A community study on the prevalence of diphtheria carriers among the pre-school children of Ulloor Panchayat-Trivandrum.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C P Kutty.
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A young man with exertional dyspnea, maculopapular skin lesions, and generalized lymphadenopathy was found to have a posterior mediastinal density on a chest roentgenogram. Sarcoidosis was diagnosed on the basis of lymph node and skin biopsy findings, and corticosteroid therapy was started. After six months of treatment the patient was free of symptoms and the posterior mediastinal density had resolved. Although posterior mediastinal lymphadenopathy is an infrequent roentgenographic manifestation of sarcoidosis, this possibility should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of a posterior mediastinal density.
Two patients with chest infections caused by Actinomyces meyeri were seen during a 5-yr period. One patient was ill for 2 yr and had chronic infection manifested by bilateral cavitary and fibrotic changes on chest roentgenogram. A. meyeri was isolated from a chest wall lesion, transtracheal aspirate, and lung tissue. The other patient presented with a subcutaneous abscess of the left hip that yielded A. meyeri on culture. A localized lung infection and empyema were found. Both patients had other aerobes or anaerobes recovered from material haboring A. meyeri, a frequent finding in actinomycosis caused by Actinomyces israelii. To our knowledge, thoracic actinomycosis caused by A. meyeri has not been previously described.
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In this series of 72 cases of empyema, 28 patients (38.8) had anaerobes isolated from their pleural fluid cultures. In 22 patients, anaerobes were the only isolates, and in six there were also aerobes. This observed frequency (38.8%) of anaerobic empyema is notably greater than the frequency noted in an earlier study (1952 to 1967) from the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Wood, Wis, while the contribution of various pathogenetic mechanisms was similar. Although closed chest tube drainage was instituted initially in 51 patients, 18 patients (35%) subsequently required additional procedures. The case-fatality ratio was 51.4% in this study compared with 46.6% in the earlier study. Twenty-two patients died during the same hospitalization period while the empyema was an active problem. Six (8.3%) of these empyema-related deaths occurred in patients without underlying disease, while 16 (22.2%) were in patients with underlying diseases.
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A leukemic patient presented with bilateral pleural effusions. The effusions were markedly different in their characteristics; left-sided staphylococcal empyema and right-sided lymphocytic effusion. To our knowledge, there are no cases of this type reported in the modern literature. The importance of bilateral diagnostic thoracocentesis in patients on immunosuppressant therapy is emphasized.
Malignant-appearing mesothelial cells were noted in an amylase-rich pleural effusion caused by pancreatitis in the absence of any neoplastic disease. Such changes in the mesothelial cells are believed to be the result of intense irritation of the serosal surfaces by the pancreatic enzymes. Review of the literature showed a likelihood of false-positive cytologic diagnosis of 0.44% for pleural effusions and 0.91% for all serous effusions. Because of the potential for serious error in patient management based on a false-positive cytology, it is important to recognize the conditions that may be responsible for it.