Severe Abdominal Wall Infection After Subcostal Transversus Abdominis Plane Block: A Case Report.

Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks are increasingly used for perioperative analgesia in patients undergoing abdominal surgeries. TAP blocks are easy to perform, reliably effective, and have an excellent safety profile. Nevertheless, we report a patient who underwent an open cholecystectomy and right hemicolectomy where a subcostal TAP block possibly contributed to an unusual abdominal wall abscess that lead to a prolonged and complicated postoperative course.

Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in serum samples using the polymerase chain reaction.

Conventional methods for the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections have serious limitations. To determine whether amplification of M. tuberculosis DNA in serum by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) might be a useful additional diagnostic tool, we tested 329 clinical specimens using primers specific for the IS6110 insertion sequence of the M.

Efficacy and tolerability of nisoldipine coat-core formulation in the treatment of essential hypertension: The South African Multicenter ANCHOR Study. Ambulatory Nisoldipine Coat-Core Hypertension Outpatient Response (ANCHOR) Investigators.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial was undertaken to assess the antihypertensive efficacy and tolerability of a controlled-release (Coat-Core [CC] tablet) formulation of the second-generation dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist, nisoldipine. Of the 208 patients with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension, two were excluded from the main efficacy analysis, and the rest randomized into one of four treatment groups, to receive either placebo, or nisoldipine CC at doses of 10, 20, or 30 mg once daily for 6 weeks, following a 4-week placebo run-in period. Blood pressure measurements (supine, standing, diastolic, and systolic) were taken at trough plasma levels, 24 h after previous dosing at 2-week intervals throughout the study.

Influence of carbon particles on superoxide and hydrogen peroxide radical release during the killing of Mycobacterium bovis by alveolar macrophages.

Setting: Diagnostic bronchoscopy performed on untreated African patients with tuberculosis revealed alveolar macrophages filled with carbon particles. It was postulated that this was the result of excessive inhalation of smoke from domestic fires and the consequent phagocytosis by alveolar macrophages.

Objective: To determine whether carbon particles influence the release of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide radicals by the alveolar macrophage during killing of Mycobacterium bovis.