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Biomedical subjects

L A McGonagle

Publications and source records attributed to L A McGonagle.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

Diagnostic considerations and interpretation of microbiological findings for evaluation of chronic prostatitis.

Seventy-five patients attending a clinic for chronic prostatitis were evaluated by use of lower urinary tract localization cultures. Coagulase-negative staphylococci, alpha-hemolytic streptococci, and diphtheroids were the most common isolates, but none of these organisms were pathogens, based on the absence of bacteriuria or evidence of an inflammatory response in prostatic secretions. Recognized uropathogens were isolated in 12 (16%) of the 75 cases and included Escherichia coli in 6 cases, Enterococcus spp. in 2 cases, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus in 1 case each. Laboratory evaluation of men with chronic prostatitis should concentrate on the isolation and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacteria that have an established pathogenic potential in the genitourinary tract.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing of isolates from blood cultures by direct inoculation and early reading of disk diffusion tests.

Disk diffusion tests, inoculated directly from positive blood cultures, were evaluated for accuracy of reading zone diameters after 4- and 6-h and overnight incubation. In comparisons with results from standard disk diffusion tests, the 4-h results were in agreement for 83% of tests with gram-positive organisms and 64% of tests with gram-negative organisms. When minor discrepancies were ignored, the 4-h readings were in agreement for 98% of the tests with gram-positive organisms and 95% of the tests with gram-negative organisms. After 6 h of incubation, 91% of the tests with gram-positive organisms and 86% of the tests with gram-negative organisms agreed with standard results. The agreement was 99% for tests with both gram-positive and gram-negative organisms when minor discrepancies were excluded. Very major discrepancies occurred in two tests (0.1%) with gram-positive organisms and were not observed in tests with gram-negative organisms. The frequencies of major discrepancies were 3.5% after 4 h, 0.6% after 6 h, and 0.7% after overnight incubation. Ampicillin and cephalothin tests with Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. accounted for 81% of the major discrepancies in tests with gram-negative organisms. Oxacillin tests accounted for more than half of the major discrepancies in tests with staphylococci. The results of this study, which did not include the newer antibiotics, indicate that direct susceptibility tests from blood cultures read after 6 h of incubation are more reliable than 4-h results and produce less than 1% major errors in comparisons with standard susceptibility tests.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1975

A space-saving media table.

A space-saving media table designed to facilitate pouring large quantities of plated media in a small area is described.

Culture Media↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Computer programs that teach the interpretation of image-based laboratory tests.

OBJECTIVE: To review the effort of the University of Washington (UW) Department of Laboratory Medicine to develop and use personal computer programs to teach the interpretation of image-based clinical laboratory tests to medical technologists and other health care workers. DATA SOURCES: Professional journals and books; Software owned by and licensed by the University of Washington. STUDY SELECTION: Not applicable. DATA EXTRACTION: Not applicable. DATA SYNTHESIS: We have been developing interactive personal computer (PC) programs for teaching image-based laboratory tests to medical technologists and other health care workers. The programs, called "Laboratory Tutors," are useful for teaching microscope-based tests and tests based on electrophoresis. Our programs include ANA-Tutor, which teaches the immunofluorescence assay for anti-nuclear antibodies; Gram Stain-Tutor, which teaches the direct Gram stain; Electrophoresis-Tutor, which teaches the interpretation of agarose gel protein electrophoretic patterns; Urinalysis-Tutor, which teaches the microscopic examination of urine sediment; in addition to other programs. The tutorials are all based on high-quality digital images that were acquired and processed using digital imaging systems. They require minimal computer literacy and have a number of advantages over standard approaches to teaching image-based laboratory tests. The computer tutorials are used in UW's medical technology and medical school curriculum, where they are used as supplements to traditional instruction. CONCLUSION: Laboratory tutors are computer programs that use high resolution digital images to teach the interpretation of image-based laboratory tests. We plan to continue to develop these programs, study their educational effectiveness, and update them periodically.

Clinical Laboratory Information Systems↗