gel electrophoresis, and DNA sequencing. One hundred thirty-two unrelated individuals without glaucoma, aged 50 years or more, were studied as control subjects.

Latanoprost versus timolol gel to prevent ocular hypertension after phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of latanoprost and timolol gel in preventing ocular hypertension in the early period after phacoemulsification and posterior chamber intraocular lens (PC IOL) implantation.

Setting: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, China.

Methods: This prospective randomized double-masked clinical trial comprised patients with uncomplicated cataract having phacoemulsification with PC IOL implantation.

The Shigella flexneri bacteriophage Sf6 tailspike protein (TSP)/endorhamnosidase is related to the bacteriophage P22 TSP and has a motif common to exo- and endoglycanases, and C-5 epimerases.

The temperate bacteriophage Sf6 infects Shigella flexneri strains of serotype X or Y, converting them into serotypes 3a or 3b, respectively. The tailspike protein (TSP) of Sf6 possesses endo-1,3-alpha-L-rhamnosidase (endorhamnosidase) activity which results in cleavage of the lipopolysaccharide O-antigen receptor during the adsorption of the phage to the cell surface. When used in Southern hybridization, a P22 gene 9 (encoding P22 TSP) DNA probe hybridized with restriction fragment Pstl-7 of Sf6.