Identification of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from ovine milk samples by PCR-RFLP of 16S rRNA and gap genes.

The identification of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) causing ovine infections remains problematic, although these bacteria are considered the main etiologic agents of subclinical mastitis in sheep and goats. In this study, 226 CNS isolates were collected from 2201 milking sarda sheep belonging to 15 flocks with high somatic cell count scores. All isolates were subjected to identification with the API Staph ID test, and then to the amplification of staphylococcal 16S rRNA and gap genes by PCR assays.

Field disinfestation trials against Culicoides in north-west Sardinia.

Bluetongue (BT) first affected Sardinia in August 2000, spreading rapidly across the island causing more than 6,000 outbreaks and significant economic damage. Culicoides imicola Kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) was the main vector of the disease and was also found to be the most abundant Culicoides species on Sardinia. During 2002, a field trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of an insecticide on local Culicoides populations in north-western Sardinia.

Coronary stenting in stable patients: identification of a low-risk subgroup that may not require adjunctive antiplatelet therapy.

The present study prospectively evaluated adjunctive antiplatelet therapy in patients without insulin-requiring diabetes during elective coronary stenting. Three hundred patients were randomized to one of three treatment groups: clopidogrel pretreatment, adjunctive abciximab, or control. Stenting was successful in 98% and no deaths occurred.

Left internal mammary artery intervention: the left radial approach with a new guide catheter.

Coronary intervention involving left internal mammary bypass grafts is an increasingly common challenge for the interventionalist. Although successful in a high percentage of patients, the femoral approach may be technically challenging. The shorter, more direct approach from the left radial artery has potential advantages in these cases.

Transradial coronary stenting: comparison with femoral access closed with an arterial suture device.

The purpose of this study was to determine if closure of the femoral artery access site using a percutaneous arterial suture device (Perclose, Menlo Park, CA) in patients undergoing coronary stenting can result in the same benefits as seen with radial artery access. A total of 218 consecutive patients underwent coronary stenting (109 femoral, 109 radial) by investigators experienced with each technique. The two groups were matched in terms of sex, age, clinical presentation (50% acute), number of vessels and lesions stented, and lesion morphology.