Acute pancreatitis associated with lamivudine therapy for chronic B hepatitis.

Hyperamylasemia is a common complication during lamivudine use. We report a case of a pancreatitis following lamivudine therapy. A careful monitoring of amylase levels during treatment with lamivudine is discussed, mainly in the first weeks, considering the cost of this exam and further complication.

Inconclusive results in conventional serological screening for Chagas' disease in blood banks: evaluation of cellular and humoral response.

Objective: To find the most reliable screening method for Trypanosoma cruzi infection in blood banks.

Material And Methods: Epidemiological data, lymphoproliferation assay, parasitological, conventional serological tests: immunofluorescence, haemagglutination, ELISA with epimastigote and trypomastigote antigens and reference serological tests: trypomastigote excreted-secreted antigens (TESA) blot and chemiluminescent ELISA assay with mucine from trypomastigote forms were applied to individuals with inconclusive serology, non-chagasic individuals and chronic chagasic patients.

Results: TESA blot had the best performance when used as a single test in all the groups.