Patterns of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) infestation and container productivity measured using pupal and Stegomyia indices in northern Argentina.

A citywide control program of Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) mainly based on the use of larvicides reduced infestations but failed to achieve the desired target levels in Clorinda, northeastern Argentina, over 5 yr of interventions. To understand the underlying causes of persistent infestations and to develop new control tactics adapted to the local context, we conducted two pupal surveys in a large neighborhood with approximately 2,500 houses and recorded several variables for every container inspected in fall and spring 2007.

[Clinical and epidemiological analysis of rat bites in Buenos Aires].

We report 62 cases of rat bites that occurred between 2002 and 2008. Forty of these happened in Buenos Aires city, unrelated to social class or urban conditions. The bites occurring in daylight were related to invasion of the animal habitat by man, and to rat activity during the night.

Effects of a five-year citywide intervention program to control Aedes aegypti and prevent dengue outbreaks in northern Argentina.

Background: Dengue has propagated widely through the Americas. Most countries have not been able to maintain permanent larval mosquito control programs, and the long-term effects of control actions have rarely been documented.

Methodology: The study design was based on a before-and-after citywide assessment of Aedes aegypti larval indices and the reported incidence of dengue in Clorinda, northeastern Argentina, over 2003-2007.

[Study of Hantavirus seoul in a human and rodent population from a marginal area in Buenos Aires City].

A sero-epidemiological survey was conducted to detect evidence of the circulation of Hantavirus seoul. This virus of worldwide distribution is associated with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. A total of 106 samples from people who live in a marginal area in Buenos Aires City and 29 Rattus norvegicus captured in the surroundings of their houses were tested for specific antibodies.

Transjugular percutaneous inoue balloon mitral commissurotomy in a patient with inferior vena cava obstruction after liver transplantation.

Percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy was performed successfully via the transjugular approach in a patient with severe rheumatic mitral stenosis and obstruction of the inferior vena cava due to prior liver transplantation. This case demonstrates the advantage of the jugular approach in patients with difficult anatomy.

[Respiratory distress due to pulmonary hemorrhage in leptospirosis].

Two patients who lived in Buenos Aires suburbs died from leptospirosis in July 2000 and March 2001. They developed a nonspecific febrile illness followed by hemorrhagic pneumonia and respiratory distress in absence of typical manifestations such as jaundice, nephropathy, thrombocitopenia or hemorrhages in other organs. In the house and surroundings of one patient rodents were captured and three strains of leptospira, serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae were isolated.

Closure of the femoral vein puncture site after transcatheter procedures using Angio-Seal.

The use of anchor-based, collagen-derived vascular sealing devices in femoral vein punctures during right and left heart catheterizations or coronary interventions necessitating venous access for temporary pacemaker or hemodynamic monitoring has not been studied. We hypothesized that using these devices in the femoral vein would be practical and reliable. One hundred and ten consecutive patients undergoing right and left heart catheterization (56 patients, 51%) or coronary intervention (54 patients, 49%) were included in this study.

Platelet receptor glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibition with eptifibatide in a patient with thrombocytopenia after treatment with abciximab.

Clinical experience suggests that patients treated with the glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitor abciximab (ReoPro , Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana) may be at increased risk of thrombocytopenia. This case report details the successful use of the GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor eptifibatide (Integrilin , COR Therapeutics, South San Francisco, California) in a patient who developed acute thrombocytopenia (platelet count: 67,000/mm3) approximately 10 hours after initiation of abciximab therapy. Five hours after abciximab was discontinued, platelet count returned to normal (191,000/mm3) and eptifibatide was started because of persistent electrocardiographic evidence of ischemia.

Selective effects of tocainide in canine acute myocardial infarction.

We examined the in vivo electrophysiologic effects of tocainide in canine acute myocardial infarction. We compared the effects of tocainide in infarcted and non-infarcted zones. The left anterior descending coronary artery of 8 dogs was ligated and bipolar ventricular electrograms were recorded from a needle electrode placed transmurally in the infarcted zone and from electrodes in the non-infarcted zone.

Dextrorotatory isomer of sotalol: electrophysiologic effects and interaction with verapamil.

The dextrorotatory isomer of sotalol (d-sotalol) has class III antiarrhythmic properties with known action potential duration (APD) prolonging effects, and is largely devoid of beta-adrenergic blocking activity. We studied its electrophysiologic effects and the mechanism of its APD prolonging effects in sheep Purkinje fibers by means of standard microelectrode techniques. At all concentrations (10(-6) to 10(-4) mol/L), d-sotalol had no effect on Vmax.

Late potentials in normal subjects and in patients with ventricular tachycardia unrelated to myocardial infarction.

Fifty normal male and female athletes, or athletically active subjects, were evaluated, and a search for low-amplitude late potentials in the terminal part of ventricular activation was performed. Recordings from 3 normal men met the definition of abnormal late potentials, and were indistinguishable by present analytic techniques from those encountered in patients who have ventricular tachycardia (VT) after myocardial infarction (MI). Of 24 patients studied, 11 had VT, but only 2 had had an MI, which occurred in the remote past.

Endocarditis caused by Streptococcus morbillorum.

Although patients with nutritionally variant streptococcal endocarditis have been reported in recent years, the specific clinical features of this disease have not been well characterized. We report here the clinical and laboratory features of a particularly unusual case of persistent bacteremia caused by Streptococcus morbillorum , one of the nutritionally variant streptococci. The patient was successfully treated with a combination of penicillin and rifampin after two treatment failures.

Adult hypophosphatasia.

We have described a case of hypophosphatasia with a mild progressive course. This condition and its familial propensity may be more prevalent than recognized. Thus, family members of a patient with hypophosphatasia should be screened for this disorder.