Beta-lactam allergy in children.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E Pérez-Rodriguez.
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The aim of this study was to define the number of pleural biopsy samples necessary for optimum diagnostic performance and determine to what extent they are complementary. Eighty-four closed pleural biopsies were performed in our department between June 1996 and January 1998 on 55 males and 29 females with an average age of 64.4 +/- 16.7 years. The study of the pleural fluid included: pH, biochemical testing of pleura/serum (proteins, lactate dehydrogenase, glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, albumin and adenosine deaminase), haemogram, cytology and microbiological testing (Gram-staining, aerobes, anaerobes and mycobacteriae cultures). The biopsies were performed using a Cope needle, with a total of five biopsies for each patient: four for pathological examination (taken numerically in the order in which they were performed: D1, D2, D3 and D4) and one for microbiological testing. In those cases in which the diagnosis was uncertain or effusion persisted, a thoracoscopy or thoracotomy was performed. There were no significant differences in the diagnostic yield of each individual sample (D1, D2, D3 and D4), but there were differences in the sum of the samples, depending on the number of biopsies performed.This was true for total group and the group with carcinomas, but not for the group with tuberculosis. The increase in diagnostic yield with the number of biopsies was more remarkable in the carcinoma cases, where it increased by 35% when four biopsies were performed (54% with one biopsy versus 89% with four biopsies, P < 0.002). In conclusion, the diagnostic yield increased with the number of biopsy samples in the total group and the group with malignancy but not in the group with tuberculous effusions. The best diagnostic performance for malignant pathology was obtained with four samples. In pleural tuberculosis, the diagnostic yield did not increase with more biopsy samples. One high quality sample should be enough to obtain a diagnosis.
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The bacillary population described in tuberculous pleuritis is small, and its most likely pathogenetic mechanism is essentially immunologic. This explains why, until now, the diagnostic identification of tuberculous pleuritis (TP) has been based on the presence of granulomas in pleural biopsy. Correcting this diagnostic deficiency through other parameters related to the specific pathogenetic mechanism has been widely studied. The determination of the levels of adenosine deaminase (ADA) in pleural fluid offers high performance in its discriminating capacity to identify TP (sensitivity 87 to 100%, specificity 81 to 97%). Adenosine deaminase expresses the sum of two isoenzymes (ADA1 and ADA2). ADA1 is ubiquitous in all cells, including lymphocytes and monocytes, whereas ADA2 is found only in monocytes. Analysis and determination of these isoenzymes have shown that ADA in TP increases particularly at the expense of ADA2 and that the ADA1 /ADAp activity ratio improves performance in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and efficacy (100%, 92 to 97%, and 98%, respectively) in correcting all false-negative and false-positive results except 1 to 9% of nonlymphoproliferative malignancies. Only the high performance of ADA in the identification of TP allows it to be assumed that pleural biopsy can be obviated, especially in patients aged less than 35 years of age or having a lymphocyte-to-neutrophil proportion of more than 0.75 in regions of high prevalence. Quick determination and low cost justify its routine use in exudates. The ADA1 /ADAp activity ratio improves performance even more and could be used in cases with uncertain diagnoses or in regions with low prevalence of tuberculosis.
We present a case with gigantic carcinosarcoma (the largest described to date, diameter of 20.5 cm), located in the right upper lobe, in which the discordance between the brief clinical course with limited symptoms and its large size were remarkable. Preoperative diagnosis by bronchial biopsy, as used to be the case in this malignancy, was incorrect (epidermoid), and the define histological characterization was made by thoracotomy. The controversy about pathology, diagnosis and treatment of the carcinosarcoma is discussed.
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