Serum thyrotropin concentration as a biochemical predictor of thyroid malignancy in patients presenting with thyroid nodules.

Purpose: Serum thyrotropin (TSH) is a well-established growth factor for thyroid nodules and suppression of TSH concentrations by administering exogenous thyroxine may interfere with the growth of established nodules as well as the formation of new thyroid nodules. The aim of this study was to investigate whether serum TSH at presentation is a predictor of thyroid malignancy in patients with thyroid nodules.

Methods: A total of 565 patients without overt thyroid dysfunction, who presented with palpable thyroid nodule(s) between 1988 and 2004 and underwent at least one fine-needle aspiration biopsy, were retrospectively evaluated.

Outbreak caused by a multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae clone carrying blaVIM-12 in a university hospital.

From November 2006 to April 2007, nine nonrepetitive isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae with reduced susceptibility or resistance to carbapenems were recovered from clinical specimens from separate patients hospitalized in a tertiary care hospital. The imipenem-EDTA synergy test was positive for all isolates. PCR, sequencing, and transferability experiments revealed the novel bla(VIM-12) metallo-beta-lactamase gene, which was plasmid mediated and located in a class 1 integron.