[Achievement of sputum culture negative conversion by minocycline in a case with extensively drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis].

A 33-year male was readmitted to our hospital for the treatment of multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis in February 1993. Six years after the treatment, the left pleuropneumonectomy was done because of the enlargement of cavitary lesions with formation of fluid. Four years after the operation, M.

[Exhaled breath-generated aerosols of mycobacterium tuberculosis in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis during normal breathing].

Objective: It has been understood that cough-generated aerosols act as an important vector for the spread of pulmonary tuberculosis. Humans commonly exhale aerosols during the normal respiration process that contain small droplets of the airway lining fluid. We aimed to determine whether aerosols exhaled by active pulmonary tuberculosis (AP-TB) patients may contain droplets with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M-TB) during normal breathing.

[Peculiar "chestnuts in burrs" formation in MGIT cultures of pulmonary Mycobacterium xenopi cases].

We report 3 patients whose sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cultures for acid fast bacteria in MGIT liquid media grew colonies of Mycobacterium xenopi (M. xenopi) with a characteristic chestnut burr like appearance. Patients I, II, and III were a 74-year-old man, 47-year-old woman, and 62-year-old woman, respectively.

Long-term follow-up of a pouching operation after pancreaticoduodenectomy using a double-jejunal pouch.

A 63-year old male was referred with intraductal papillary adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. The patient had been treated previously with a distal gastrectomy for duodenal ulceration. This surgery left the patient with esophagitis, residual gastritis, and decreased appetite.

["Cord formation" in smear specimen prepared from sputum for a more rapid method of presumptive identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis].

Cord formation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex is very uncommon in smear specimen prepared directly from sputum, although such a finding is well known in solid or liquid media and has recently been evaluated as a rapid method for presumptive identification in special liquid media (BACTEC or MGIT). We examined 308 (Mycobacterium tuberculosis 271 and Nontuberculous mycobacteria 37) positive smear specimens prepared directly from sputum in our hospital. These specimens all showed a "modified Gaffky scale" as +2 or more and this cord formation was found in four cases (five specimens).

In situ Expression of CD40 and CD40 ligand in psoriasis.

Background: The interaction between CD40 and CD40 ligand (CD40L) provides a signal that contributes to the initiation of cellular immune responses. However, little information on the in vivo expression of CD40 and CD40L in cutaneous inflammation has been reported.

Objective: To investigate the potential role of CD40-mediated signals in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.

Washing of the residual solution of cardiopulmonary bypass circuit after coronary artery bypass grafting in idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

A 76-year-old female with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura required coronary bypass grafting. Preoperative treatment with high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin at a dose of 0.4 g/kg/day raised the platelet count from 57,000 to 110,000/microL.

Change in tissue kallikrein level in nasal wash after the administration of oxatomide in patients with nasal allergy.

The tissue kallikrein level in the nasal wash was measured before and after 4-week administration of oxatomide (30 mg per day) in 9 patients with perennial allergy. It was found that tissue kallikrein level in the nasal wash obtained following provocation tests significantly decreased from 6.05 +/- 4.

Mediastinal irrigation with superoxidized water after open-heart surgery: the safety and pitfalls of cardiovascular surgical application.

Postoperative mediastinal infection after open-heart surgery via median sternotomy is a devastating complication. In this paper, we describe a simple method of irrigating the mediastinum using superoxidized water to prevent perioperative contamination. After mediastinal hemostasis was done, warm superoxidized water of more than 21 was uninterruptedly irrigated for 5 min immediately prior to sternal closure.

[Autotransplantation of ectopic lingual thyroid--a case report].

A 22 year-old female came to our clinic complaining of a swallowing disturbance and dyspnea. ENT examination revealed a spherical mass at the base of the tongue partially obstructing the airway. Scintigraphy with an iodine isotope confirmed that the mass was an ectopic thyroid.

[Bacteriological survey of diarrheal epidemics in the 1998 Bangladesh floods].

In 1998, the worst flood disaster in Bangladesh ravaged more than half of its land and diarrheal epidemics broke out. We examined fecal specimens of diarrheal patients at rural hospitals in Chandpor district located 140 km southeast of Dhaka to analyze the enteric bacterial pathogens in post-flood period October. Of the 76 patients stools examined, Vibrio cholerae O1 biotype El Tor, serotype Ogawa, and Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal were detected in 25 (33%) and in 14 (18%) respectively.

Subdivided left atrium mimicking a cardiac tumor.

We describe a 25-year-old man with a subdivided left atrium. The lesion was misdiagnosed preoperatively as a cardiac tumor because echocardiographic and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a solid mass arising from the posterior wall of the left atrium. Cardiac surgery revealed a small accessory chamber draining the two left pulmonary veins.

[A fulminating case of Edwardsiella tarda septicemia with necrotizing fasciitis].

A 67-year-old Japanese male, suffering from liver cirrhosis with hepatoma, was admitted to the Yokohama National Hospital because of ascites retention. On physical examination, his abdomen was massively distended with ascites and his lower extremities were edematous. Laboratory findings on admission revealed hypoalbuminemia, moderate icterus, pancytopenia and hepatitis C virus antibody positivity.

Left ventricular intramyocardial rhabdomyoma suggested by coronary angiography.

Coronary angiography, left ventriculography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicated that a 45-year-old male with a left ventricular intramyocardial tumor had adult type rhabdomyoma. The tumor was in the lateral wall of the left ventricle, making catheter biopsy unfeasible. Because the undeveloped tumor does not project into the cavity of his left ventricle, the patient had no symptoms.

Acute myocardial infarction improved by neuroleptic analgesic therapy.

Treated with orthodox therapy, a 58-year-old man with acute myocardial infarction of the anteroseptal and lateral walls continued having lethal arrhythmias, reinfarction, low blood pressure, and anuria. With modified neuroleptic analgesic therapy, which consisted only of a continuous drip injection of morphine and chlorpromazine, his condition improved dramatically. Our patient's coronary spasms, which occurred after acute myocardial infarction, might have been triggered by mental stress due to anxiety and pain, and the use of neuroleptic analgesic agent therapy prevented further coronary spasm and reinfarction.