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Biomedical subjects

G Controni

Publications and source records attributed to G Controni.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Yersinia enterocolitica enteritis in children.

Five patients were admitted to Children's Hospital National Medical Center with manifestations of Yersinia enterocolitica infections. Four of five had primarily enteric illness, while the fifth had associated ocular and joint involvements. In three of five cases, the disease was self-limiting. Two of the patients (No. 1 and 2) may have had their disease improved by antibiotic therapy. Increased alertness to the potential of Y enterocolitica to cause a variety of syndromes is necessary to make an accurate bacteriologic diagnosis and to expedite medical treatment.

Anti-Bacterial Agents

Rapid diagnosis of septic arthritis by quantitative analysis of joint fluid lactic acid with a monotest lactate kit.

The Monotest Lactate Kit (MLT) was compared with gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) for the rapid detection of septic arthritis. A total of 36 joint fluids were tested. Specimens were obtained from patients with septic arthritis (17 cases), inflammatory arthritis (18 cases), and degenerative arthritis (1 case). Specimens from 15 patients with bacterial arthritis had lactate levels above 65 mg/dl (mean, 318 mg/dl with the GLC method and 378 mg/dl with the MLT method). Three specimens from patients with gonococcal arthritis had levels that were not above 30 mg/dl (mean, 21 mg/dl with either the GLC or the MLT methods). Patients with inflammatory or degenerative disease yielded levels lower than 65 mg/dl (mean, 48 mg/dl with the GLC method and 46 mg/dl with the MLT method). Both methods proved to be equallly reliable in detecting septic arthritis, except for the gonococcal cases. Both methods are fast and easily adaptable to clinical laboratories; however, MLT was more definitive when quantitation was needed, required less fluid per speciment, and could be readily done at the bedside.

Adolescent

Cerebrospinal fluid lactic acid levels in meningitis.

Measurement of cerebrospinal fluid lactic acid by gas liquid chromatography and by an enzymatic Monotest lactate test was evaluated for the early detection of bacterial meningitis in 396 patients. Spinal fluid specimens from 62/62 patients with a bacterial or mycoplasma etiology yielded lactate levels greater than the upper limits of normal, whereas specimens from 334 patients with no bacterial involvement gave values within the normal range. The duration of elevated CSF lactate values coincided with the clinical response to therapy. When considered along with the history and physical examination of the patient, determination of lactic acid proved to be a rapid and reliable diagnostic test for the early detection of untreated as well as partially treated pyogenic meningitis.

Adolescent

Limulus lysate test for gram-negative bacterial meningitis. Bedside application.

The limulus lysate on cerebrospinal fluid was evaluated in 335 infants and children as a method for the rapid diagnosis of Gram-negative bacterial meningitis. Positive limulus tests were obtained within one hour in 33 of 34 cases of Hemophilus influenzae meningitis; four additional patients with Gram-negative meningitis also showed positive limulus lysate tests. Conversely, 13 patients with Gram-positive bacterial meningitis all yielded negative limulus assays. All 48 cases of aseptic meningitis and 236 children with no meningitis showed negative limulus assays. Antibiotic therapy prior to hospitalization did not vitiate the validity of the test. A bedside adaptation of the limulus test, performed by house officers and medical students, showed approximately 98% agreement with the laboratory assay.

Arachnida

Lactic acid levels in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 22 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and 20 samples from normal controls were studied for lactic acid levels. Ten samples were obtained from SLE patients with active central nervous system (CNS) involvement and 12 from SLE patients with inactive CNS disease. The mean CSF lactic acid level in patients with SLE was 17.24 +/- 1.25 mg/dl (range 31-10.2 mg/dl) which was not statistically different to the normal control mean of 14.75 +/- 0.9 mg/dl (range 9-28 mg/dl). Thus, lactic acid levels in active or inactive CNS disease of SLE appear to be normal. Due to the fact that lactic acid levels are elevated in the CSF of patients with bacterial meningitis, lactic acid levels can be of potential value in the differentiation between bacterial meningitis and CNS involvement of SLE.

Humans