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Biomedical subjects

M S Simberkoff

Publications and source records attributed to M S Simberkoff.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

A controlled trial of early versus late treatment with zidovudine in symptomatic human immunodeficiency virus infection. Results of the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study.

BACKGROUND: Zidovudine is recommended for asymptomatic and early symptomatic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The best time to initiate zidovudine treatment remains uncertain, however, and whether early treatment improves survival has not been established. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial that compared early zidovudine therapy (beginning at 1500 mg per day) with late therapy in HIV-infected patients who were symptomatic and had CD4+ counts between 0.2 x 10(9) and 0.5 x 10(9) cells per liter (200 to 500 per cubic millimeter) at entry. Those assigned to late therapy initially received placebo and began zidovudine when their CD4+ counts fell below 0.2 x 10(9) per liter (200 per cubic millimeter) or when the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) developed. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up period of more than two years, there were 23 deaths in the early-therapy group (n = 170) and 20 deaths in the late-therapy group (n = 168) (P = 0.48; relative risk [late vs. early], 0.81; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.44 to 1.59). In the early-therapy group, 28 patients progressed to AIDS, as compared with 48 in the late-therapy group (P = 0.02; relative risk, 1.76; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.1 to 2.8). Early therapy increased the time until CD4+ counts fell below 0.2 x 10(9) per liter (200 per cubic millimeter), and it produced more conversions from positive to negative for serum p24 antigen. Early therapy was associated with more anemia, leukopenia, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, whereas late therapy was associated with more skin rash. CONCLUSIONS: In symptomatic patients with HIV infection, early treatment with zidovudine delays progression to AIDS, but in this controlled study it did not improve survival, and it was associated with more side effects.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1992

Cardiac valve replacement in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

Major surgical procedures, especially when performed under general anesthesia, can depress immunological parameters measured in vitro. Therefore concern has been expressed that operation might have an adverse effect on the immune status of individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Four HIV-positive patients without symptoms of HIV disease underwent cardiac valve replacement in consequence of infective endocarditis. After up to 15 months postoperatively, 3 patients are alive and well without signs of progressive immunodeficiency or recurrent endocarditis. One patient died of recurrent endocarditis without evidence of HIV-related disease on autopsy. Cardiac operation does not seem to accelerate HIV-related immunodeficiency.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Tuberculous abscesses in patients with AIDS.

Five cases of large tuberculous abscesses in patients with AIDS were observed over a 2-year period at the New York Veterans Affairs Medical Center. These cases represent 11.6% of the 43 cases of tuberculosis diagnosed in patients with AIDS during that period. The abscesses were located in the liver, abdominal wall, psoas muscle, mediastinum, and peripancreatic area. All patients presented with localized pain or swelling, and four of five patients had fever. The diagnosis was made on the basis of detection of abscesses on computed tomography (CT) and the results of culture of abscess material obtained by CT-guided aspiration. CT-guided therapeutic drainage was performed in two cases. Despite administration of therapy, two of five patients died of tuberculous infection. Formation of tuberculous abscesses appears to be a common complication of tuberculosis in patients with AIDS. This diagnosis should be considered for patients with AIDS who have fever and localized pain or swelling.

Abdominal Muscles↗
PubMed1991

Excess mortality in critically ill patients with nosocomial bloodstream infections.

To determine the excess mortality attributable to hospital-acquired bloodstream infections, we applied the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II classification to 34 critically ill patients with this complication. The study included primary bloodstream infections, defined by a positive blood culture at least three days after hospitalization, in the absence of any other apparent source of infection. The most frequent blood isolates included Staphylococcus aureus (39 percent), Gram-negative rods (24 percent), and Candida albicans (15 percent); the spectrum of blood isolates suggested that most infections were related to intravascular catheters. In a control group of intensive care unit patients (n = 384), the death rate predicted by APACHE II was similar to the observed death rate (35.3 vs 37.8 percent). In a subgroup of control patients (n = 34), chosen for APACHE II scores that matched the patients with bloodstream infections, predicted and observed death rates were also similar (53.1 vs 52.9 percent). For patients with bloodstream infections, however, observed mortality (82.4 percent) significantly exceeded the predicted value (54.1 percent, p = 0.025). We conclude that critically ill patients who develop nosocomial bloodstream infections are at greater risk of death than patients with comparable severity of illness without this complication. The difference between the observed and predicted death rates, 28 percent, represents the excess mortality associated with bloodstream infection in critically ill patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Association of teichoic acid antibody with metastatic sequelae of catheter-associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia: a failure of the two-week antibiotic treatment.

A patient with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia associated with an infected intravenous catheter was treated with oxacillin for two weeks. During that period all blood cultures were sterile, he rapidly became afebrile, and there were no signs of endocarditis or metastatic abscesses. However, serum antibodies against staphylococcal teichoic acid, initially undetectable by the agar gel immunodiffusion technic, became positive during the second week of treatment. Three weeks after discharge, the patient was readmitted to the hospital because of back pain and weakness in the lower extremities. Vertebral osteomyelitis and a spinal epidural abscess caused by Staph. aureus of the same phage type as the bacteremic isolate were demonstrated. This case illustrates the importance of careful follow-up of patients with Staph. aureus bacteremia and the potential value of serial measurement of teichoic acid antibodies in detecting clinically inapparent complications of infection.

Abscess↗
PubMed1979

Bactericidal and bacteriostatic action of chloramphenicol against memingeal pathogens.

The bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects of chloramphenicol, ampicillin, tetracycline, and sulfisoxazole were compared against several potential meningeal pathogens. Chloramphenicol is bactericidal at clinically achievable concentrations against Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Neisseria meningitidis. It is bacteriostatic against gram-negative bacilli of the family Enterobacteriaceae and against Staphylococcus aureus. Chloramphenicol has proven highly efficacious in the treatment of bacterial meningitis caused by those organisms against which it is bactericidal at low concentrations. Because leukocytic phagocytosis in the subarachnoid space is inefficient, we propose that bactericidal activity in cerebrospinal fluid is important for optimal therapy of bacterial meningitis. Chloramphenicol does not provide such activity in meningitis caused by enteric gram-negative bacilli.

Ampicillin↗
PubMed1978

Antibiotics: how to use them in 1977-1978. Cases 21, 22, and 23.

Self-assessment case studies illustrating prudent selection of antimicrobial agents in septic shock following urinary catheterization, bacteremia and skin lesions in an immunocompromised patient, and endocarditis in a patient with a prosthetic heart valve.

Adult↗