A Heart Gone Bananas: Allergy-Induced Coronary Vasospasm due to Banana (Kounis Syndrome).

Kounis syndrome encompasses a variety of cardiovascular signs and symptoms associated with mast cell activation in the setting of allergic or hypersensitivity and anaphylactic or anaphylactoid insults. It can manifest as coronary vasospasm, coronary, or in-stent thrombosis, and acute myocardial infarction with plaque rupture. Various medications as well as foods including fish, shellfish, mushroom, kiwi, and rice pudding have been implicated as causal agents.

Falsely decreased vancomycin caused by rheumatoid factor: A case report.

Background: Vancomycin is associated with potential nephrotoxicity and trough concentrations need to be monitored in certain patients. Falsely decreased vancomycin measurement may result in overtreatment and need to be identified promptly by clinicians and pharmacists to avoid toxicities.

Methods And Results: We report a case of rheumatoid factor-mediated falsely low vancomycin measurement with Abbott particle-enhanced turbidimetric inhibition immunoassay (PETINIA) method.

Prognostic Value of SARS-CoV-2 Anti-RBD IgG Antibody Quantitation on Clinical Outcomes in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients.

Background: Antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2 can be used as an indicator of recent or past vaccination or infection. However, the prognostic value of antibodies targeting the receptor binding protein (anti-RBD) in hospitalized patients is not widely reported.

Purpose: Determine prognostic impact of SARS-CoV-2 antibody quantification at the time of admission on clinical outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Native vs Prosthetic Valve Infective Endocarditis: A Case Report and Systemic Literature Review Comparing Patient Presentation, Treatment Modalities, Clinical Outcomes, and Diagnostic Laboratory Testing.

is a rare cause of fungal endocarditis that affects both native and prosthetic valves. It is associated with a high mortality rate if not diagnosed early and treated with a combination of antifungal therapy and surgical intervention. We present a case of a 47-year-old man with histoplasmosis infective endocarditis.

β-Blocker premedication does not increase the frequency of allergic reactions from coronary CT angiography: Results from the Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Consortium.

Background: β-Blockers are often used for heart rate control during coronary CT angiography (CTA). Increased frequency and severity of allergic reactions to radiocontrast media (RCM) have been reported with concomitant use of β-blockers.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine whether there is a higher incidence of allergic reactions to low-osmolar nonionic RCM in patients undergoing coronary CTA with concomitant β-blockers and to define the overall incidence and severity of allergic reactions in patients undergoing coronary CTA with and without a history of allergy to RCM.

Eosinophilic and neutrophilic leukemoid reaction in a woman with spindle cell sarcoma: a case report.

Introduction: We report a case of a patient with marked eosinophilia and neutrophilia as a manifestation of a spindle cell sarcoma.

Case Presentation: A 41-year-old African American woman presented with an enlarging, painful mass in her right knee area. Four years previously, she had had a mass similar to this diagnosed as an osteosarcoma, and had undergone a radical resection and hinge-knee replacement.

In vitro susceptibility of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) to fosfomycin.

We evaluated the in vitro activity of fosfomycin against 75 clinical isolates of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Using the NCCLS breakpoint for susceptibility of urinary tract isolates to fosfomycin (MIC > or = 256), 51 out of 52 Enterococcus faecium and all Enterococcus faecalis isolates tested were susceptible or intermediate to fosfomycin.

Variability in the binding of anti-MAG and anti-SGPG antibodies to target antigens in demyelinating neuropathy and IgM paraproteinemia.

Densitometry of immunostained Western blots or thin layer chromatograms and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were used to compare the relative strengths of IgM binding to myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG), P0 glycoprotein, peripheral myelin protein-22 (PMP-22), sulfate-3-glucuronyl paragloboside (SGPG), and other potential target antigens in a series of eleven patients with sensory or sensorimotor demyelinating neuropathy and IgM paraproteinemia. The IgM from all patients exhibited reactivity with both MAG and SGPG, and there was a statistically significant correlation between the overlay assays and ELISAs for measuring the strength of IgM binding to MAG and to SGPG. However, the data revealed variations in the relative strengths with which the antibodies bound to the potential target antigens and heterogeneity in their fine specificities.

The myelin-associated glycoprotein of the peripheral nervous system in trembler mutants contains increased alpha 2-3 sialic acid and galactose.

The myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) exhibits an abnormally high apparent molecular weight in sciatic nerve, but not in brain, of dysmyelinating trembler mutants (Inuzuka et al.: J Neurochem 44:793-797, 1985). Antibodies to the large and small isoforms of MAG (L- and S-MAG) and probes for oligosaccharide structure were used to determine if this was due to overexpression of L-MAG or increased glycosylation.

Recent advances in toxic shock syndrome.

The pathogenesis and treatment of toxic shock has become clearer even as its epidemiology has evolved. Nonmenstrual cases due to Staphylococcus aureus can be difficult to diagnose and treat. Invasive Streptococcus pyogenes infections are life threatening.

Idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia--an analysis of five patients with unexplained opportunistic infections.

Background: Although patients with idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia and serious opportunistic infections have been described previously, the clinical and immunologic features of this condition have not been well defined.

Methods: We studied in detail five patients with idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia. The studies included serologic testing, culture, and polymerase chain reaction for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) types 1 and 2, serologic testing for the human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) types I and II, lymphocyte phenotyping, immunoglobulin quantitation, and lymphocyte-transformation assays, as well as attempts to isolate a retroviral agent.

The clinical spectrum of endophthalmitis: incidence, predisposing factors, and features influencing outcome.

Endophthalmitis is a virulent ocular inflammation typically developing suddenly and progressing rapidly. To better understand the incidence and factors predisposing to infection and influencing outcome, records of 114 patients with endophthalmitis hospitalized at one institution from 1980 to 1986 were reviewed. An infectious origin was confirmed in 79 patients (69%).

Antibiotic therapy of life-threatening infectious diseases in the emergency department.

Initial therapy in acutely ill septic patients is necessarily empiric. Although a specific etiologic infectious diagnosis is rarely made in an acute situation, a treatment decision must be made and must be developed from history, physical examination, and minimal laboratory and roentgen studies. Three life-threatening syndromes are discussed: febrile-neutropenic patients with cancer, immunosuppressed patients with fever and lung infiltrates, and patients with acute community-acquired meningitis.

Exfoliation of the beta-adrenergic receptor and the regulatory components of adenylate cyclase by cultured rat glioma C6 cells.

Cultured rat glioma C6 cells exfoliate membrane vesicles which have been termed 'exosomes' into the culture medium. The exosomes contained both stimulatory and inhibitory GTP-binding components of adenylate cyclase (the stimulatory, Gs, and the inhibitory, Gi, regulatory components) and beta-adrenergic receptors but were devoid of adenylate cyclase activity. It was therefore apparent that the catalytic component of adenylate cyclase was either not exfoliated or was inactivated during the exfoliation process.

Synaptic effects of the synthetic pyrethroid resmethrin in rat brain in vitro.

Resmethrin (30 microM) induced release of transmitters was not affected by manipulation of the Na+ current with either choline or tetrodotoxin agents which readily reversed the effects of veratridine, deltamethrin and cypermethrin. Resmethrin (I50: 2.2 microM) inhibited the ATP dependent uptake of Ca2+ but deltamethrin and cypermethrin were much less effective.

The association of Streptococcus bovis fecal carriage and colon neoplasia: possible relationship with polyps and their premalignant potential.

We designed a study to evaluate the fecal carrier rate of Streptococcus bovis in patients with endoscopically proven colonic polyps. Benign polyps (n = 63), i.e.

Mumps arthritis: a review of the literature.

Arthropathy is an unusual but significant complication of mumps viral infection. Predominantly affecting young adult males, large and small joint involvement occur before, after, or in the absence of parotitis. Fever, leukocytosis, and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate accompany an occasionally protracted course.