ABSTRACT
Forty eight patients with intrinsic asthma were investigated by culturing their sputa and BAL quantitatively. A variety of organisms were isolated from these specimens. The rate of isolation of organisms incriminated in precipitating episodes of intrinsic asthma was higher from BAL than from sputum. Oropharyngeal contaminants were successfully bypassed in BAL cultures. A cut off value of 103 colony forming units [cfu]/ml in BAL was found to be useful in diagnosing organisms known to exacerbate asthma. It appears from the study that BAL cultures are more advantageous than sputum cultures Document 5 TI1 CA-125, CA 19-9 and CEA in benign gynecologic tumors: Effect of surgery ABST The present study showed that combining serum essay of CA125, CA19-9 and CEA is useful in the preoperative exclusion of malignancy in patients with ovarian tumors. A leiomyomas were associated with low levels of the 3 tumor markers, elevated levels particularly of serum CA125 may point to adenomyosis in patients with uterine mass. The results showed that the serum levels of the tumor markers were significantly decreased postoperatively. So, it can be safely assumed that the specificity of these tumor markers is not affected by abdominal surgery
Subject(s)
Humans , AsthmaABSTRACT
The risk of developing spontaneous bacterial peritonitis [SBP] in relation to the concentration of the third component of the complement system [C3] in ascitic fluid has been studied prospectively in 30 patients with liver cirrhosis and ascites, nineteen of them had evidence of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis as proved by culture and eleven patients had no such evidence. Serum C[3] in the pathological group was lower than in the control and this was attributed mainly to decreased synthesis. Serum and ascitic fluid C[3] concentration of patients who developed infection [0.294+0.117 g/l] was significantly lower than those who did not [0. 534 + 0. 095 g/l and 9. 682 + 1. 327 mg/l], suggesting increased consumption in addition to decreased synthesis as the possible mechanisms. We conclude that a low C[3] concentration in ascitic fluid may predispose to spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and may identify those of high risk for developing this serious complication