PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

C F Scholhamer

Publications and source records attributed to C F Scholhamer.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Campylobacter enterocolitis.

We report four patients with bloody diarrhea and colitis from Campylobacter fetus subspecies jejuni. Two patients had dogs with Campylobacter fetus in their stools. All patients responded rapidly and completely to erythromycin therapy. Campylobacter fetus subspecies jejuni is now a relatively common cause of enterocolitis, more common than salmonella or shigella. When the organism causes short-lived water diarrhea, a definitive diagnosis is not necessary. In a patient with bloody diarrhea and acute colitis, the clinician should pursue Campylobacter fetus as a potential offender, recognizing that acute colitis from Campylobacter fetus is clinically and and pathologically indistinguishable from any other acute colitis.

Adult

Pseudomembranous colitis after topical application of clindamycin.

Abdominal cramping and diarrhea developed in a 24-year-old woman with facial acne vulgaris five days after she started topical therapy with 1% clindamycin hydrochloride. A stool specimen contained a significant titer of a toxin produced by Clostridium difficile. Findings from sigmoidoscopy and a colonic biopsy specimen were consistent with pseudomembranous colitis. The patient became asymptomatic after ten days of supportive care and oral vancomycin hydrochloride therapy. This case is presented as an example of pseudomembranous colitis associated with topical application of clindamycin.

Acne Vulgaris

The first attack of acute pancreatitis: a clinical study.

Acute pancreatitis of biliary tract origin and that of alcoholic origin may be difficult to separate on clinical grounds alone. Such separation is important since operation prevents recurrent attacks in gallstone pancreatitis. We examined the records of 78 patients in the first attack of pancreatitis from gallstones or alcohol. The gallstone group were usually women, older, and had a shorter period of abdominal pain. Pancreatic complications occurred more frequently in the alcoholic group and led to two deaths. Amylase values were diagnostically helpful in that a level greater than 1000 units in patients of the proper age and sex, and a level greater than 2000 units by itself indicated gallstone pancreatitis.

Acute Disease

Cancer and malpractice claims.

An analysis of 36 closed malpractice claims related to the diagnosis of cancer was conducted at a time when both subjects are receiving particular attention. Awareness of cancer statistics and the medicolegal literature is necessary. Factors related to the allegation of delay as well as the psychological aspects of cancer are presented. Suggestions for claims prevention have been delineated.

Adolescent