OBJECTIVE: To prospectively identify which patients can safely undergo lumbar puncture (LP) without screening cranial computed tomography (CT). METHODS: Emergency department physicians examined patients before CT. Examiners recorded the presence or absence of 10 clinical findings and answered 8 additional questions. The criterion standard was noncontrast cranial CT interpreted by staff radiologists. Clinical findings were prospectively compared with those of CT. RESULTS: One hundred thirteen consecutive adults with the urgent need for LP (median age, 42 years) were studied. Fifteen percent of patients meeting entrance criteria had new CT-documented lesions, with 2.7% having lesions that contraindicated LP. Sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios (LRs) were measured for the clinical findings. Three statistically significant predictors of new intracranial lesions were identified: altered mentation (positive LR, 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5-3.2), focal neurologic examination (positive LR, 4.3; 95% CI, 1.9-10), and papilledema (positive LR, 11.1; 95% CI, 1.1-115). No single item adequately predicted the absence of CT abnormalities, but the clinical screening items in aggregate significantly predicted the results (negative LR, 0; upper 95% confidence limit, 0.6). The overall clinical impression had the highest predictive value in identifying patients with CT-defined contraindications to LP (positive LR, 18.8; 95% CI, 4.8-43). CONCLUSIONS: Because of the low prevalence of lesions that contraindicate LP, screening cranial CT solely to establish the safety of performing an LP typically provides limited additional information. Physicians can use their overall clinical impression and 3 clinical predictors to identify patients with the greatest risk of having intracranial lesions that may contraindicate LP.

Adult↗

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Glomerulopathies with fibrillary deposits.

Renal diseases involving glomerular deposits of fibrillary material are an important diagnostic challenge for the ultrastructural pathologist. Two primary disorders of this type, termed "fibrillary glomerulonephritis" (characterized by fibrils measuring approximately 20 nm in diameter) and "immunotactoid glomerulopathy" (characterized by larger, microtubular deposits), have been described. The possible relatedness of these two disorders and their potential association with other systemic illnesses are subjects of current debate. Other multisystemic diseases, including amyloidosis and various forms of cryoglobulinemia, can also present with fibrillary or microtubular deposits in the kidney. Five cases are presented in which fibrillar or microtubular structures were identified in renal biopsies by ultrastructural examination. The distinction between fibrillary glomerulonephritis, immunotactoid glomerulopathy, and other processes that have similar ultrastructural features are discussed.

Actin Cytoskeleton↗

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Purulent pericarditis caused by Candida: report of three cases and identification of high-risk populations as an aid to early diagnosis.

Purulent pericarditis due to fungal organisms is rare and often unrecognized because of the subtle clinical clues and insidious onset. The records of 11 cases of purulent pericarditis were selected from records of 11,000 cases of pericarditis at Duke University Medical Center and reviewed, and experience with three cases of candida purulent pericarditis (CPP) was evaluated. One case occurred in a patient recovering from complicated cardiac surgery, one in a patient with hematologic malignancy, and one in an alcoholic patient requiring intubation for a severe respiratory infection. Each case is representative of a group at increased risk for the development of CPP. Given the poor prognosis for CPP, treatment should include both medical and surgical interventions. Although amphotericin B achieves good penetration into the inflamed pericardial space, the only survivors of CPP have received both amphotericin B and pericardiectomy. Careful attention to clinical indications of pericardial inflammation and systemic infection in the three groups of patients may lead to earlier recognition of CPP, implementation of appropriate therapy, and perhaps a higher rate of cure.

Adult↗

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Staphylococcus aureus meningitis: review of 28 cases.

Staphylococcus aureus is a relatively uncommon cause of meningitis associated with high mortality in neonates and neurosurgical patients. The infrequency of this infection has made its study difficult and has complicated the issues of treatment and prognosis. We reviewed 28 cases of S. aureus meningitis occurring over a 10-year period at three hospitals. Eight cases in children and 20 in adults were identified. Seventy-five percent of the children and 35% of the adults had central nervous system trauma or surgery; 45% of adults had comorbid disease that might have predisposed them to infection. Clinical presentation did not distinguish this form of meningitis from other bacterial meningitides. Findings in cerebrospinal fluid were characteristic of acute bacterial meningitis. Blood cultures were positive in 65% of cases. Overall mortality was 37%; 50% of adults but no children died of meningitis. No patients with S. aureus meningitis complicating cerebrospinal fluid shunts died; however, nine of 11 patients with identifiable foci of infection outside the central nervous system died. Only one patient receiving initial treatment with a penicillinase-resistant penicillin died of meningitis, whereas six of 12 patients not so treated died.

Adolescent↗

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Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole vs. ampicillin in the treatment of experimental meningitis due to Streptococcus pneumoniae.

When given in combination, both trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole penetrated well into the cerebrospinal fluid of rabbits with experimental pneumococcal meningitis, reaching concentrations that should have been adequate for synergistic killing of Streptococcus pneumoniae. However, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was less effective than ampicillin in the treatment of this experimental infection. The effect of the combination on pneumococci in vivo was bacteriostatic rather than bactericidal, possibly because the number of pneumococci in the cerebrospinal fluid of the rabbits at the start of treatment was larger than that in the inoculum used for in vitro sensitivity tests.

Ampicillin↗

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Dual infection with Ehrlichia chaffeensis and a spotted fever group rickettsia: a case report.

Well-documented cases of simultaneous human infection with more than one tick-borne pathogen are rare. To our knowledge only two dual infections have been reported: simultaneous human infection with the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis and Borrelia burgdorferi and simultaneous human infection with B. burgdorferi and Babesia microti (1-2). Rocky Mountain spotted fever has long been known to be endemic in North Carolina; cases of human ehrlichial infection were recognized there soon after Ehrlichia chaffeensis was recognized as an important cause of tick-borne disease in the southeastern United States. Because both Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ehrlichiosis are prevalent in North Carolina, occasional cases of simultaneous human infection by rickettsial and ehrlichial agents would not be surprising; however, no such cases seem to have been reported.

Adult↗

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Arsenic poisoning seen at Duke Hospital, 1965-1998.

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Adult↗

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Of hogs and men. Does North Carolina's hog industry raise the risk of infectious disease?

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Agriculture↗