Prognostication via early computed tomography head in patients treated with targeted temperature management after cardiac arrest.

Background: We evaluated computed tomography head (CTH) imaging obtained prior to targeted temperature management (TTM) in patients after cardiac arrest, and its role in prognostication.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study in a tertiary-care hospital, 341 adults presenting with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest received a CTH prior to TTM. Associations between outcomes and neuroimaging variables were evaluated with Chi-square analysis for significant associations that yielded a composite neuroimaging score-Tennessee Early Neuroimaging Score (TENS).

Major Complications Associated with Conventional Transbronchial Needle Aspiration.

Objectives: Transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) is a widely used sampling technique for diagnosis and staging of lesions centered around bronchoscopically accessible airways. We report our single-institution experience of complications associated with conventional TBNA (C-TBNA) performed in 606 consecutive cases.

Methods: Electronic medical records with bronchoscopy log data of C-TBNAs performed from January 2003 to December 2016 were assessed.

Effect of Electroacupuncture Rehabilitation in Transverse Myelitis: A Case Report.

A 32-year-old male diagnosed with transverse myelitis in 2013 came to our clinic in 2015 with complaints of paraplegia, sensory disturbances, pain, exertional dyspnea, poor quality of sleep, emotional instability, and depression. This was a recurrent attack that had been exacerbated by post-traumatic stress. Owing to pain and functional disabilities, he was struggling to actively participate in the treatment modalities offered at our center.

Closing Domestic Nutrient Cycles Using Microalgae.

This study demonstrates that microalgae can effectively recover all P and N from anaerobically treated black water (toilet wastewater). Thus, enabling the removal of nutrients from the black water and the generation of a valuable algae product in one step. Screening experiments with green microalgae and cyanobacteria showed that all tested green microalgae species successfully grew on anaerobically treated black water.

Selecting suitable solid organ transplant donors: Reducing the risk of donor-transmitted infections.

Selection of the appropriate donor is essential to a successful allograft recipient outcome for solid organ transplantation. Multiple infectious diseases have been transmitted from the donor to the recipient via transplantation. Donor-transmitted infections cause increased morbidity and mortality to the recipient.

Chronic granulomatous invasive fungal sinusitis: an evolving approach to management.

Background: Chronic granulomatous invasive fungal sinusitis (CGIFS) is rare and a consensus on ideal management is lacking. We present an extensive case managed successfully with a conservative approach.

Methods: Case report and literature review.

Contrasting patterns of viral load response in transplant recipients with BK polyomavirus DNAemia on leflunomide therapy.

Background: Reduction in immunosuppression is considered the therapy of proven benefit for BKV infection in renal transplantation, but the use of leflunomide has also been reported. It was observed at this center that the patterns of viral load response while on leflunomide appear to fall into two distinct types.

Methods: Medical records of 22 kidney and kidney-pancreas recipients at a single center who received leflunomide therapy for BKV DNAemia were reviewed.

Utility of leflunomide in the treatment of complex cytomegalovirus syndromes.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) viremia that is resistant or refractory to the standard antiviral therapy still constitutes a major threat to high-risk transplant recipients. In addition, multiple CMV recurrences may lead to neutropenia because of repeated courses of therapy with ganciclovir derivatives. Leflunomide, a drug for rheumatoid arthritis, has been reported to have anti-CMV activity.

Excellent visual outcome following Aspergillus flavus endogenous endophthalmitis-farmer's lung disease.

Introduction: The purpose is to report an eye with endogenous Aspergillus flavus endophthalmitis that achieved a good visual outcome following early and aggressive management.

Methods: A 76-year-old male recently hospitalized for allergic Aspergillus pneumonitis after cleaning out a grain bin presented with reduced vision and anterior chamber and vitreous inflammation. The patient was treated with intravenous amphotericin and a pars plana vitrectomy with intravitreal amphotericin, and the vitreous biopsy sent for histopathological and microbial analysis.

New onset of idiopathic bilateral ear tics in an adult.

Tic disorders are commonly considered to be childhood syndromes. Newly presenting tic disorders during adulthood are uncommon and mostly described in relation to an acquired brain lesion or as incidental tics, particularly in context with other neurological or psychiatric diseases. Tic disorder involving the ears is extremely uncommon with only few studies in English literature.

Rheumatic complications of human immunodeficiency virus infection in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy: emergence of a new syndrome of immune reconstitution and changing patterns of disease.

Objective: To describe the impact of the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on the nature and frequency of rheumatic complications in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients.

Methods: Case report and systematic review of a newly described syndrome of rheumatic immune reconstitution syndrome and prospective longitudinal cohort study analyzing the frequency and nature of rheumatic complications in the setting of HIV infection from 1989 through 2000.

Results: A newly described syndrome of either the de novo appearance or the exacerbation of clinically occult autoimmunity following immune reconstitution from HAART is described.

Multicenter evaluation of BBL CHROMagar MRSA medium for direct detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from surveillance cultures of the anterior nares.

Active surveillance for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is among the strategies recommended by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America for control of nosocomial MRSA infections. Infection control and laboratory personnel desire rapid, sensitive, and inexpensive methods to enhance surveillance activities. A multicenter study was performed to evaluate a new selective and differential chromogenic medium, BBL CHROMagar MRSA (C-MRSA) medium (BD Diagnostics, Sparks, MD), which enables recovery and concomitant identification of MRSA strains directly from nasal swab specimens taken from the anterior nares.

Pneumonia due to Cryptococcus neoformans in a patient receiving infliximab: possible zoonotic transmission from a pet cockatiel.

The use of humanized antibody against tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) may increase the risk of various opportunistic infections, including tuberculosis and fungal infections. We report a case of cryptococcal pneumonia in a patient who was taking infliximab for rheumatoid arthritis. A temporally related exposure history raised the possibility that our patient acquired the infection from his pet cockatiel.