ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The purpose of our study is to evaluate the usefulness of cervicovaginal fetal fibronectin assay for the prediction of rupture of membrane and preterm labor. METHODS: A group of 39 pregnant women was involved in this prospective study. Out of 139 pregnant women, 96 were clinically diagnosed as ruptured membranes (group A). The remaining 43 of 139 pregnant women were clinically diagnosed as preterm labor(group B). The assay was performed by using the ROMCheckTM kit (Adeza Biomedical Corp., Sunnyvale, CA). RESULTS: In group 4, fetal fibronectin (fFN) positive rate is 55% (53 patients) and negative rate is 45% (43 patients). In group B, fFN positive rate is 56% (24 patients) and negative rate is 44% (19 patients). Both group of fFN positive patients show a significantly shorter interval from sampling to delivery than fFN negative patients. Also in group A, the percentage of fFN positive patients who delivered at less than 48 hours after sampling is greater than those with fFN negative patients and in group B, the preterm delivery rate is 79% with positive fFN and 37% with negative fFN. As a predictor for preterm delivery, the presence of fFN has the sensitivity 79%, the specificity 84%, the positive Predictive value 76% and the negative predictive value 86%. CONCLUSIONS: The result suggests that a positive fFN in pregnant women who have uterine contractions and ruptured membrane indicates a significant risk for preterm delivery and labor onset, and a negative fFN is a reassuring sign.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Pregnancy , Fibronectins , Labor Onset , Membranes , Obstetric Labor, Premature , Pregnant Women , Prospective Studies , Rupture , Sensitivity and Specificity , Uterine ContractionABSTRACT
Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus is a rare human pathogen, but can cause serious extraintestinal infections. Effective antimicrobial agent is required for the therapy, but we have very limited knowledge on the susceptibility of the organism. In this study, the susceptibility of 25 isolates of the organism to 14 antimicrobial agents was tested by an agar dilution method. Antimicrobial agents with low MIC ranges, in micrograms/ml, were: meropenem Y or = 0.25, dirithromycin or = 1, amikacin, ofloxacin, tetracycline and erythromycin < or = 2. The MIC range of cefepime was 0.5-8 micrograms/ml, but those of other beta-lactams were relatively high. All of the isolates were interpreted to be susceptible to cefepime, meropenem, amikacin, gentamicin, ofloxacin, tetracycline and dirithromycin. A significant proportion of the isolates were either intermediate or resistant to ampicillin, cephalothin, cefotaxime, aztreonam, loracarbef and erythromycin. In conclusion, the organism remains susceptible to aminoglycosides and tetracycline. Greater in vitro activity of meropenem, ofloxacin and dirithromycin require clinical evaluation.
Subject(s)
Humans , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Blood/microbiology , Campylobacter fetus/drug effects , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Synovial Fluid/microbiologyABSTRACT
No abstract available.
Subject(s)
Humans , Korea , Quality Control , Syphilis Serodiagnosis/methodsABSTRACT
No abstract available.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Pregnancy , Pregnancy , Blood Donors , Pregnancy Trimester, ThirdABSTRACT
No abstract available.
Subject(s)
Blood Platelets , Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation , Platelet ActivationABSTRACT
No abstract available.
Subject(s)
Humans , Blood Donors , Hepacivirus , Hepatitis C , HepatitisABSTRACT
No abstract available.
ABSTRACT
The septicemia caused by the Arizona group organism is rare and usually observed in adults with underlying diseases. In Korea, Salmonella infection is common, but a report of Arizona infection is unknown. We isolated S. entercia subsp. diarizonae from blood of a 6-month-old infant. The serovar was determined as 28:z10:-, a rare one in America. The isolate was susceptible to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, cotrimoxazole and others. The patient rapidly recovered with ampicillin and gentamicin therapy. Clinical laboratories should consider that the infection exists in Korea and should attempt to isolate and identify Arizona organism in certain patients.
Subject(s)
Humans , Infant , Male , Bacteremia/microbiology , Enteritis/microbiology , Korea/epidemiology , Salmonella Infections , Salmonella arizonaeABSTRACT
No abstract available.
ABSTRACT
Lactobacillus sp., generally considered to be a harmless indigenous bacteria of the mucous membrane, occasionally causes serious infections. Lactobacillus endocarditis is a very rare disease, and no case has been reported in Korea. Gram-positive bacilli were isolated from blood cultures of a 41-year-old man with clinically suspected subacute bacterial endocarditis. The patient had a dental procedure 3 months prior to the infection. The isolate was identified as L. casei subsp. casei based on the cultural characteristics and gas liquid chromatography of metabolic products. The patient was treated with ampicillin and improved. When Lactobacillus is isolated from the blood of an endocarditis patient, the significance should be seriously considered. MeSH Terms:
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Male , Endocarditis, Bacterial/etiology , Lacticaseibacillus casei/isolation & purification , Sepsis/etiologyABSTRACT
No abstract available.
Subject(s)
Methicillin Resistance , Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureusABSTRACT
No abstract available.