[Murine typhus in Tenerife. Clinicoepidemiological study and differential clinical features with Q fever].

Background And Objective: Our aim was to conduct a study to define the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with murine typhus in Tenerife island (Canary islands, Spain). Moreover, we investigated the differential clinical features of this disease with regard to Q fever.

Patients And Method: 5-year prospective study of patients with murine typhus (1998-2002) admited in a reference hospital in Tenerife, Spain.

[Anti-beta 2-glycoprotein I antibodies and systemic lupus erythematosus].

Background: We aimed to study the presence of anti-2-glycoprotein I antibodies (anti-2GPI) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) analyzing their relationship with anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL).

Patients And Method: 63 patients with SLE and 54 healthy volunteers. Detection of anti-2GPI antibodies was performed by ELISA.

Immunotherapy units: a follow-up study.

Immunotherapy units are becoming an increasingly important component of allergy and clinical immunology departments in Spain. The objective of this study was to establish the rate of adverse reactions registered in an immunotherapy unit in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, from May 1998 to May 2000. A total of 5,108 immunotherapy doses were administered to 339 patients (123 males and 216 females): 254 patients (75%) received mite, 48 patients (14.

Clinical cross-reactivity between Artemisia vulgaris and Matricaria chamomilla (chamomile).

Artemisia vulgaris is a common weed and an important source of allergens on the subtropical island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. It pollinates mainly from July to September, although, due to some local climatic conditions, it may flower throughout the year. Cross-reactivity with hazelnut, kiwi, birch, several Compositae (Ambrosia, Chrysanthemum, Matricaria, Solidago) and grass allergens has been suggested.

[Study of renal function in infants diagnosed with renal pyelectasis in the first year of life].

Objective: To evaluate glomerular and tubular function in a group of infants diagnosed with pyelectasis.

Patients And Methods: We studied 14 patients diagnosed with renal pelvis dilatation in-utero or during the first year of life. Creatinine concentrations, urinary excretion of calcium, citrate, oxalate, N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), microalbumin and maximum urine osmolality after administration of intranasal desmopressin were determined.

Hyperfractionated chemoradiation with carbogen breathing, with or without erythropoietin: a stepwise developed treatment schedule for advanced head-and-neck cancer.

Purpose: To investigate the influence of carbogen breathing on chemoradiation and the effects of erythropoietin on transfusions.

Methods And Materials: From March 1996 to April 2000, 42 (4 Stage III and 38 Stage IV) patients with head and neck cancer were treated with a twice-a-day hyperfractionated schedule. Each fraction consisted of 5 mg/m(2) of carboplatin plus 115 cGy with carbogen breathing.

[Experience of a renal function test unit].

The activity developed during one year in a Renal Function Tests Unit was studied prospectively. Six hundred pharmacological tests (50 tests per month) were done to 453 patients, children and adults. Abnormal tests results were found in 38.

[Lumbosacral polyradiculomyelitis caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV) in a patient with AIDS].

To our knowledge this is the first description of lumbosacral polyradiculopathy produced by herpes simplex virus (HSV) without coinfection by cytomegalovirus (CMV) in a patient with HIV infection. The acute lumbosacral polyradiculomyelitis (ALP) in patients with AIDS is a well defined nosologic entity and classically associated to CMV infection. However, this pathology can be due to others etiologies as toxoplasmosis, syphilis, lymphoma, tuberculosis, cryptococcus, varicella-zoster virus fVZV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBT) and HSV associated CMV.

[Gushers. Perilymphatic leaks].

We report an unusual complication of stapedectomy called <>. It was resolved and the patient's hearing level improved without vertigo.

[Current results of the treatment of cervical metastatic lymph nodes by concurrent hyperfractionation of carboplatin and irradiation].

The results of the treatment of metastatic neck nodes is evaluated after a mean follow-up of 24 months (maximum 45 months). Fifty-seven patients with epidermoid carcinoma of the head and neck were treated according to a hyperfractionated chemoradiation schedule including two fractions a day. Each fraction consisted of 10 mg carboplatin + 115 cGy.

Severe cytomegalovirus hepatitis in a pregnant woman treated with ganciclovir.

Severe cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection rarely occurs in immunocompetent patients, and the use of specific antiviral therapy in such patients has not been established. Here, we describe an unusual case of severe CMV hepatitis in an apparently immunocompetent pregnant woman treated with parenteral ganciclovir. The drug was well tolerated and progressive, improvement of liver function was observed after antiviral therapy.

[Influence of the necessity of transfusion in anemia on the prognosis of ENT cancer in the protocol with concurrent hyperfractionation of carboplatin and irradiation].

Because of the determinant role of hemoglobin level in blood to the response of treatment (viewpoint admitted whether for irradiation or chemotherapic agents) the AA. have lead an analysis of a group of 36 patients suffering an advanced head and neck cancer (18 months mid-follow up and 30 months maximum) which underwent a program of concomitant radio-chemotherapy hyperfraccionated with carboplatin (the cytostatic) as part of each therapeutic fraction. The results in patients being transfused with an erytrocyte concentrate were compared with those from patients not having had any transfusion.

[Concomitant hyperfractionation of drugs and irradiation in the treatment of advanced ENT cancers].

Considering the limited results achieved up to now in the treatment of advanced ENT-cancer, with the classic customary procedures, the AA. suggest a new therapeutic schedule (within the concurrent radio-chemotherapy context) in which the selected cytotoxic drug, the carboplatin, is a part of each therapeutic fraction. A group of 36 patients suffering advanced ENT-cancer (2 cases stage III and 34 stage IV) were studied between Mars 1993 and September 1995, and the outcomes assessed after a 18 months mean follow-up (30 months maximum).

[Human fascioliasis with atypical severe presentation. Treatment with triclabendazole].

Background: Fascioliasis is a zoonosis mainly involving sheep but which occasionally may be found in man as an accidental host. It is acquired by the consumption of herbs (watercress, wild endive, and dandelion) contaminated with metacercarias. The adult phase is established in the biliary tree.

[Auditory assessment in a protocol of concurrent carboplatin and irradiation use in fractionated therapy].

Possible ototoxicity related with a hyperfractionated concurrent chemo-radiation schedule was studied in 36 patients with head and neck cancer. The schedule consisted of two daily fractions, each consisting of 5 mg/m2 of carboplatin plus 115 cGy. Therapy was given 5 days a week for 7 weeks up to a total dose of 700 mg carboplatin and 8050 cGy.

[The effects of thymostimulin in a protocol of concurrent hyperfractionated carboplatin and irradiation].

To evaluate the effect of thymostimulin in a treatment schedule of concurrent hyperfractionated chemoradiation therapy, with the cytostatic forming part of each therapeutic fraction, the authors included in this protocol 36 patients with advanced head and neck carcinomas randomized into two groups. Group A received 115 cGy + 5 mg/m2 of carboplatin per fraction in two daily fractions for a total dose of 8.050 cGy + 700 mg of carboplatin, while group B received the same treatment associated with thymostimulin, with the following schedule: 1.

Superior vena cava thrombosis secondary to hickman catheter and complete resolution after fibrinolytic therapy.

We present a case of acute-onset vena cava syndrome produced by thrombosis of the vena cava superior in a patient receiving adjuvant chemotherapy through a Hickman catheter. After angiographic diagnosis fibrinolytic therapy was administered, which brought about complete resolution. We also present a brief review of the literature.

[Basal meningoencephalocele: a case report].

An 8-year-old boy who had been operated for craniosynostosis was remitted from the pediatric service for two bacterial meningitis episodes. The cause was a meningoencephalocele of the right nasal cavity.

Hypouricemia and cancer. A study of the mechanisms of renal urate wasting in two cases.

Two cases of hypouricemia in association with malignant diseases are presented. One patient had metastatic breast cancer and the other an undifferentiated retroperitoneal sarcoma of the childhood. Uric acid renal handling was studied with the pyrazinamide and benzbromarone tests.

[Human babesiosis in a patient after splenectomy].

A case of human babesiosis in a 34-year-old male patient with previous splenectomy is reported. This is the first description of babesiosis in a splenectomized patient in Spain. The clinical picture was mainly characterized by the presence of fever and hemolysis.