Biomedical subjects

D N Scheck

Publications and source records attributed to D N Scheck.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Persistence of Plasmodium falciparum in the placenta after apparently effective quinidine/clindamycin therapy.

The persistence of Plasmodium falciparum in the placenta after apparently adequate therapy with quinine has been described. We describe this phenomenon in the placenta of a 19-year-old woman with falciparum malaria, who was treated with a combination of quinidine and clindamycin. Although this therapy was effective and diminished her peripheral blood parasitemia from 3% at presentation to almost undetectable at the time of delivery, vast numbers of P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes were present in the maternal sinusoids of the placenta. This sequestration of infected erythrocytes produced a local parasitemia in the placenta of 70% to 80%. Additionally, rare Plasmodium-infected erythrocytes were also seen in the fetal blood of the placenta. We review malaria in pregnancy, parasitic involvement of the placenta and emphasize that Plasmodium-infected erythrocytes may persist in the placenta even after clearance of parasites from the peripheral blood.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Neurosyphilis.

Central nervous system invasion by Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of syphilis, occurs in many, if not most, patients with syphilis. Laboratory findings from untreated asymptomatic syphilis patients with abnormalities of cerebrospinal fluid are termed asymptomatic neurosyphilis and represent a group that has an increased risk for developing clinical neurosyphilis syndromes. Clinical neurosyphilis syndromes, which occur in a minority of patients, may become apparent at any time in the natural history of untreated disease and often cause serious morbidity for individuals who develop them. Because there is no single sensitive and highly specific test for neurosyphilis diagnosis, clinicians must approach this important syndrome using a combination of clinical and laboratory data and a firm understanding of the disease.

HIV Infections↗

PubMedDate not supplied

North American paragonimiasis. A case report.

BACKGROUND: Paragonimiasis is a parasitic infection with a predilection for pulmonary involvement. Paragonimus species occur throughout the world and exist in nature in a snail-crustacean-mammalian life cycle. Human disease is most frequently encountered in cultures that ingest raw or undercooked crustaceans. North American paragonimiasis, caused by an endemic Paragonimus species, Paragonimus kellicotti, predominantly causes disease in carnivorous and omnivorous animals but may cause human disease if the intermediate host, the crayfish, is ingested raw or undercooked. CASE: A previously healthy, 21-year-old male was infected with P kellicotti and developed parasitic hemoptysis. The disease was contracted through the ingestion of local, undercooked crayfish. Diagnosis was established through the morphologic examination of eggs in the cytologic preparation of bronchioalveolar lavage fluid. The patient was successfully treated with praziquantel and recovered without incident. CONCLUSION: Paragonimiasis is a cause of parasitic hemoptysis worldwide. Paragonimiasis is infrequently encountered in North America and is usually not considered in the differential diagnosis of hemoptysis unless specific risk factors are known. The cytologist or cytopathologist, therefore, may be the first to encounter the diagnostic eggs and should be familiar with this disease.

Adult↗