The intrinsic antimicrobial activity of selected sclerosing agents in sclerotherapy.

Background: Detergent sclerosing agents may have intrinsic antimicrobial properties. In addition, they may have synergistic effects with other antibiotics such as penicillin. They may induce suppression of intrinsic resistance to penicillin in Staphylococcus aureus.

In vivo stability of heterogeneous expression classes in clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant staphylococci.

To define the stability of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in vivo, 22 isolates collected at one New York institution in 1989 and 1990 were studied. All 22 belonged to one of two distinct methicillin-resistant phenotypes (class 3 or 2), which were precisely identified as belonging to two distinct genotypes. Genotypic classification was based on restriction analysis of chromosomal DNA with EcoRI and HindIII and Southern analysis of ClaI digests using two DNA probes.

Quantitative bacterial tissue cultures from 209 prostatectomy specimens: findings and implications.

To define the prevalence of prostatic bacterial infection or colonization, tissue from 209 patients undergoing prostatectomy (204 transurethral and 5 suprapubic) was submitted for quantitative bacterial tissue cultures. Tissue from 44 patients (21 per cent) yielded positive, single organism bacterial growth. In an attempt to identify preoperatively this patient subgroup, multiple preoperative and intraoperative variables were examined.

Nosocomial hepatitis A infection in a paediatric intensive care unit.

Seven members of staff in a paediatric intensive care unit and two of their relatives developed hepatitis A over a period of five days. A 13 year old boy who was incontinent of faeces prior to his death, was presumed to be the source of infection. Two hundred and sixty seven other members of staff underwent serological testing and were given prophylactic pooled gamma globulin.

Laboratory diagnosis of mycoplasma infections.

The relative efficiency of different media for the isolation of M. pneumoniae is discussed, with emphasis on the utility of SP-4 medium as a primary medium for isolation. Media available for isolation and identification of ureaplasmas are also described.

Secondary amenorrhoea associated with Chlamydia trachomatis infection.

Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from the ovaries of a 39-year-old married woman who presented with secondary amenorrhoea. Treatment with doxycycline was given and menstruation resumed spontaneously.

Host discrimination of Mycoplasma pneumoniae proteinaceous immunogens.

The immune response of experimentally infected hamsters and human patients to Mycoplasma pneumoniae was examined by radioimmunoprecipation in conjunction with gel electrophoresis and fluorography. Both intrinsically and extrinsically labeled mycoplasma proteins were coincubated with acute and convalescent sera in a radioimmunoprecipitation assay. Two M.

Early pregnancy testing: a comparison of hemagglutination inhibition and radioreceptor assay.

Two methods of early pregnancy testing, Neocept hemagglutination inhibition assay, and Biocept-G radioreceptor assay, were compared using 508 female patients from whom both urine and serum specimens were submitted for routine testing. A conventional urine HAI test was also used to support results. Neocept and biocept-G were found to be equally effective, detecting 98% and 96% respectively of pregnant patients.

Postpericardiotomy syndrome in adults: incidence, autoimmunity and virology.

While continuing a study of immunologic and virologic aspects of the postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) in infants and children, we undertook a companion study in adults. Whereas the incidence in 119 children was 27.8%, as is usual for our hospital, the incidence in 142 adults was 17.

Viral illness and the postpericardiotomy syndrome. A prospective study in children.

Postoperative fever and pericardial-pleural reaction, designated postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS), is a common complication of cardiac surgery involving entry into the pericardium. To determine whether the etiology of PPS is viral or immunologic, we undertook a prospective, triple-blind study of consecutive long-term survivors of intrapericardial surgery in the pediatric age group. We evaluated clinical evidence of syndrome and concurrent appearance of antiheart antibody (AHA) by indirect immunofluorescence and antiviral antibody (AVA) by complement fixation in sera preoperatively and serially postoperatively.

Arthralgia associated with acute urinary retention. A syndrome of probable viral etiology.

Four patients are described in whom paresthesia and arthralgia developed in association with acute urinary retention. Neurologic and musculoskeletal complaints persisted for varying periods, up to five year, after cessation of urinary symptoms. Significantly elevated titers to Herpes simplex and Herpes zoster viruses were observed in three and four subjects, respectively, although none exhibited cutaneous lesions of herpetic infection.

Herpes simplex in the amniotic fluid of an unaffected fetus.

A woman with a 7-year history of herpes progenitalis was delivered by cesarean section after herpes simplex virus was isolated from the cervix 2 weeks prior to delivery. No overt signs of herpes progenitalis had been observed during this pregnancy. At amniocentesis done the day of delivery to assess fetal maturity, herpes simplex virus was isolated from the amniotic fluid.

Parainfluenza type 3 in a transplant unit.

We observed an epidemic of parainfluenza type 3 viral infection in a renal transplantation service among 16 recent transplant recipients. To assess the effect of infection on transplant function, we retrospectively compared the infected patients with a matched, uninfected control group. In addition to symptoms of a mild upper respiratory tract infection associated with the epidemic, there was an increase in the frequency of acute rejection episodes during the period of infection in the infected group.

Anaerobic bacteriuria in renal transplantation.

Renal allograft recipients were studied prospectively utilizing improved culture techniques to investigate anaerobic bacteriuria. The study population was compared with a population of patients with chronic renal insufficiency and end stage renal disease. The over-all incidence of anaerobic urinary tract infection was 7.

The postpericardiotomy syndrome then and now.

The postpericardiotomy syndrome is a febrile illness with pericardial and pleural reaction that either persists or appears beyond the 1st postoperative week. We believe that it begins in the 1st week after intrapericardial cardiac surgery, and that clinical signs of illness correlate with appearance of AHA and with significant rise in titer to AVA. Our present working hypothesis is that myocardial damage with bleeding into the pericardial sac at the time of surgery combines with concurrently acquired or reactivated viral illness to set the stage for the syndrome.

Temperature-sensitive mutants of Streptococcus pneumoniae. I. Preparation and characterization in vitro of temperature-sensitive mutants of type I S. pneumoniae.

After exposure of type I Streptococcus pneumoniae to nitrosoguanidine, 13 temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants were selected that were restricted in capacity to form colonies on blood agar at 38 C. Whereas colony formation by the type I parent (ts+) was unaffected by a temperature of as high as 39 C, the ts mutants exhibited a spectrum of temperature sensitivity in which colony formation was inhibited significantly at 36 C, 37 C, 38 C, or 39 C. Growth of ts mutants at 38 C in broth was reduced or delayed relative to that of ts organisms under identical conditions.

Persistent infection of cells in culture by respiratory syncytial virus.

The virus-cell relationship of RS virus and the HEp-2 cell line has been examined. The production of cytopathic effect (c.p.

Experimental production of respiratory tract infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae in rhesus monkeys.

Knowledge of the pathogenesis of pneumonia due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae has been derived primarily from experimental infection of rodents. As part of an effort to establish a model with a closer resemblance to man, three seronegative, young, adult rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were inoculated with M. pneumoniae (10(7.

Immunologic and virologic studies in the postpericardiotomy syndrome.

A prospective, triple-blind study was undertaken to determine whether antiheart antibody or a rise in titer to a virus occurred in patients after intrapericardial surgery and, if so, whether either was related to clinical evidence of the postpericardiotomy syndrome. In 257 patients, AHA in high titer appeared in 62 (24%), all of whom had the syndrome. None of the 102 patients with no AHA had the syndrome.

The protean manifestations of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in adults.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a well recognized respiratory pathogen in children and young adults. In addition, M. pneumoniae infections may also involve other organ systems.

Presumptive speciation of Streptococcus bovis and other group D streptococci from human sources by using arginine and pyruvate tests.

A simplified method for speciation of group D streptococci is described. A total of 4,156 streptococcal isolates from human clinical material was tested for ability to hydrolyze esculin in the presence of 40% bile, ferment pyruvate, hydrolyze arginine, and grow in media containing 40% bile or 6.5% NaCl.