["Open abdomen" in the treatment of necrosis in acute pancreatitis].

Eleven cases of acute necrotic pancreatitis had been treated by "open abdomen" at the author's departments. Nine patients survived, but 2 patients had been lost in MOF. Indication, technics and complications are discussed.

Empiric treatment of hospital-acquired lower respiratory tract infections with meropenem or ceftazidime with tobramycin: a randomized study. Meropenem Lower Respiratory Infection Group.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of intravenous empiric treatment with meropenem compared with ceftazidime-tobramycin in patients with hospital-acquired lower respiratory tract infections.

Design: Prospective, nonblind, randomized trial.

Setting: Multicenter trial conducted at 22 centers.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition by enalapril: a novel approach to reduce ischemia/reperfusion damage after experimental liver transplantation.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have proven to be effective in the reduction of ischemia/reperfusion damage after myocardial ischemia. Whether this favorable effect can be related to other models of ischemia and reperfusion has not yet been investigated. Therefore, we studied in a model of syngeneic liver transplantation in the rat the effect of recipient enalapril treatment on postischemic liver injury.

Prenatal diagnosis and management of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia.

Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) is an uncommon (1 in 2,000 livebirths) but serious disorder characterized by marked thrombocytopenia in the fetus and neonate. Platelet destruction is caused by a maternal antibody directed against a fetal platelet antigen inherited from the father and lacking in the mother's platelets. Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is the most devastating complication of NAIT, affecting approximately 20% of all proven cases, up to 50% of which occur antenatally.

Conditioning of liver grafts by donor bolus pretreatment with epoprostenol.

Despite improved preservation methods, graft dysfunction after liver transplantation continues to contribute considerably to postoperative morbidity and mortality. In clinical and experimental studies prostaglandin (PG)I2 analogs proved effective in the treatment of liver damage of different origin. Using in vivo fluorescence microscopy in a rat liver transplantation model, we studied the effect of donor bolus pretreatment with the PGI2 analog epoprostenol on hepatic graft revascularization.

A new therapeutic option for the treatment of pneumonia.

Patients with bacterial pneumonia often are treated empirically with parenteral broad-spectrum antimicrobials intended to cover potential gram-negative and gram-positive pathogens. However, beta-lactamase-mediated resistance has developed to many of these antimicrobials, particularly third-generation cephalosporins, and has led to the development of fourth-generation agents that are relatively beta-lactamase stable. The purpose of these studies was to compare the efficacy and safety of the fourth-generation agent, cefepime, with that of the third-generation agent, ceftazidime, in the treatment of hospitalized patients with moderate-to-severe bacterial pneumonia.

Impact of enalapril on microvascular perfusion and leukocyte adherence in a model of rat liver transplantation assessed by in vivo microscopy.

ACE inhibitors have been proven to be effective in the reduction of ischemia/reperfusion damage after myocardial ischemia. In an attempt to investigate this effect in a model of syngeneic liver transplantation in the rat, we compared a control group with an ACE inhibitor treatment group, in which enalapril was given i.v.

Participation of NMDA and non-NMDA excitatory amino acid receptors in the mediation of spinal reflex potentials in rats: an in vivo study.

1. The effect of various intravenously administered excitatory amino acid (EAA) antagonists on the dorsal root stimulation-evoked, short latency (up to 10 ms) spinal root reflex potentials of chloralose-urethane anaesthetized C1 spinal rats was studied, in order to gain information on the involvement of non-NMDA (AMPA/kainate; AMPA = alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-isoxazole-4-propionate) and NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors in their mediation. The competitive non-NMDA antagonist, 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulphamoyl-benzo(F)quinoxaline (NBQX; 1-32 mg kg-1), the non-competitive non-NMDA antagonist, 1-(amino)phenyl-4-methyl-7,8-methylendioxy-5H-2,3-benzodiazepine (GYKI 52466; 0.

Intravenous fleroxacin versus ceftazidime in the treatment of acute nonpneumococcal lower respiratory tract infections.

Fleroxacin, administered intravenously at a dosage of 400 mg once a day, was compared with ceftazidime, 0.5-2 g three times daily or 1-2 g twice daily, administered for 4-21 days, for treatment of nonpneumococcal lower respiratory tract infections. A total of 319 patients were enrolled and randomized to receive treatment with fleroxacin or ceftazidime in a 2:1 ratio.

White cell depletion of red cell and pooled random-donor platelet concentrates by filtration and residual lymphocyte subset analysis.

This study comparing the relative white cell (WBC)-depleting efficiency of single and double filtration used two filters and new, sensitive, and reliable methods for performing WBC counts on WBC-depleted blood products. A single filtration of red cell (RBC) concentrates with a cotton-wool filter reduced WBC content by 98.64 percent, but the range of residual WBCs was wide, and many filtered units still contained more than the theoretical immunizing dose of 5 to 10 x 10(6) WBCs.

Necrotizing fasciitis of the total abdominal wall after sterilization by partial salpingectomy. Case report and review of literature.

A case of necrotizing fasciitis with full-thickness loss of the entire abdominal wall is reported after an uncomplicated sterilization by bilateral partial salpingectomy through a minilaparotomy incision in a healthy young patient. Salvage was accomplished by early wide surgical debridement and multiple reconstructive procedures.

Electrophysiological studies with a 2,3-benzodiazepine muscle relaxant: GYKI 52466.

The effects of GYKI 52466, a new 2,3-benzodiazepine with muscle relaxant and anticonvulsant properties, were investigated and compared to those of midazolam in electrophysiological experiments. The effects of the drugs on the reflex potentials evoked by afferent nerve stimulation and recorded from the spinal roots in unanesthetized spinal cats were studied. GYKI 52466 exerted a strong inhibitory effect on the monosynaptic as well as the polysynaptic ventral root reflexes, while the dorsal root responses decreased slightly.

Effects of some centrally acting muscle relaxants on spinal root potentials: a comparative study.

The effects of intravenously administered mephenesin, tolperisone, baclofen, diazepam and midazolam on reflex activity were studied in unanesthetized spinal cats. Monosynaptic, as well as polysynaptic ventral root reflexes, the dorsal root potential and the dorsal root reflex were recorded simultaneously from L6-S1 segments. An analogue integrating method was developed for quantitative monitoring and recording ipsilateral spinal root potentials evoked by stimulation of the tibial nerve.

Effects of cyclosporine on systemic MHC expression. Evidence that non-T cells produce interferon-gamma in vivo and are inhibitable by cyclosporine.

The ability of lipopolysaccharide to induce major histocompatibility complex hyperexpression in vivo in a variety of mouse tissues--particularly kidney--and the effect of cyclosporine on this process were studied. MHC expression was measured by a radiolabeled antibody-binding assay using tissue homogenates, as well as by assessment of tissue sections by indirect immunoperoxidase staining. LPS administered to mice in two doses, 4 days apart, induced an increase in class I expression in several tissues but also induced an increase in class II expression in kidney.

Regulation of MHC expression in vivo. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide induces class I and II MHC products in mouse tissues by a T cell-independent, cyclosporine-sensitive mechanism.

The effect of injections of bacterial LPS on the expression of class I and II products of the MHC in mouse tissues was investigated. MHC products were assessed in tissue homogenates by radiolabeled antibody binding and in tissue sections by indirect immunoperoxidase (IIP) staining. In mice given two i.

Problems of uridine protection.

Various routes to synthesize 5'-O-dimethoxytrityl-O4-p-nitrophenylethyl- 2'-O-p-nitrophenylethylsulfonyluridine (7) as a useful intermediate in oligoribonucleotide synthesis have been investigated. The direct sulfonylation of 5'-dimethoxytrityl-O4-p-nitrophenylethyluridine (4) gave the best results despite the fact that 7 is formed in almost equal amounts with its 3'-NPES isomer (8) and the 2',3'-di-O-NPES derivative (6).