Bacillary angiomatosis in a German patient with AIDS.

A 52-year old male homosexual patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) presented in our clinic with multiple nodular papules (more than 100) spread over the whole body which had developed within 3 months. Bacillary angiomatosis was suspected, which is a bacterial infectious disease recognized recently mainly in patients with AIDS. Histological and immunohistochemical examinations of extirpated skin lesions were in agreement with the diagnosis, and the detection of rod-shaped bacteria in the lesions by Warthin-Starry silver stain confirmed it.

[A Q fever epidemic in Berlin. The epidemiological and clinical aspects].

An epidemic of Q fever in Berlin affected at least 80 patients (45 females, 35 males; age range 1-75 years). Sheep were identified as the focus of infection: they had been brought to a veterinary clinic because of nonspecific symptoms. The peak incidence of the infection was in April and May, 1992.

Fibrin degradation product D-dimer in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.

The study objective was to determine the specificity and sensitivity of plasma concentrations of D-dimer, a fibrin degradation product, as a marker for ongoing thrombotic and thrombolytic events in pulmonary embolism. A prospective study was performed in 74 patients with suspected pulmonary embolism who appeared in the emergency room with dyspnea and/or chest pain. The presence of pulmonary embolism was established by positive findings either in pulmonary angiography or lung scan.

[Intensive care problems in AIDS patients].

The discussion regarding the need for intensive-care treatment of AIDS patients should be conducted in a highly differentiated manner and should depend on the prognosis of the underlying or basic disease, on the immunological situation, on the mental condition and on the consent of the individual patient. During the past two years the treatment results have improved markedly by the use of steroids, especially in pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.