Publications by authors named "Mewis A"

It is hypothesized that the shape of the glucose curve during an oral glucose tolerance test is an early indicator of the risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this study, we aimed to examine the shape of plasma glucose response curves and study their relationship with insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion and components of the metabolic syndrome in end-pubertal obese girls. Eighty-one end-pubertal obese girls [median (range) age: 14.

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Autoantibodies to nuclear antigens, i.e. antinuclear antibodies (ANA), antibodies to double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and extractable nuclear antigens (ENA), are useful as diagnostic markers for a variety of autoimmune diseases.

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Background: Celiac Disease (CD) has a high prevalence worldwide. Because the disease may be underdiagnosed in Belgium, we wanted to evaluate the seroprevalence of CD in children and adolescents.

Patients And Methods: Serum samples from 1159 apparently healthy children and adolescents aged between 1-19 years, were prospectively collected in 2006 by 15 Belgian diagnostic laboratories.

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The antistreptolysin O antibody (ASLO) test is often requested in a clinical setting with limited evidence for its usefulness. For this reason, the diagnostic scenario in which ASLO plays an evidence-based role and the analytical performance of the test are critically appraised, taking into account the clinical need and the direct medical cost. Little or no scientific evidence was found for the use of ASLO in patients with pharyngitis, post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis and in adults with rheumatoid arthritis.

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The Aspergillus galactomannan test is a valuable tool in the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis. We hereby report a high rate of false-positive results by the Platelia Aspergillus galactomannan antigen test (Bio-Rad Laboratories) for patients treated with amoxicillin-clavulanate.

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The Belgian Institute of Public Health registered from 2000 to 2005 a yearly average of 6,790 hospital admissions for rotavirus gastroenteritis in children less than 5 years of age. Very efficacious rotavirus vaccines are available nowadays. The surveillance of hospitalisation due to rotavirus gastroenteritis is a good target for the follow-up of vaccine-related prevention.

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The Osiris and Sirscan 2000 systems are two semiautomated systems that can be used to read and interpret the results on disk diffusion agar plates. They are both used for determination of susceptibility to antimicrobial agents. The present study compared both systems versus the NCCLS standard method of visual reading with a ruler.

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The new telluride BaP(4)Te(2) was synthesized in form of gleaming black needles by heating stochiometric mixtures of the elements to 475 degrees C for 100 h. The crystal structure was determined by single-crystal Xray methods. BaP(4)Te(2) crystallizes orthorhombically, space group Pnma with a=16.

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Rothia dentocariosa is a rare cause of endocarditis. It occurs most frequently in patients with prior heart conditions. Although the clinical course is typically subacute, it has a high rate of complications.

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Presented here is the case of a 63-year-old patient with a Streptococcus pneumoniae-infected aneurysm extending from a persistent lobar pneumonia of the left lung into the thoracic aorta. The patient was successfully treated with surgery and high-dose penicillin, and he remained well at 6-month follow-up. A review of the English-language literature over the past 25 years revealed 22 cases of mycotic or infected aortic aneurysms due to Streptococcus pneumoniae; however, none of these cases resulted in a positive outcome for the patient.

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We describe a 74-year-old woman with the diagnosis of natural killer (NK)-cell leukaemia and autoimmune pathology. Four years previously, a diffuse large B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma had been diagnosed and treated effectively. Although NK-cell leukaemia has been thought to be a distinct highly aggressive clinicopathological entity, our case shows no further evolution at the present time.

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We evaluated indirect immunofluorescence (IF) using HEp-2000 slides, which are transfected with SS-A cDNA, for screening for anti-SS-A antibodies, by comparing it with counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE). A total of 2427 specimens were screened for IF reactivity and for SS-A precipitins, of which 1033 (43%) were negative on both IF and CIE. There were 1271 SS-A precipitin-negative specimens (52%) which were IF-positive but lacked the distinctive SS-A staining pattern.

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