Meningococcal osteomyelitis in a premature infant.

The authors report a rare case of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis in a premature very low-birth weight infant caused by Neisseria meningitidis, a microorganism which occasionally causes arthritis, but is very rarely involved in bone infections. The strong teamwork of clinicians, the clinical microbiologist and the radiologist allowed the prompt formulation and confirmation of the clinical suspect (regardless of the paucity of symptoms and systemic signs), the rapid isolation of the microorganism and the prompt initiation of a specific therapy, thus obviating the need for a more invasive bone biopsy, which would have been hazardous considering the risks associated with an invasive procedure, and much higher in our case because of the young age of the patient and his prematurity. Moreover, this case confirms that early ultrasonographic examination may anticipate the diagnosis and the initiation of therapy in case of a clinical suspicion of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis, thus avoiding serious complications such as growth disorders or arrest, shortening or angular deformity, loss of motion and degenerative osteoarthritis.

Inner ear pressure changes modify ADH secretion in freely moving guinea pig.

The present study was designed to elucidate the relationship between endolymphatic pressure and plasma ADH levels in conscious guinea pigs. Plasma ADH (pADH) was measured in basal conditions and after having applied positive or negative pressure of 20 cmH2O to the inner ear. The experimental protocol was designed to avoid any interference on ADH release caused by anesthesia and surgical stress.

Prospective study of Yersinia enterocolitica infection in thalassemic patients.

We determined prospectively during a 12-month period the incidence, clinical characteristics and outcome of Yersinia enterocolitica infection in 144 thalassemic patients (mean age, 12.8 years) and compared them with 100 controls (mean age, 12.1 years).