Combined Use of Phenotypic Screening and of a Novel Commercial Assay (REALQUALITY Carba-Screen) for the Rapid Molecular Detection of Carbapenemases: A Single-Center Experience

Carbapenem resistance is a serious public health threat, causing numerous deaths annually primarily due to healthcare-associated infections. To face this menace, surveillance programs in high-risk patients are becoming a widespread practice. Here we report the performance of the combined use of a recently approved commercial multiplex real-time PCR assay (REALQUALITY Carba-Screen kit) with conventional phenotypic screening. In this three-month study, 479 rectal swabs from 309 patients across high-risk units were evaluated by combining the two approaches. Although the molecular assay showed a higher positivity rate than phenotypic screening (7.1% vs. 5%), it should be noted that the molecular method alone would have missed eight carbapenem-resistant isolates, while using only phenotypic screening would not have detected sixteen isolates. This demonstrates the complementary strengths of each method. Our study confirms the need for a combined approach to maximize the possible clinical impact of this kind of screening, ensuring a more comprehensive detection of resistant strains

Evaluation of resistance against bacterial microleakage of a new conical implant-abutment connection versus conventional connections: an in vitro study

The aim of the present in vitro study was to evaluate bacterial microleakage from inside to outside the implant-abutment assembly in a new design of internal conical connection compared to eight different internal connections. The design of this connection should prevent or limit microbiologic leakage into the surrounding implant tissue, that could contribute to infections without bone loss (mucositis) or with bone loss (peri-implantits). In order to investigate bacterial microleakage, the inner part of each system was inoculated with an Escherichia coli suspension. Eight different groups were considered; each group was composed of 10 dental implants, for a total of 80 implants. Groups 1-7 were considered controls, while group 8 was the test connection (an internal connection characterized by a double taper principle). Results showed that in control implants (Group 1 to 7), little microleakage was observed after the first 6 hours (500 CFU/ μl) and, after 24 hours of incubation, they showed a significant bacterial contamination in all samples (>100.000 CFU/ μl). In group 8 (test connection) no contamination was found in the first 6 hours, with 7 out of 10 implants showing no contamination even after 96 hours. Statistically significant differences were found between Group 8 and the other groups (p<0.05), whereas no significant differences were found among implants of the control groups (from group 1 to 7). Within the limits of the present study, the new connection studied presented significantly less microleakage at 96 h in comparison with the other control internal connections

Salvage heart transplantation for Mycoplasma hominis prosthetic valve endocarditis: A case report and review of the literature

Heart transplantation (HT) has been rarely performed in patients with infective endocarditis (IE) and is considered a \u201clast resort\u201d procedure. Orthotropic HT with bicaval technique was performed in a man with culture-negative endocarditis. Mycoplasma hominis was later detected using 16S ribosomal DNA PCR from surgically removed valve tissue. Literature review and previous results are summarized. HT may be considered as salvage treatment in selected patients with intractable IE. In cases when there is no growth in culture, 16S ribosomal DNA PCR sequencing can be used to identify the pathogen in excised valvular tissue. Mycoplasma spp. is extremely uncommon and difficult to diagnose cause of infective endocarditis (IE). There are no proposed or defined criteria for heart transplantation (HT) in patients with refractory IE, and HT has been rarely performed in this setting. We report a case of M\ua0hominis prosthetic valve endocarditis diagnosed by 16S ribosomal DNA PCR in a patient who underwent a salvage HT. We reviewed in the literature other cases of IE caused by Mycoplasma spp

A case of lung injury resembling diffuse pulmonary hemorrhage after the first administration of alemtuzumab in a patient with multiple sclerosis. Role of the HRCT

Diffuse pulmonary hemorrhage (DPH) is an uncommon, acute condition characterized by a variable combination of hemoptysis, dyspnoea, anemia, hypoxemia, and an initial nonspecific imaging features such as diffuse and bilateral ground glass pulmonary opacities that can be induced by different causes. DPH is a rare manifestation of adverse drug reactions. We report here the case of a 25-year-old woman that has been admitted to our pulmonary clinic for the onset of chest pain, cough and haemoptysis, started one week after her first treatment with alemtuzumab for multiple sclerosis. Computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest at the admission showed diffuse and bilateral ground glass pulmonary opacities. Her symptoms resolved completely without any treatment, after the interruption of alemtuzumab, and a CT scan of the chest performed one month later showed total disappearance of the pulmonary opacities