Host defense mechanisms against pneumonia due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pneumonia due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa is associated with unusually high mortalities. Accordingly, efforts to define better the most important components of lung defenses against this infection are justified as a prelude to defining improved management strategies. In this report, a guinea pig model of experimental aspiration pseudomonas pneumonia was employed for studies of cellular and humoral mechanisms of pulmonary defense.

Reimplantation response in isografted rat lungs. Analysis of causal factors.

The function of transplanted lungs may be critically impaired in the early postoperative period by the reimplantation response. Several factors of the transplantation procedure, such as disruption of hilar structures (hilar stripping), stenotic anastomoses, and graft ischemia, are considered to cause this reimplantation response. In this study the individual contributions of these factors have been analyzed in rats, after isogeneic transplantation or hilar stripping of left lungs.

Endocarditis with the indwelling balloon-tipped pulmonary artery catheter in burn patients.

The postmortem finding of acute right-sided bacterial endocarditis in a burn patient monitored with an indwelling pulmonary artery (Swan-Ganz) catheter for 14 days prompted a review of burn autopsies in which the catheter had been used. Autopsies of six consecutive burn patients monitored with a pulmonary artery catheter and who then died showed septic or aseptic endocarditis. In two of the six patients, right-sided staphylococcal endocarditis was the anatomic cause of death.

The pulmonary-renal syndrome.

The pulmonary-renal syndrome is characterized by the coexistence of life-threatening pulmonary hemorrhage and renal disease in individuals without any concomitant destructive pulmonary disease or coagulopathy. Six patients fulfilled the above criteria despite diverse etiologies and pathomechanisms of disease. Two patients showed evidence of anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies, while three others showed immune complexes in their kidneys.

Pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia during immunosuppression.

A guinea pig model of immunosuppression was utilized to study the effects of immunosuppressive chemotherapy on lung response to challenge with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Study groups included normal guinea pigs, as well as guinea pigs that received a one-week course of cortisone acetate (CA, 100 mg/kg per day) plus 15 mg of cyclophosphamide (CTX)/kg per day (CA + LoCTX group) or 30 mg of cyclophosphamide/kg per day (CA + HiCTX group). Separate groups received CA or HiCTX alone.