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N Sullivan-Sigler

Publications and source records attributed to N Sullivan-Sigler.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1976

Anaerobes survive in clinical specimens despite delayed processing.

Quantitative cultures were performed on 11 purulent specimens of at least 2 ml from mixed aerobic-anaerobic infections to determine the effect of prolonged exposure to air on the recovery of anaerobes. The specimens were processed immediately and after air exposure for periods of 10 min and 1, 4, and 24 h. There were at total of 37 anaerobic and 36 aerobic strains recovered from these specimens. Of the anaerobes, 26 were isolated with the initial processing and 22 were still present after air exposure for 24 h. The numerical concentrations of anaerobes showed little change with the sequential samplings. Eleven anaerobic strains were not detected in the initial culture but appeared sporadically in subsequent cultures. Using the types of specimens and method of processing employed in this study, most pathogenic anaerobes survived in purulent exudate despite extended periods of air exposure. The major cause of discrepent results with periodic cultures was attributed to vagaries in sampling.

Air↗
PubMed1976

Should fiberoptic bronchoscopy aspirates be cultured?

The reliability of fiberoptic bronchoscopy as a method to study the bacteriology of the lower respiratory tract was tested. The procedure used was suction aspiration through the inner channel after topical anesthesia with lidocaine. To detect contamination by oropharyngeal bacteria, the aspirates were cultured in patients with no evidence of active infection, comparison was made with results of transtracheal aspiration cultures, and the aspirate was tested for the presence of an oral dye marker. Results with all 3 methods of analysis indicated contamination with oropharyngeal bacteria that were presumably introduced during instrumentation through the upper airways. An additional factor studied was the effect of topical anesthetics. Analysis of aspirates showed that as much as 96 per cent of the specimen was anesthetic solution. Lidocaine also proved toxic to lower respiratory tract pathogens, although there were significant differences between bacterial species. It was concluded that fiberoptic bronchoscopy as performed in this study does not reliably reflect the bacteriology of the lower respiratory tract.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗