Combination of caspofungin and an azole or an amphotericin B formulation in invasive fungal infections.

Objectives: Combination of caspofungin and another anti-fungal agent raise expectation of improved efficacy in severe fungal infections including failures to first line therapy.

Methods: We assessed the efficacy and safety of a combination therapy including caspofungin in 17 immunosuppressed or postoperative patients progressive despite standard anti-fungal therapy.

Results: The infections included aspergillosis (6), invasive candidiasis (9), mucormycosis (1) and Scedosporium pneumonia (1).

Hemodilution is an effective treatment for reperfusion edema after lung transplantation.

A 38-year-old patient underwent left single-lung transplantation for end-stage histiocytosis with secondary pulmonary hypertension and polycythemia. Despite use of an optimal lung graft and a total ischemia limited to 250 minutes, major pulmonary edema developed postoperatively. Hemodilution resulted in a quick recovery of lung function.

[Local fibrinolytic treatment in occlusions of the central retinal artery].

The effectiveness of thrombolytic agents used in local infusion has been demonstrated in the treatment of acute myocardial infarctions by several randomized trials. Thrombolytic therapy seems also to improve the prognosis of certain acute life-threatening brain stem strokes. Two cases of central retinal artery occlusion were treated with intracarotid urokinase injections.

[Moxalactam in complications of abdominal surgery].

The authors have used Moxalactam as single antibiotic therapy in a series of 20 patients with primary or secondary peritonitis in order to test its efficiency on aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Four early deaths and one late death not directly related to the peritoneal infectious process were recorded. In 95% of cases, the peritoneal infection was controlled by the association of Moxalactam and adequate surgery.