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Biomedical subjects

M Stephens

Publications and source records attributed to M Stephens.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis progressing to allergic granulomatosis and angiitis (Churg-Strauss syndrome).

A 50-yr-old woman had a right upper lobectomy that revealed the pathologic changes of eosinophilic pneumonia and mucoid impaction. In the mucus plug within the segmental bronchus, aspergillus was demonstrated by direct staining. A diagnosis of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis was made. After a latent period of 17 yr, she presented with the clinicopathologic features of the Churg-Strauss Syndrome. The putative role of aspergillus in the etiology of this syndrome is discussed.

Aged

Synchronous duodenal neuroendocrine tumours in von Recklinghausen's disease--a case report of co-existing gangliocytic paraganglioma and somatostatin-rich glandular carcinoid.

The co-existence of a gangliocytic paraganglioma and a glandular psammomatous carcinoid in the duodenum of a patient with von Recklinghausen's disease and bilateral phaeochromocytomas is reported. The two lesions were considered to be distinctive by light microscopy, electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry. The cells of the glandular carcinoid showed strong cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for somatostatin and contained only scanty intracytoplasmic microfilaments on electron microscopy. In contrast, the endocrine cells of the gangliocytic paraganglioma were positive for pancreatic polypeptide and serotonin, were negative for somatostatin, and contained conspicuous intracytoplasmic aggregates of filaments. The histogenic relationship between the two tumours is discussed. This case strengthens the known association of glandular duodenal somatostatinoma with von Recklinghausen's disease and phaeochromocytoma and, in the light of a previous case report, suggests that von Recklinghausen's disease and gangliocytic paraganglioma may co-exist more commonly than expected.

Carcinoid Tumor

The sensitivity of gentamicin-resistant gram-negative bacilli to cefotaxime, other cephalosporins and aminoglycosides.

The sensitivities of 80 gentamicin-resistant gram-negative bacilli to cefotaxime, cefuroxime, cefoxitin, cefamandole, cefazolin, tobramycin, netilmicin and amikacin were determined. Amikacin was the most active amino-glycoside. However, the percentage sensitivity to cefotaxime of most of the species was higher than, or equal to any of the other antibiotics tested. Cefotaxime was particulary active against Providencia spp., Serratia spp., Klebsiella spp., and Pseudomonas maltophilia, being 16 to 256 times more active than the next best cephalosporin or cephamycin. Clinical trials of cefotaxime are now required.

Acinetobacter

A hospital epidemic caused by gentamicin-resistant Klebsiella aerogenes.

In the 15 months, February 1976 to April 1977, more than 241 patients became colonized with a strain of Klebsiella aerogenes, capsular serotype K2, resistant to most antibiotics. Urinary tract infection was the most common clinical manifestation but bacteraemia and, occasionally, infections of other sites were encountered. The main reservoir of the epidemic klebsiella was the gut, urine and skin of colonized patients. Gut carriage among staff was very uncommon. The most susceptible patients were elderly males, with debilitating illnesses and urinary tract abnormalities, especially if they were catheterized or receiving antibiotics. Likely vehicles for spread were the hands of staff, and contaminated bedpans and urinals. Control measures were directed at these factors. At the end of April 1977 no new cases had occurred for 3 months in the ward in which the outbreak began, and which had been the main focus of infection, and only 5 patients in the affected hospitals were known to be colonized by the epidemic klebsiella.

Cross Infection

Urinary tract infection in young women, with special reference to Staphylococcus saprophyticus.

Acute urinary tract infections in young women attending a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases were caused by the same bacteria, in the same proportions, as those that caused infections in women students. Staphylococcus saprophyticus biotype 3 (formerly called Micrococcus subgroup 3) was the commonest organism after coliform bacilli and caused about 30% of the infections. It was uncommon in women over 25 years of age and rarely caused asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy. Most infections, irrespective of the causative organism, started soon after sexual intercourse, but neither the staphylococci nor the other organisms were associated with promiscuity, as judged by numbers of sexual partners or the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases. There was no evidence that the staphylococci were sexually transmitted. The reasons for the virulence of Staph. saprophyticus and its predilection for the urinary tract of young women remain unknown.

Adult

Cryptococcal meningitis complicating systemic lupus erythematosus: two patients treated with flucytosine and amphotericin B.

Two fatal cases of cryptococcal meningitis complicating adrenocorticosteroid-treated systemic lupus erythermatosus are reported. In one patient who was treated with flucytosine alone, after an initial period of improvement cryptococci resistant to flucytosine were isolated, and subsequent amphotericine B treatment silated, and subsequent amphotericin B treatment did not alter the progress of the disease. In the second patient, who received both drugs concurrently, resistant cryptococci did not appear and the patient recovered sufficiently to return home. Flucytosine-resistant mutants could be demonstrated in vitro in the original cryptococcal isolated from both patients. The use of flucytosine and amphotericin B in combination is discussed.

Amphotericin B

Epidemic infection by a gentamicin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in three hospitals.

A Staphylococcus aureus strain, resistant to aminoglycosides, including gentamicin and tobramycin, and to penicillin, lincomycin, and other antibiotics, caused an outbreak of hospital infection in a surgical ward which spread to the intensive-therapy unit and to two other hospitals. 21 patients were colonised and 9 of these had overt clinical infection. Administration of antibiotics to which the staphylococcus was resistant was associated with colonisation. The use of gentamicin, tobramycin, and lincomycin in these hospitals has increased as has the occurrence of bacterial resistance to these agents. An antibiotic policy to control their use is essential to preserve their value in life-threatening infections by bacteria resistant to other agents.

Acetyltransferases

Chronic Clostridium septicum infection of a tibial fracture: a case report.

An open transverse fracture of the mid-shaft of the tibia of a professional footballer became infected by Clostridium septicum and, after early compression plating, required surgical intervention on three further occasions and extensive antibiotic treatment before healing occurred. Clostridial infection is a recognized complication of open fractures contaminated with soil, and the necrotizing toxins produced by the C. septicum were probably responsible for the persistence of this infection. Infection occurred in less than 1 per cent of our series of 215 operations of compression plating of fresh fractures of the tibial shaft. Infection by clostridium species is a serious complication of open fractures. This patient did not show the spreading inflammation and necrosis, or the marked systemic upset, characteristic of acute clostridial infection, but persistent local infection necessitated prolonged surgical and antibiotic treatment.

Adult

Heart contractile proteins.

That several proteins of the sarcomere differ from one muscle to the next is well documented, and it is becoming evident that homogeneous muscles, like the heart, are also species specific. 1) Clear-cut evidence is available concerning myosin, and, to date, several types of molecules have been described. a) The myosins of white skeletal, heart, and smooth muscle differ in the activity of their Ca2+ and K+ATPases, as also in the structure of their light subunits. b) The Ca2+ATPases of the various cardiac myosins have been shown to exhibit species differences and correlate with the speed of shortening of the muscle. 2) The structures of tropomyosin, some troponin components, and alpha actinin (but not actin) appear to be unlike in the different types of muscle. 3) These phylogenic modifications may be related to the changes characteristic of the particular muscles under pathological conditions, which are accompanied by substantial increase in protein synthesis.

Actins