Microbiological study of patients hospitalized for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AE-COPD) and the usefulness of analytical and clinical parameters in its identification (VIRAE study).

Purpose: Respiratory infection is the most common cause for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AE-COPD). The aim of this work was to study the etiology of the respiratory infection in order to assess the usefulness of the clinical and analytical parameters used for COPD identification.

Patients And Methods: We included 132 patients over a period of 2 years.

[Assessment of the antibiotic allergy questionnaire in the medical history].

Objectives: Antibiotic allergy questionnaire is a useful tool for prescribing antibiotics. The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence and clinical reliability of antibiotic allergy in medical records.

Patients And Method: Observational analysis of clinical records.

Anticardiolipin antibodies and dependence of a serum cofactor. A mechanism of thrombosis.

Objective: To evaluate the dependence on the serum cofactor of anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) in infectious and autoimmune diseases. We also studied their correlation with some clinical manifestations, specially thrombosis.

Methods: aCL were determined with a standard ELISA method, and a modified ELISA in which we substituted bovine serum albumin (BSA), gelatin and skim milk powder for fetal calf serum (FCS).

High grade atrioventricular heart block in 2 adults with systemic lupus erythematosus.

We describe 2 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and high grade atrioventricular (AV) block. In one patient anti-Ro antibodies were positive. This antibody has been associated with congenital complete heart block in children of mothers with SLE; however, its role in adult high grade AV block is not clear.

[Usefulness of cyclosporin in the treatment of pemphigus vulgaris. Apropos of 3 cases].

Cyclosporin is a useful drug in several autoimmune diseases. It has been recently evaluated, with varying results, in several dermatoses such as pemphigus vulgaris. Three cases of this condition treated with cyclosporin are reported.

[Infectious endocarditis in drug addicts: a study of 71 cases].

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a severe and relatively common condition in parenteral drug abusers (PDA). Seventy-one IE episodes in 59 PDAs admitted to the Hospital General Vall d'Hebron from August 1978 to December 1988 were evaluated. The disease basically involved young males, with a progressively increasing incidence throughout the decade and a higher frequency during August.

[Acute interstitial secondary to tricuspid endocarditis caused by Staphylococcus aureus].

The kidney diseases in patients with bacterial endocarditis and intravenous drug addicts (IVDA) tend to be of glomerular origin. Interstitial nephritis has been related to drug toxicity and only occasionally has it been described in other associations. We describe a 27-year-old patient IVDA with tricuspid endocarditis caused by S.