Malignant Bowel Obstruction: A Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: Malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) is a serious clinical entity that requires surgical intervention in almost 50% of cases. However, overall survival remains low even for operable cases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlation between patients' characteristics, perioperative details, histopathological results and postoperative outcomes of patients who were operated on due to MBO.

Brucella endocarditis as a late onset complication of brucellosis.

Brucella endocarditis (BE) is a rare but life threatening complication of brucellosis. We present a case report of a patient with relapsing brucellosis complicated with aortic valve endocarditis. The patient underwent valve replacement and required prolonged antibiotic treatment because of rupture of the noncoronary leaflet and development of congestive heart failure.

Distribution of six effector protein virulence genes among Salmonella enterica enterica serovars isolated from children and their correlation with biofilm formation and antimicrobial resistance.

Purpose: Salmonella enterica enterica encodes a variety of virulence factors. Among them, the type III secretion system (TTSS) encoded in the Salmonella pathogenicity islands (SPIs) is required for induction of proinflammatory responses, invasion of intestinal epithelial cells, induction of cell death in macrophages, and elicitation of diarrhea. The presence of the effector protein genes sopB, sopD, sopE, sopE2, avrA, and sptP of the SPIs was analyzed in 194 S.

Iron overload, cardiac and other factors affecting pregnancy in thalassemia major.

The reproductive thalassemic population is growing older and doctors confront the challenge of the thalassemic pregnancy. Pregnancy is characterized by dynamic multiple system changes, resulting in increased basal oxygen consumption, changes in energy substrate use by different organs and increased susceptibility to oxidative stress, while homozygous transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia (beta-thal) patients manifest cardiac, hepatic, endocrine, and metabolic disorders attributable to chronic anoxia and iron overload. Pregnant thalassemic patients require significantly larger amount of total blood transfusion during pregnancy and iron overload increases the oxidative stress of pregnancy, while the risk for cardiovascular events, in a high cardiac output state, is augmented and chelation treatment is generally avoided due to the potential teratogenicity.

Effects of combined deferiprone and deferoxamine chelation therapy on iron load indices in beta-thalassemia.

The benefits of combined deferoxamine (DFO) and deferiprone (L1) chelation therapy, focusing on reducing myocardial iron loading, have been widely reported. Herein, we present the efficacy of combined chelation and its effects on iron load indices. Five thalassemia major (TM) patients who were undergoing chelation monotherapy with DFO were enrolled.

Acute Q fever lobar pneumonia: a case report.

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii-an obligate, Gram-negative, intracellular bacteria. Acute febrile illness, hepatitis, and atypical pneumonia are the three most common manifestations, whereas lobar pneumonia is rarely reported among acute Q fever patients. We report a case of acute Q fever with lobar pneumonia and multi-organ involvement.

Prevalence of inducible clindamycin resistance in macrolide-resistant Staphylococcus spp.

Between January 2002 and December 2003, macrolide-resistant isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (n = 45) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS; n = 75) from a Greek hospital were examined phenotypically for inducible clindamycin resistance. The constitutive macrolide resistance phenotype predominated (60%) in S. aureus, followed by the inducible (35%) and the clindamycin-susceptible (5%) phenotypes.

Acute abdomen due to Brucella melitensis.

A case of acute abdomen caused by a Brucella melitensis is reported. The patient presented with biliary involvement in the form of acute acalculous cholecystitis and developed acute appendicitis that resulted in his surgical treatment.