Missed diagnosis of aspergillus Niger peritonitis in a peritoneal dialysis patient with standard culture: Might enriched blood culture materials have an advantage?

Peritonitis is a major complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD). Although bacteria are the most responsible pathogens, fungi can also be the cause of this condition. Candida species (spp.) are common agents in fungal peritonitis with a rate of 70% while Aspergillus spp. is rare. Aspergillus spp. can lead to severe life threatening peritonitis in PD patients. Early diagnosis is essential for a good outcome but it may be difficult to detect the pathogen. Our observation in this case supports the hypothesis that the enriched culture materials designed for detecting blood pathogens can provide an advantage for determining the cause of peritonitis in peritoneal fluid. Clinicians should remember this clue when managing peritonitis, especially in patients who are refractory to empiric antibiotic therapy

Effects of vasoconstriction on the acute anterior pituitary hormonal response to head injury

WOS: 000178883400008PubMed: 12372703Since cerebral vasoconstriction alone may impair the hypothalamic and pituitary circulation, we planned to investigate whether the hormonal response to the vasoconstriction that may be induced by the head injury is a significant component of the general acute hormonal response to head injury. Although diffuse adrenocorticotropic hormone immunohistochemical staining of the adenohypophysis of rabbits was observed in the head trauma administered group, only mild positive staining was present in the Endothelin-1 administered group. However, decreased prolactin staining was found in both of the groups. It is postulated that trauma induced vasoconstriction may not be an important manipulating factor in the corticotrophic hormone response to injury, while it may be responsible for the decreased prolactin response. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Effects of trauma and pain on the acute anterior pituitary hormonal response

PubMed: 12147213The aim of this study was to compare the effects of trauma and pain on the pituitary gland so as to determine whether pain is a significant component in the general acute hormonal trauma response. Adenohypophysis of rabbits that have undergone either diffuse traumatic brain injury or pain were investigated using immunohistochemistry. The ACTH staining pattern of the pain-administered rabbits was not as strong as the head-trauma-administered group, whereas PRL staining pattern of the former group was not so weak as the later group. As a conclusion, since adrenocorticotrophic hormone and prolactin staining patterns were different in the trauma administered and pain induced groups; it may be postulated that pain alone may not be an important factor in the hormonal response to trauma. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd

Clopidogrel does not increase bleeding and allogenic blood transfusion in coronary artery surgery

Objectives: Platelet dysfunction is one of the major reasons of postoperative bleeding following coronary artery surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of clopidogrel; a specific and potent irreversible inhibitor of platelet aggregation; on bleeding and use of blood and blood products after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). Methods: Preoperative patient characteristics and perioperative and postoperative data were collected prospectively in 1628 consecutive patients undergoing isolated CABG performed by the same surgical and anesthesia team. Of these, 48 were receiving clopidogrel preoperatively. Of the 1628 patients, 1456 underwent elective and 172 (10.6%) underwent non-elective operation. Thirty-six (2.5%) of the elective patients and 12 (7%) of the non-elective patients were using clopidogrel, preoperatively. Baseline characteristics, chest tube output, and the need for reexploration or for blood and blood product transfusion of clopidogrel recipients and non-recipients were compared. The clopidogrel group had higher prothrombin time level (12.6 +/- 1.6; 11.5 +/- 1.7 s, P = 0.013), however comparable aPTT level (32.6 +/- 4.5 vs. 31.4 +/- 4.5 s), and platelet count (275 000 +/- 98 000 vs. 280 000 +/- 72 000 dl(-1)). Results: The need for reexploration or for blood and blood product transfusion, chest tube output, ICU length of stay (20.1 +/- 2.9 vs. 21.9 +/- 13.5 h; P = NS), and hospital length of stay (5.5 +/- 1.7 vs. 5.4 +/- 2.1 days; P = NS) were similar in clopidogrel recipients and non-recipients, respectively. Further analysis demonstrated no significant difference in use of homologous blood or fresh frozen plasma, amount of postoperative bleeding and reoperation rates for bleeding as well as length of intensive care unit and hospital stay between the clopidogrel and the control groups both in elective and non-elective patients. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that preoperative use of clopidogrel is not associated with increased bleeding and need for surgical exploration as well as risk of blood and blood product transfusion after CABG. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Investigation of the role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats

Cisplatin (CP) is an effective chemotherapeutic agent used in the treatment of a variety of solid tumours. The most frequently observed side-effect of the use of CP is nephrotoxicity. Recently, evidence has been demonstrated that reactive oxygen species forming in the tubular epithelium play an important role in CP-linked nephrotoxicity. The aim of the study was to observe the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy on CP nephrotoxicity, a subject which has not been studied previously. Wistar rats were treated with CP (a single intraperitoneal (IP) dose of 0.6 mg/100 g) alone and in combination with HBO (60 min every day for seven days at 2.5 x atmospheric pressure). Effects of the treatment on renal function and histology were determined. In analyses at the end of the study it was observed that serum urea, creatinine, and daily urinary protein excretion levels of the CP group were higher than at the start of the study, and that the creatinine clearance level had fallen (P 0.05). Histopathological examination showed that the necrosis score in the proximal tubule epithelial cells and average apoptitic cell numbers in the CP group were higher than those in the CP+HBO and HBO groups (P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference between the CP+HBO group and the HBO group in terms of necrosis score in the proximal tubule epithelial cells and the percentage of distal tubules containing hyaline casts in the lumen. In conclusion, in this study it was observed that in experimental study of CP nephrotoxicity the synchronous application of HBO therapy with CP prevents kidney damage

Missed diagnosis of aspergillus Niger peritonitis in a peritoneal dialysis patient with standard culture: Might enriched blood culture materials have an advantage?

Peritonitis is a major complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD). Although bacteria are the most responsible pathogens, fungi can also be the cause of this condition. Candida species (spp.) are common agents in fungal peritonitis with a rate of 70% while Aspergillus spp. is rare. Aspergillus spp. can lead to severe life threatening peritonitis in PD patients. Early diagnosis is essential for a good outcome but it may be difficult to detect the pathogen. Our observation in this case supports the hypothesis that the enriched culture materials designed for detecting blood pathogens can provide an advantage for determining the cause of peritonitis in peritoneal fluid. Clinicians should remember this clue when managing peritonitis, especially in patients who are refractory to empiric antibiotic therapy

Fast-track recovery in noncoronary cardiac surgery patients

Objective: Fast-track recovery protocols result in shorter hospital stays and decreased costs in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. However, data based on an objective scoring system are lacking for the impact of these protocols on patients undergoing cardiac surgery other than isolated CABG

Investigation of the effect of hyperbaric oxygen on experimental cyclosporine nephrotoxicity

Hyperbaric oxygen interacts with drugs which patients use concurrently with hyperbaric oxygen treatment, which may cause in potentiation or inhibition of both therapeutic and toxic effects. We examined the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on experimental cyclosporine A nephrotoxicity. The study comprised four groups of rats: a control group, a cyclosporine A group (25 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally for four days), a hyperbaric oxygen group (60 min. every day for four days at 2.5 atmospheric pressure), and a cyclosporine A+hyperbaric oxygen group (CsA 25 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally for four days+hyperbaric oxygen for 60 min. every day for four days at 2.5 atmospheric pressure). Hyperbaric oxygen did not alter biochemical parameters. Cyclosporine A increased serum urea and serum creatinine levels and decreased creatinine clearance. In the cyclosporine A+hyperbaric oxygen group serum urea level increased more than in the cyclosporine A group. Cyclosporine A increased tubular epithelial cell apoptosis and necrosis score values. The numbers of apoptotic cells in proximal tubule epithelial cells in the cyclosporine A+hyperbaric oxygen group were significantly higher than those of the cyclosporine A group. We recommend that renal functions of the patients receiving cyclosporine A should be monitored during hyperbaric oxygen therapy