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Biomedical subjects

K Lerch

Publications and source records attributed to K Lerch.

96 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Secondary mycosis in surgery: treatment with fluconazole.

Together with the severity of the underlying disease, mycotic infections are assuming increasing significance in surgical patients under intensive care. 26 patients with severe internal mycotic infections were treated with fluconazole in an open clinical trial. The pathogens isolated were Candida albicans in 22 cases, Candida tropicalis in four, Torulopsis glabrata in three, Candida parapsilosis in two and Aspergillus fumigatus in one. Mixed infections were found in five cases. Most of this series of surgical patients had a severe, life-threatening post-operative condition. Their mean classification by the Apache score was 15.35. The most frequent risk factors were previous injuries to intraabdominal hollow organs and extensive antibiotic therapy; and the peritoneum was, therefore, the commonest site of infection. Antimycotic therapy was with fluconazole at a dose of 200-400 mg daily for at least ten days. The mycosis was cured in 22 of the 26 patients, one of these being a case of severe mycotic peritonitis. Nine patients died of the underlying disease within four weeks of the beginning of treatment. Fluconazole was effective and well tolerated in the treatment of severe life-threatening infections in surgical patients.

Adult↗

Comparative study of the efficacy of fluconazole versus amphotericin B/flucytosine in surgical patients with systemic mycoses.

In an open, prospective, randomized study, the efficacy of fluconazole was compared with that of the combination amphotericin B/flucytosine. Forty surgical patients with deep-seated mycoses were included in the study. Absolute inclusion criteria were histological finding of fungi in a tissue sample taken during surgery from e.g. peritoneum, pancreas, lungs or trachea, a positive blood culture or candida lesion of the eye. According to the random list 20 patients received up to 0.5 mg amphotericin B per kg body weight in combination with 3 x 2.5 g flucytosine (5-FC) daily and 20 patients received fluconazole, 400 mg on the first day and then 300 mg daily. The two therapy groups were comparable in terms of age, sex and underlying diseases. Gastrointestinal perforations (27 times) were the most frequent underlying diseases. Candida albicans was the fungus most frequently detected microbiologically (34 times). The pathogens were eliminated from 12 patients in the fluconazole group and 14 patients in the combination group. The median elimination time was 8.5 days in the fluconazole group and 5.5 days in the amphotericin B/5-FC group. Six patients died in the fluconazole group, whereas five patients died in the comparison group. Side effects which necessitated switching of therapy occurred twice in the combination group. In deep-seated candida mycoses, surgical patients receiving the combination therapy with amphotericin B/5-FC showed an earlier elimination than patients on monotherapy with fluconazole. With respect to cure rates there was no difference between these two regimens.

Adult↗

[Therapy of femoral head osteonecrosis: results of a national survey].

AIM: The therapy for osteonecrosis (ON) of the femoral head is controversially discussed in the literature. The aim of this study was to ascertain the current treatment concepts of ON in Germany and to compare them with the results reported in the literature. METHODS: 219 Departments of Orthopedic Surgery were asked for their treatment strategies in an anonymous country-wide survey regarding the etiology, diagnosis and therapy (conservative, operative) of ON. Univariate analyses were performed and means, medians and rates were calculated. RESULTS: 43 % of ON were idiopathic, 28 % were due to alcoholism and another 17 % were seen after steroid intake. All departments performed biplanar X-rays for diagnosis of ON and 78 % of departments obtained additional magnet resonance imaging. In the early stages of ON (stage I, II) 33 % of orthopedic clinics recommend a conservative treatment (protected weight bearing, high energy shock wave, pulsed electromagnetic fields) while 67 % prefer surgery (79 % core decompression, 15 % flexion osteotomy, 6 % total hip arthroplasty). In the later stages (stage III, IV) most clinics perform an operative treatment (11 % core decompression, 10 % flexion osteotomy, 79 % total hip arthroplasty). CONCLUSION: Results of ON of the femoral head are unsatisfactory after protected weight bearing. No randomized clinical trials and no mid-term results are available for high energy shock wave or pulsed electromagnetic fields therapy. In the early stages of ON core decompression shows good results. However, in he later stages with secondary arthritis of the hip, total hip arthroplasty remains the gold standard.

Femur Head Necrosis↗

Fluconazole monitoring in Candida peritonitis based on histological control.

Between May 1, 1988 and January 1, 1990, 10 patients were treated for Candida peritonitis. Origins of the infections were lesions and perforations of the gastrointestinal tract. Risk factors promoting the disease were tumours, diabetes mellitus and extensive antibiotic therapy. The mean classification by the APACHE score 2 was 19.0. All patients underwent the programmed peritoneal lavage for diffuse peritonitis. Daily relaparotomy and lavage of all quadrants of the abdomen was performed. The diagnosis of Candida peritonitis had been established by microbiological investigation, increasing serologic titres, histologic demonstration of a deep mycosis and clinical picture. All patients were treated with 300 mg fluconazole daily. Five of the ten patients died from their severe primary diseases in spite of control of fungal peritonitis. Daily relaparotomies allowed to follow up the microbiologic and histologic course of the disease. Within 2 to 4 days after administration of fluconazole, hydrous swelling and reduction of fungal elements could be demonstrated histologically. On the 4th day after onset of antifungal therapy, fungal mycelia were markedly reduced and distendedly decayed. Fluconazole clearly leads to a destruction of deeply invading Candida elements within 4 days.

Adult↗