Multiplex PCR for identification of methicillin-resistant staphylococci in the clinical laboratory.

A multiplex PCR assay for detection of the staphylococcal mecA gene (the structural gene for penicillin-binding protein 2a) was compared with agar dilution and disk diffusion susceptibility test methods for identifying methicillin resistance. The multiplex PCR assay combined two primer sets (mecA and 16S rRNA) in a single reaction. A total of 500 staphylococcal isolates (228 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and 272 isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci) from clinical specimens were studied.

Laboratory detection of fungemia.

Patients who are immunosuppressed, receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics, or with intravascular catheters in place are at risk for invasive fungal infections. In a significant number nosocomial fungal infections develop. The diagnosis of invasive fungal disease often relies on the detection of the etiologic agent using blood cultures.

Successful treatment of simultaneous pulmonary Pseudallescheria boydii and Aspergillus terreus infection with oral itraconazole.

Pseudallescheria boydii and Aspergillus terreus are unusual opportunistic fungal pathogens that are often resistant to chemotherapy with amphotericin B. We report a case of simultaneous invasive pulmonary infection with these organisms occurring in a bone marrow transplant recipient who was successfully treated with the oral azole itraconazole.

Atrioventricular conduction in dogs during anesthesia with isoflurane.

The effects of 1.25, 2.0, and 2.