Spontaneous pneumomediastinum, a rare manifestation of clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis.

Clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) is a rare condition characterized by dermatomyositis skin lesions without clinically apparent muscle involvement. Respiratory involvement is common, occurring in about half of the cases. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum (PnM) is a rare, and often fatal, complication of CADM.

Pulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma-an atypical clinical presentation.

HIV-associated Kaposi's sarcoma is an angioproliferative neoplasia caused by infection with human herpesvirus 8. It typically presents with mucocutaneous involvement. Pulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma is rare, and an uncommon form of initial presentation of the disease.

Use of Brentuximab Vedotin in a Non-HIV Patient with Primary Effusion Lymphoma.

Unlabelled: Primary effusion lymphoma is a rare and aggressive large B-cell lymphoma presenting as malignant effusion with poor prognosis. Although it is more prevalent among HIV patients, it has also been described in non-HIV immunocompromised individuals. Given its rarity, there are no large randomized trials regarding the best therapeutic option.

Diagnosis of sleep apnea in patients with stable chronic heart failure using a portable sleep test diagnostic device.

Purpose: ApneaLink is a portable device for the screening of sleep apnea, a prevalent and underdiagnosed comorbidity in heart failure patients. A prospective cross-sectional study in patients with chronic heart failure was carried out to assess the sensitivity and specificity of apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) measurements using ApneaLink against the standard polysomnography test.

Methods: Adult patients with a prior hospitalization in an acute heart failure hospital unit were recruited for the study.

Insights into the relationship between antimicrobial residues and bacterial populations in a hospital-urban wastewater treatment plant system.

The relationship between antimicrobial residues, antibiotic resistance prevalence and bacterial community composition in hospital effluent and in the receiving wastewater treatment plant was studied. Samples from hospital effluent, raw inflow and final effluent of the receiving wastewater treatment plant were characterized for amoxicillin and ciprofloxacin resistance prevalence, content of heavy metals and antimicrobial residues and bacterial community structure, based on 16S rRNA gene PCR-DGGE analysis. The concentration of fluoroquinolones, arsenic and mercury was in general higher in hospital effluent than in raw inflow, while the opposite was observed for tetracyclines, sulfonamides and penicillin G.

Antibiotic resistance, antimicrobial residues and bacterial community composition in urban wastewater.

This study was based on the hypothesis that the occurrence of antimicrobial residues and antibiotic resistant bacteria in the sewage could be correlated with the structure and composition of the bacterial community and the antibiotic resistance loads of the final effluent. Raw and treated wastewater composite samples were collected from an urban treatment plant over 14 sampling dates. Samples were characterized for the i) occurrence of tetracyclines, penicillins, sulfonamides, quinolones, triclosan, arsenic, cadmium, lead, chromium and mercury; ii) antibiotic resistance percentages for tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin and amoxicillin and iii) 16S rRNA gene-DGGE patterns.

Does S-metolachlor affect the performance of Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP as bioaugmentation bacterium for atrazine-contaminated soils?

Atrazine (ATZ) and S-metolachlor (S-MET) are two herbicides widely used, often as mixtures. The present work examined whether the presence of S-MET affects the ATZ-biodegradation activity of the bioaugmentation bacterium Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP in a crop soil.

[Emphysema and lung volume reduction surgery--a case report].

Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) has been proposed as a palliative therapy in severe emphysema, with good results in lung function improvement, exercise capacity and quality of life. The authors present a case report of a 34 years old man with severe, heterogeneous lung emphysema submit to bilateral LVRS in 2000 January. Pre-surgical conditions, clinical and radiological evolution after surgery and for a 30 months follow up were analysed.

[Wegener's granulomatosis - a case report].

The Wegener granulomatosis (WG) is a rare vasculite which involves preferentially the upper airways, lungs and kidneys, although it can presents in a multissistemic form. The authors present a clinical case of WG, its diagnostic methodology and respective follow-up from de last two years and half. There are discussed the most often presentation forms of the disease, the importance of histologic results and the contribution of ANCA's determination for disease diagnosis and follow-up.