Experience With Four-Month Rifapentine and Moxifloxacin-Based Tuberculosis Treatment in San Francisco.

Background: A multicountry randomized controlled trial has demonstrated that pan-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) can be successfully treated with a 4-month regimen of daily isoniazid, rifapentine, moxifloxacin, and pyrazinamide (HPMZ). We piloted HPMZ in San Francisco (SF) using a modified version of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HPMZ treatment guidelines.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort, patients consecutively referred to SF TB clinic were evaluated for HPMZ eligibility based on preestablished inclusion/exclusion criteria.

Identifying Implementation Determinants and Strategies for Long-Acting Injectable Cabotegravir-Rilpivirine in People With HIV Who Are Virally Unsuppressed.

Background: Early evidence suggests long-acting injectable cabotegravir and rilpivirine (LA-CAB/RPV) may be beneficial for people with HIV (PWH) who are unable to attain viral suppression (VS) on oral therapy. Limited guidance exists on implementation strategies for this population.

Setting: Ward 86, a clinic serving publicly insured PWH in San Francisco.

A Dose-Finding Study to Guide Use of Verapamil as an Adjunctive Therapy in Tuberculosis.

Induction of mycobacterial efflux pumps is a cause of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) drug tolerance, a barrier to shortening antitubercular treatment. Verapamil inhibits Mtb efflux pumps that mediate tolerance to rifampin, a cornerstone of tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Verapamil's mycobacterial efflux pump inhibition also limits Mtb growth in macrophages in the absence of antibiotic treatment.

A dose-finding study to guide use of verapamil as an adjunctive therapy in tuberculosis.

Induction of mycobacterial efflux pumps is a cause of (Mtb) drug tolerance, a barrier to shortening antitubercular treatment. Verapamil inhibits Mtb efflux pumps that mediate tolerance to rifampin, a cornerstone of tuberculosis treatment. Verapamil's mycobacterial efflux pump inhibition also limits Mtb growth in macrophages in the absence of antibiotic treatment.

Demonstration Project of Long-Acting Antiretroviral Therapy in a Diverse Population of People With HIV.

Background: Intramuscular cabotegravir (CAB) and rilpivirine (RPV) is the only long-acting antiretroviral therapy (LA-ART) regimen approved for people with HIV (PWH). Long-acting ART holds promise for improving outcomes among populations with barriers to adherence but is only approved for PWH who have virologic suppression with use of oral ART before initiating injectables.

Objective: To examine LA-ART in a population of PWH that includes those with viremia.

First Demonstration Project of Long-Acting Injectable Antiretroviral Therapy for Persons With and Without Detectable Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Viremia in an Urban HIV Clinic.

Background: Long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy (LAI-ART) is approved for treatment-naive or experienced people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; PWH) based on trials that only included participants with viral suppression. We performed the first LAI-ART demonstration project to include PWH unable to achieve or maintain viral suppression due to challenges adhering to oral ART.

Methods: Ward 86 is a large HIV clinic in San Francisco that serves publicly insured and underinsured patients.

Complex Infection as a Rare Cause of Cerebral Mass Lesion and IRIS in a Patient With AIDS: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

A patient with advanced HIV/AIDS presented with a brain abscess. While brain biopsy culture and pathology were unrevealing, universal broad-range polymerase chain reaction (uPCR) demonstrated complex (MAC). We review the clinicopathologic characteristics of MAC brain abscesses and highlight the effectiveness of uPCR as a diagnostic tool in partially treated infections.

Association Between Homelessness and Group A Streptococcus Skin and Soft Tissue Infections Among Hospitalized Dermatology Consult Patients.

This cross-sectional study examines the rates of group A skin and soft tissue infections among persons experiencing homelessness.

Lymphogranuloma venereum as a cause of persistent perianal ulcers.

Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) has been increasingly reported, and many clinicians are familiar with it as a cause of proctocolitis or inguinal adenopathy. On the other hand, LGV is less commonly considered as a cause of isolated genital ulcerative disease in comparison to other etiologies such as syphilis or herpes simplex. We report a case of persistent perianal ulcerations due to LGV in an HIV-positive patient, confirmed by nucleic acid amplification testing.

Disseminated Infection Complicated by Meningitis and Stroke: A Case Report.

We describe a case of a 19-year-old female presenting with meningitis, a rarely encountered infection. We discuss the use of pyrosequencing to aid in prompt diagnosis of infection, as well as treatment strategies and challenges given the organism's intrinsic resistance to pyrazinamide.

Profile of delamanid for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

New approaches to the treatment of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) are badly needed. Not only is the success rate of current treatment regimens suboptimal but existing regimens require multiple drugs and lengthy courses and may lead to significant toxicities. The treatment landscape is beginning to shift, however, with the recent approvals of the new TB drugs bedaquiline and delamanid.

Temporal in vivo assessment of fresh osteochondral allograft transplants to the distal aspect of the femur by dGEMRIC (delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage) and zonal T2 mapping MRI.

Background: Zonal T2 mapping and dGEMRIC (delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage) are diagnostic quantitative techniques to evaluate the biochemical health of articular cartilage. We adapted these techniques to investigate the results of osteochondral allograft transplantation and correlated the findings with patient-reported outcomes.

Methods: Nine patients with contained ICRS (International Cartilage Repair Society) grade-4 defects of the articular portion of a femoral condyle were treated with fresh osteochondral allografts and were evaluated prospectively with dGEMRIC and T2 mapping before and after gadolinium administration.

Verapamil, and its metabolite norverapamil, inhibit macrophage-induced, bacterial efflux pump-mediated tolerance to multiple anti-tubercular drugs.

Drug tolerance likely represents an important barrier to tuberculosis treatment shortening. We previously implicated the Mycobacterium tuberculosis efflux pump Rv1258c as mediating macrophage-induced tolerance to rifampicin and intracellular growth. In this study, we infected the human macrophage-like cell line THP-1 with drug-sensitive and drug-resistant M.

Antimicrobial efflux pumps and Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug tolerance: evolutionary considerations.

The need for lengthy treatment to cure tuberculosis stems from phenotypic drug resistance, also known as drug tolerance, which has been previously attributed to slowed bacterial growth in vivo. We discuss recent findings that challenge this model and instead implicate macrophage-induced mycobacterial efflux pumps in antimicrobial tolerance. Although mycobacterial efflux pumps may have originally served to protect against environmental toxins, in the pathogenic mycobacteria, they appear to have been repurposed for intracellular growth.

In vivo MRI of fresh stored osteochondral allograft transplantation with delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage: protocol considerations and recommendations.

The protocol for delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) was adapted for the evaluation of transplanted osteochondral allograft cartilage. Eight patients with focal grade 4 cartilage defects of the femoral condyle were treated with single cylindrical osteochondral allografts. At 1 and 2 years, dGEMRIC image sequences were acquired and regions of interest (ROIs) were drawn in repair and native control cartilage.

Signal polarity restoration in a 3D inversion recovery sequence used with delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage (dGEMRIC).

Purpose: To develop an image reconstruction algorithm that restores the signal polarity in a three-dimensional inversion-recovery (3D-IR) sequence used in delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC). This approach effectively doubles the dynamic range of data used for T1 curve fitting.

Materials And Methods: We applied this reconstruction algorithm to a 3D-IR TFE sequence used for T1 mapping, validated the technique in a phantom study, and performed T1-map calculations in postosteochondral allograft transplant (OAT) patients.

Comparison of 3 T MRI and CT for the measurement of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue in humans.

Objective: CT is considered the gold standard imaging modality for measurement of visceral adipose tissue area. However, as CT imaging exposes subjects to ionising radiation, a comparable imaging technique without this exposure is desirable, such as MRI. Therefore, we compared the agreement of measures of visceral adipose tissue and subcutaneous adipose tissue area from single-slice images obtained at the umbilicus using a 3 T MRI scanner with single-slice images obtained via CT scan.

Measurement of brain iron distribution in Hallevorden-Spatz syndrome.

Purpose: To investigate spatial distribution of iron accumulation in the globus pallidus (GP) in patients with Hallevorden-Spatz syndrome (HSS) using phase imaging. We compared sensitivity of a phase imaging technique to relaxation rate measurement methods (R1,R2,R2*) for iron quantification.

Materials And Methods: R1, R2, and R2* were measured in GP structure of the brain of eight pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN) patients and a healthy volunteer using a 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization, behavioral risk factors, and skin and soft-tissue infection at an ambulatory clinic serving a large population of HIV-infected men who have sex with men.

We conducted a prospective cohort study of 795 outpatients, many of whom were human immunodeficiency virus-infected men who have sex with men, to characterize risk of skin and soft-tissue infection (SSTI) associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nares and perianal colonization. Multivariate analysis revealed that perianal colonization, drug use, and prior SSTIs were strongly associated with development of an SSTI. Of the patients who were colonized with MRSA at study entry, 36.

Emergence of multidrug-resistant, community-associated, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clone USA300 in men who have sex with men.

Background: Infection with multidrug-resistant, community-associated, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been reported but seems to be isolated.

Objective: To determine the incidence of a multidrug-resistant MRSA clone (USA300) in San Francisco, and to determine risk factors for the infection.

Design: Population-based survey and cross-sectional study using chart review.

Treatment and outcomes of infections by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus at an ambulatory clinic.

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) have become increasingly common. This study's objectives were to describe the clinical spectrum of MRSA in a community health center and to determine whether the use of specific antimicrobials correlated with increased probability of clinical resolution of SSTI. A retrospective chart review of 399 sequential cases of culture-confirmed S.

Temporal lobe magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging following selective amygdalohippocampectomy for treatment-resistant epilepsy.

Objectives: Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) may show circumscribed or extensive decreased brain N-acetyl aspartate (NAA)/creatine and phosphocreatine (Cr) in epilepsy patients. We compared temporal lobe MRSI in patients seizure-free (SzF) or with persistent seizures (PSz) following selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SAH) for medically intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). We hypothesized that PSz patients had more extensive temporal lobe metabolite abnormalities than SzF patients.

Peripheral vascular disease: blinded study of dedicated calf MR angiography versus standard bolus-chase MR angiography and film hard-copy angiography.

Purpose: To compare the accuracy of contrast material-enhanced three-dimensional (3D) dedicated calf magnetic resonance (MR) angiography with that of bolus-chase MR angiography, with conventional angiography as the reference standard, in patients with symptomatic peripheral vascular disease (PVD).

Materials And Methods: Thirty men with symptomatic PVD were examined. MR angiography was performed at 1.