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Biomedical subjects

J Bordón

Publications and source records attributed to J Bordón.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Response to standard syphilis treatment in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

In a study designed to evaluate the efficacy of penicillin in HIV-infected patients with syphilis and to determine the clinical and laboratory responses after treatment, 13 patients with HIV infection and syphilis were assessed at enrollment and at the last follow-up examination (median time of 21 months). The Venereal Diseases Research Laboratory (VDRL) test, the Treponema pallidum hemaglutination test, and leukocyte counts in cerebrospinal fluid were evaluated both at enrollment and at the last follow-up visit, and the polymerase chain reaction for Treponema pallidum DNA and the rabbit infectivity test were performed on cerebrospinal fluid samples at the last follow-up visit. Primary syphilis was confirmed in four patients, latent syphilis in five, and neurosyphilis in four. After penicillin treatment, all patients were asymptomatic. The serum rapid plasma reagin test became negative in five patients, and titers declined in eight. The VDRL test, Treponema pallidum DNA, and the rabbit infectivity test were negative in all 13 patients. Except for one patient whose serological titer was slow to decline, all patients had good clinical and serological responses to penicillin. In certain settings, factors other than penicillin treatment failure should be considered in HIV-infected patients with suspected relapse of syphilis.

Adult↗

Pneumothorax in active pulmonary tuberculosis: resurgence of an old complication?

With the recent resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) in western countries, the incidence of complicating secondary pneumothorax has also increased. The work-up and management of this complication differs from that in other types of secondary spontaneous pneumothorax (SSP). Our objective was to assess clinical features and therapeutic modalities of SSP in patients with and without active pulmonary tuberculosis (APTB). All patients diagnosed with SSP seen at the Hospital Xeral of Vigo from January 1990 to June 1995 were candidates for this study. Full clinical, radiological and examinations were performed in all patients. Invasive procedures (thoracic catheter aspiration, thoracoscopy and thoracotomy) and mean hospital stay were compared in patients with and without APTB. Forty-eight patients with SSP were enrolled. Eleven patients (10 males and one female, mean age 30 +/- 11 years) had APTB; and 37 patients (31 males and six females, mean age 49 +/- 20 years) had conditions other than APTB. Chest pain, cough and fever were more frequent in patients with APTB (90% vs 59%; 45% vs 13.5%; 36% vs 5%, respectively). Catheter aspiration was successful in three of 10 (30%) of patients with APTB and in 15/23 (60.86%) of those without APTB. Catheter aspiration time was longer in the former group (25 +/- 22 days vs 13 +/- 11 days, P = 0.17). As initial treatment, thoracoscopy was performed in seven of 37 (18.91%) of those without APTB and in one of 10 (10%) patients with APTB. For patients with unsuccessful catheter aspiration, thoracoscopy was performed in eight of nine (89%) patients without APTB and in none of the patients with APTB. Thoracotomy was performed in only one of nine (11%) without APTB and in four of seven (57%) patients with APTB. Patients with APTB had a longer hospitalization (41 vs 18 days, P < 0.001). We concluded that SSP and APTB was a frequent association in our study. Patients with APTB showed a lesser and slower response to catheter aspiration. Despite severe clinical presentation and demand for more invasive procedures, patients with APTB showed a favourable response.

Acute Disease↗

Candida albicans endophthalmitis in brown heroin addicts: response to early vitrectomy preceded and followed by antifungal therapy.

The management of Candida albicans endophthalmitis in intravenous drug abusers (IVDAs) has yet to be established. Early vitrectomy was previously reported as a promising treatment for C. albicans endophthalmitis. In our series, C. albicans endophthalmitis was diagnosed for 15 IVDAs. Funduscopic examinations confirmed severe vitritis in 12 patients and chorioretinitis in three. Blood and vitreal cultures were positive for C. albicans for seven and eight patients, respectively. Patients with vitritis received antifungal therapy before and after vitrectomy. Amphotericin B or fluconazole therapy was given according to the physician's preference. Vitrectomy was defined as early if it was performed within 1 week after the diagnosis of vitritis. All seven patients who underwent early vitrectomy had a favorable response without complications. Two of three patients who underwent late vitrectomy developed blindness or scotoma. Blindness was also described in two patients with vitritis who did not undergo vitrectomy. Early vitrectomy preceded and followed by antifungal therapy seems to be appropriate management of vitritis in IVDAs.

Adult↗

[Kikuchi's disease. A clinicopathological study of 3 cases].

We had reviewed all the patients with Histiocytic Necrotizing Lymphadenitis (Kikuchi's disease) seen in a General Hospital during two years. Three of the six cases were young females who showed the same clinical symptoms: Fever and unilateral painful, lymphadenopathy, usually at the latero-cervical region. All patients have mild neutropenia and high levels of serum transaminases. The lymph node biopsy yielded the proper diagnostic in all cases. The course of disease was good, and all patients healed without treatment one to two month after the symptom started. To date, we have not recorded any relapse. Our finding are quite similar to the other cases published in the medical literature. The benign course of this disease, and the need for biopsy to get a correct diagnosis, can explain why this disease may be unrecognized in clinical practice.

Adolescent↗

Parkinsonism in an HIV-infected patient with hypodense cerebral lesion.

A 49-year-old man presented with fever and parkinsonism. Examination of cerebrospinal fluid confirmed tuberculous meningitis. Cerebral computerized tomography scan revealed hypodense lesions and human immunodeficiency virus tests were positive. The patient's clinical picture and parkinsonism were improved with tuberculosis treatment.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Neurosyphilis in HIV-infected patients.

To determine the prevalence and the clinical and serological findings of neurosyphilis in HIV-infected patients, Treponema pallidum hemagglutination (TPHA) tests, CD4+ lymphocyte counts and determination of rapid plasma reagin (RPR) titers were performed in 972 HIV-infected patients over a period of 3.5 years. Patients were scored according to the Centers for Disease Control's classification for HIV infection. Reactive serum syphilis tests and positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) tests, with or without clinical symptoms, were used as the criteria for diagnosis of neurosyphilis. The TPHA test was positive in 31 patients, representing 3.1% of all HIV-infected patients included in the study. Of these, 13 were intravenous drug addicts, 14 were homosexuals and 4 were heterosexuals. Diagnosis of syphilis was concurrent with HIV infection in 19 patients, prior to HIV infection in 6 patients and after HIV infection in 6 patients. CSF examinations were performed in 28 of the 31 (90.3%) patients with serologically evident syphilis. Four patients had positive CSF-VDRL tests with pleocytosis (23.5% of untreated syphilis patients in whom CSF was examined), three of whom reported mild headache, which was considered a doubtful manifestation of neurosyphilis. Patients with syphilis diagnosed and treated prior to diagnosis of HIV infection did not have evidence of neurosyphilis. Seven patients had pleocytosis with a negative CSF-VDRL test, without any clinical manifestations of neurosyphilis. There was no significant difference in the mean CD4+ lymphocyte count between patients with and without neurosyphilis (p = 0.5). RPR titers in neurosyphilis patients were greater than those in patients previously treated for syphilis and in those with pleocytosis only (p = 0.046 and 0.036, respectively). All neurosyphilis patients had an RPR titer > 1:8. After therapy, neurosyphilis patients had negative CSF-VDRL tests with a lower level of pleocytosis. The prevalence of neurosyphilis was 0.4% in HIV-infected patients and 23.5% in HIV-infected patients with untreated syphilis. This high prevalence of neurosyphilis warrants CSF examination in HIV-infected patients with syphilis, regardless of the stage of syphilis.

Adult↗

[Primary antiphospholipid syndrome. Clinical course features of 24 cases].

OBJECTIVES: Describe the clinico-evolutionary characteristics of cases of primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPLS) diagnosed at our center. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective study of all patients with circulating anticoagulant type lupus (AL) (62 patients) and/or anticardiolipin antibodies (ACLA) found in our center since 1981 and 1988, respectively. TTPA, Kaolin's test (KT), and Russel's viper venom time (RVVT) and ACLA type IgG and IgM by ELISA: Only those patients meeting the criteria for PAPLS are included. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients were diagnosed with PAPLS: Eleven patients were from the enlarged TTPA group, 11 of the total with positive ACLA, and two by KT and abnormal RVVT. As for gender, 18 were women. In the past three years, 19 patients were diagnosed. The diagnostic criteria were from the very beginning: venous thrombosis in nine patients, arterial thrombosis in four, aborted repetitions in three, and plateletopenia in eight. Six patients presented pulmonary thromboembolism, the cause of death in one patient. Thrombopenia was manifested in the evolutionary course of 14 patients, only one of which being severe. Two patients have died (one of them from neoplasia), and two others have had antiphospholipid antibodies become negative. Seven patients remain without treatment, the others undergoing anti-aggregating or anti-coagulant treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Plateletopenia, alone or accompanied by other symptoms, is the most common alteration of PAPLS in our area, followed by venous thrombosis which caused death by pulmonary thromboembolism in one patient. Arterial thrombotic events and aborted repetitions are by no means infrequent.

Abortion, Habitual↗

[Intestinal tuberculosis in patients with and without HIV infection].

GOAL: To Study the main characteristics of intestinal tuberculosis (ITB), comparing patients with and without infection by HIV (HIV and non-HIV, respectively). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The clinical records of patients diagnosed of this disease in the past five years in our center, were retrospectively reviewed. We used as inclusion criteria the histological and/or microbiological corroboration of the intestinal anatomical piece or the bacteriological and/or histological corroboration of tuberculosis at any other location with clinical and radiological signs compatible with intestinal affection. Two groups were established according to the serological results for HIV: HIV and non-HIV. RESULTS: We studied seven cases, three of them infected by the HIV. The mean age of HIV patients was 23 years, whereas the mean age of non-HIV patients was 49 years. Three non-HIV patients referred pulmonary tuberculosis when they were young. The interval between the onset of symptoms and the diagnosis in HIV patients was 45 days, ranging in the non-HIV patients between one month and four years. All the patients had abdominal pain. Six patients, including three HIV, had fever and constitutional syndrome. Thoracal radiography showed tuberculosis activity, bacteriologically demonstrated, in a HIV patient and in a non-HIV patient. Except one HIV-patient, the remainder were laparotomized. In all the HIV patients, intestinal tuberculosis was suspected upon admission, but this was not the case in the four non-HIV patients. CAT was the most useful of all the supplementary explorations conducted. Retrospectively, only four laparotomies were justified, although before this procedure, four patients were incorrectly oriented, one of them infected by the HIV. All the patients showed a good response to an specific treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Laparotomy is still a frequent diagnostic method. The characteristics of the HIV patients are similar to the ones of the non-HIV patients. The main differences are: younger ages and shorter time of evolution until diagnosis in the HIV group, and evidence of former or current pulmonary tuberculosis in the non-HIV group.

Adult↗

[Cryptococcosis of the central nervous system and infection by HIV. Clinical-evolutive characteristics in 13 cases].

Cryptococcosis is the fourth cause of infection of the Central Nervous System in patients with infection by HIV. Despite this fact, the series published in our country are referred to a limited number of cases. We describe the most relevant characteristics of 13 patients with meningitis by Cryptococcus neoformans. We used as inclusion criteria a positive culture of the Cephalorhachidian Fluid (CRF). We observed a significant reduction in the levels of CD4 lymphocytes in all patients, the absence of meningitic syndrome in more than 50% cases (8/13) and a normal CRF cytobiochemistry in three patients. The thoracic radiography was normal in all cases but two, although the cryptococcus was cultured in a transbronchial biopsia of a patient with normal thoracic radiography. The Computerized Axial Tomography showed frequent alterations (5/13). Eight patients were treated with amphotericin B (0.5 mg/kg/d) and five with fluconazol (400 mg/day). Despite following a maintenance therapy with fluconazol (200 mg/d), we had two cases of recurrence in the group previously treated with fluconazol. The level of leukocytes in the CRF was the only prognosis factor (p < 0.05). Five patients died during their first hospitalization due to causes related to the infection by cryptococcus. New therapeutical guidelines are needed in order to improve the prognosis of these patients.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Cerebral tuberculoma--a comparative study in patients with and without HIV infection.

The microbiological, clinical and radiological findings of cerebral tuberculomas in four patients with and in five patients without HIV infection were compared. The study was carried out during the last 14 years. The CT scans were analyzed in a blinded fashion. Cerebral tuberculoma in HIV-negative patients was clinically characterized by seizures, while in HIV-positive patients this finding was absent. All four HIV-infected patients had headache and fever and their CSF showed lymphocytic meningitis. Two HIV-negative and three HIV-positive patients had concurrent extracerebral tuberculosis. In HIV-infected patients, the cerebral tuberculoma was a secondary finding of disseminated tuberculosis. In our small patient samples, the cerebral tuberculoma presented as spontaneous hypodense cerebral lesions in all the HIV-positive patients but as a hyperdense cerebral lesion in the HIV-negative patients. Two patients of each group had ring enhancement lesions. Cerebral tuberculoma was diagnosed in about 4 weeks for HIV-positive patients, but took some 16 weeks for HIV-negative patients, the latter being first suspected of having a cerebral tumor or bacterial abscess. Diagnostic craniotomy was thus necessary for the HIV-negative patients. One patient of each group died as a consequence of cerebral tuberculoma, all the remaining patients improved with treatment.

Adult↗

Steroids treatment of granulomatous hepatitis complicating Coxiella burnetii acute infection.

Granulomatous hepatitis associated with Coxiella burnetii acute infection has an adverse clinical course in some patients. Surprisingly, it does not respond to antibiotic but to steroids treatment. A hypersensitivity mechanism has been implicated. A case of granulomatous hepatitis complicating C. burnetii acute infection is reported, which was refractory to antibiotics but, as in four other cases previously reported, showed a complete response to steroids. This case was found to support findings that moderate doses of steroids can be useful in patients with granulomatous hepatitis complicating C. burnetii infection and showing no response to antibiotic treatment.

Acute Disease↗

Spontaneous non-typhoidal Salmonella peritonitis in patients with serious underlying disorders.

Non-typhoidal Salmonella is a rare cause of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). Non-typhoidal Salmonella SBP has been reported in patients with relatively normal ascitic fluid protein levels. Five patients with non-typhoidal Salmonella SBP and a review of the literature are reported. These patients had chronic underlying disorders, such as malignancy, or other conditions causing immunosuppression. In previous reports, an ascitic fluid protein level above 1.5 g/dl was present in six patients, and under 1.5 g/dl in two. In the present report, ascitic fluid protein is above 2.5 g/dl in three patients and under 1.5 g/dl in one. Immunosuppression and the virulence of the organism seem to play a major role in non-typhoidal Salmonella SBP. Physicians should be alert to the possibility of non-typhoidal Salmonella infection in patients with SBP and normal protein levels in ascitic fluid.

Adult↗