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Biomedical subjects

I Roy

Publications and source records attributed to I Roy.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

Diversity and stability of restriction enzyme profiles of plasmid DNA from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Nosocomial infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a significant epidemiological problem. Detecting the sources of epidemic strains and preventing their access to patients, however, depend upon the availability of techniques to reliably distinguish among MRSA strains. We evaluated restriction enzyme analysis of plasmid DNA for use as an epidemiological marker of MRSA strains. The diversity of plasmid types was assessed by examining 120 clinical and environmental MRSA isolates from five southern California hospitals and from the American Type Culture Collection. Thirty-seven distinctive EcoRI digestion patterns were observed. We characterized each strain by the number of plasmids it contained and the sizes of the fragments that were generated by EcoRI. Very few of the isolates (4.2%) lacked plasmids, and some (6.7%) contained DNA that was not digested by EcoRI. Several isolates (12.5%) contained two or more plasmids. We were able to assess the stability of MRSA plasmid types by tracking epidemic strains over a 2-year period. We also examined successive isolates from 10 individual patients during their hospitalization. In all but one case, the patient's plasmid profiles remained unchanged. We conclude that the diversity and stability of MRSA plasmid types make them excellent epidemiological markers. In support of this conclusion, we found that our data provided significant epidemiological insights. Two epidemic strains, accounting for more than half of the infections, were identified in the five hospitals. The remaining cases were sporadic, caused by MRSA strains that appeared very infrequently and that may have originated from sources outside the hospitals.

Cross Infection

Observations on spinal dysraphism.

An attempt has been made to look into the age at presentation, incidence and clinical presentation of 40 patients with spinal dysraphism. Thirteen cases of myelomeningocele and 11 cases of meningocele constituted the 'aperta' group and there were 16 'occulta' cases. Though among the 'aperta' cases male is to female ratio was 1:1, a marked male preponderance of 2.2:1 was seen among 'occulta' cases. First born child was found to be most frequently (44.50%) affected in the present series. Myelography remained a mainstay in deciding operation in 'occulta' cases. All 'aperta' cases and 11 out of 16 'occulta' cases were treated by operation. Regarding results of treatment, all cases with meningocele were fully cured, cases with myelomeningocele showed no improvement but further deterioration of the neurological status could be arrested. Hydrocephalus was associated in 8 out of 13 cases with myelomeningocele and ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt were instituted in all of them. Prognostic significance of presence of hydrocephalus was profoundly grave as was evident from the mortality rate (10%) in this series.

Adolescent

Mediastinal germ cell tumors and histiocytosis.

Two cases of mediastinal germ cell tumors associated with primary hemoproliferative disorders are reported. The first case was a 23-year-old man who presented simultaneously with a mediastinal immature teratoma with focal yolk sac differentiation and a cytologically benign histiocytic proliferation associated with refractory thrombocytopenia. In the second case, an unsuspected mediastinal immature teratoma with focal yolk sac and hepatic differentiation was found postmortem in a 33-year-old man who had died of fulminant malignant histiocytosis. Although the histiocytosis in the former case failed to fulfill all the usual diagnostic criteria of malignant histiocytosis, both cases probably represent different manifestations of the same pathologic process. Review of the 19 published cases of hematologic malignancies associated with mediastinal germ cell tumors and of related experimental studies suggests a role for yolk sac differentiation in the pathogenesis of this syndrome.

Adult

Giant intraductal papilloma of the breast: a case report.

A case of an unusually large solitary intraductal papilloma of the breast is reported. This benign neoplasm presented as a 15-cm breast mass, enlarging over a 2-year period. The case illustrates that benign intraductal papilloma may rarely present as a large breast mass and therefore should be considered in the differential diagnosis of very large breast lesions.

Breast Neoplasms

Identification of species of Candida, Cryptococcus, and Torulopsis by gas-liquid chromatography.

Gas-liquid chromatography was used to identify species of Candida, Cryptococcus, and Torulopsis by fatty-acid analysis of the whole-cell hydrolysate. Candida albicans characteristically revealed 2-OH C14:0 and C19:0 (chain length:number of double bonds); these were absent in other organisms. Candida curvata was characterized by a ratio of C16:1 to C16:0 of greater than 1.0. Candida guilliermondii contained C10:0, and Candida tropicalis had no C12:0, these features were used for their identification. Cryptococcus was characterized by the absence of C16:1. Torulopsis was characterized by a C16:1 to C16:0 ratio of greater than 10 accompanied by the presence of one unidentified fatty acid. These data suggested that certain Candida, Cryptococcus, and Torulopsis (the clinically important yeast-like organisms) may be identified by gas-liquid chromatography.

Candida

In vitro activity of mezlocillin and its related compounds against aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.

A total of 900 clinical isolates of aerobic (462 isolates) and anaerobic (438 isolates) bacteria were tested against mezlocillin in comparison with other penicillins, and the aerobes were also tested against cephalothin, cefoxitin, and cefamandole. Among penicillins, mezlocillin was the most effective against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Bacteroides fragilis. Mezlocillin was more effective than cephalothin against Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Aerobiosis

Clinical and experimental evaluation of cefoxitin therapy.

30 patients were treated with i.v. cefoxitin (4-8 g/day), of which 20 had documented infections which included endocarditis (5), lung abscess (4), empyema (4), liver and subhepatic abscess (3), osteomyelitis (3), and pancreatic abscess (1). 14 patients had infections caused by anaerobic bacteria and 5 had endocarditis due to aerobic organisms. All but 2 patients with osteomyelitis of the mandible were cured. Adverse reactions were noted in 7 patients, mostly due to drug fever and leukocytosis; one had Coombs'-positive hemolytic anemia. The average serum cefoxitin levels were 24, 16, 12, and 4 microgram/ml at 1, 2, 3 and 4 h, respectively, and the average serum/pleural fluid ratio was 1:0.5 +/- 0.25. All anaerobic and aerobic isolates except one strain of Bacteroides fragilis were susceptible to cefoxitin at less than or equal to 32 microgram/ml. The concentration of cefoxitin in the tissues was measured in 8 rabbits; it was 4 +/- 1 microgram/ml in the heart and 2 +/- 0.5 microgram/ml in the femur and mandibular tissue, suggesting that the lack of response in cases of osteomyelitis could be due to inadequate antibiotic concentration in the bone. Our study suggests that cefoxitin can be used in the treatment of anaerobic infections and endocarditis due to susceptible organisms.

Abscess

Cyclacillin: in vitro activity against aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.

Cyclacillin at 50 microgram/ml inhibited streptococci (100%), shigella (72%), and Bacteroides (B) fragilis ss fragilis (84%). At 100 microgram/ml it inhibited proteus (75%), B. fragilis (86%), and E. coli (50%). Cyclacillin was more effective than ampicillin against beta-lactamase-producing H. influenzae. The activity of cyclacillin was found to be more enhanced when tested in nutrient agar and Mueller-Hinton agar than in brain heart infusion agar.

Ampicillin

Ticarcillin disodium in anaerobic infections.

Twenty-five patients were treated with ticarcillin disodium, 18 of whom had anaerobic infections that included pleuropulmonary infections (seven), mandibular osteomyelitis (four), perirectal abscess (two), sepsis, primary site unknown (one), liver abscess (one), pelvic abscess (one), decubitus ulcer (one), and synergistic gangrene (one). Seven had no anaerobic infections. Three had anaerobic septicemia. Culture results included anaerobes: peptococci (ten), peptostreptococci (ten), Bacteroides fragilis (six), Bacteroides not fragilis (ten), eubacteria (three), fusobacteria (two), Clostridium (one), Veillonella (one), and acidaminococcus (one); aerobes: Proteus (three), Klebsiella (two), Escherichia coli (two), and streptococci (two). Six patients with mixed aerobic infections initially received gentamicin sulfate in addition. The serum levels were 110 +/- 20 microgram/ml one hour after intravenous infusion of 5 g of ticarcillin disodium. All anaerobic isolates were susceptible at less than or equal to 100 microgram/ml and 85% by less than or equal to 25 microgram/ml of ticarcillin. Sixteen patients responded well to ticarcillin and two failed to respond. Our study suggests that ticarcillin is useful in the treatment of anaerobic infections.

Anaerobiosis

In vitro activity of ticarcillin against anaerobic bacteria compared with that of carbenicillin and penicillin.

A total of 334 clinical anaerobic isolates were tested in an anaerobic glove box by the agar dilution technique for susceptibility to clinically achievable levels of ticarcillin, carbenicillin, and penicillin. Thirty-two micrograms or less of penicillin per milliliter inhibited 91% of all strains, whereas 100 mug of carbenicillin and ticarcillin per ml inhibited 95 and 98%, respectively. A total of 82% (85 strains) of Bacteroides were inhibited by penicillin, and 93 and 96% were inhibited by carbenicillin and ticarcillin, respectively. Thirteen (24%) of 55 strains of Bacteroides fragilis tested were resistant to 32 mug of penicillin per ml, and 6 (11%) and 3 (5%) were resistant to 100 mug of carbenicillin and ticarcillin per ml, respectively. Within the therapeutic range, ticarcillin was the most effective of the three penicillins tested against B. fragilis subsp. fragilis.

Anaerobiosis