Alterations in antibiotic susceptibility of urinary tract infection pathogens

Urinary tract infection [UTI] is the third most common infection in human. New resisted strains of uropathogens have been developed due to different factors such as widespread use of antibiothics. We conducted this study to assess the recent pattern and susceptibility of uropathogens. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried on 32600 ambulatory patients' urine samples from six laboratories from 2008 to 2010 in Ahvaz, Khuzestan. Of those, 3000 positive culture were found. Data including underlying disease, pregnancy, catheterization and drug history were gathered by questionnaire. Susceptibility of pathogens to eight antimicrobial agents was determined. Mean age of patients was 33.87 +/- 3.80 years and 84.9% of them were female. The results showed that, E. coli, Kelebsiella and Enterobacter were the most common pathogens [73.5%, 13.8% and 6.6%, respectively]. E. coli was susceptible to Ciprofloxacin, Amikacin, and Nitrofurantoin in 76.9%, 76.4% and 76.1% of cases, respectively. Klebsiella was more susceptible to Ciprofloxacin, Ceftizoxim and Amikacin in 81.1%, 79.9% and 87.7% of positive cultures. Enterobacter was most susceptible to Ciprofloxacin [71.7%], but completely resistant to Ampicillin unexpectedly. E. coli and other isolates were more sensitive to Gentamicin, Amikacin and Ciprofloxacin compared to the other antibiotics tested and therefore these may be the drugs of choice for the empiric treatment of community-acquired UTI in our region

Signal-averaged electrocardiography in patients with advanced heart failure: a better indicator of left ventricular enlargement compared with conventional electrocardiography

The signal-averaged electrocardiograph is a noninvasive method to evaluate the presence of the potentials generated by tissues activated later than their usual timing in the cardiac cycle. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the correlation between the filtered QRS duration obtained via the signal-averaged electrocardiography and left ventricular dimensions and volumes and then to compare it with the standard electrocardiography. We included patients with advanced systolic left ventricular dysfunction [ejection fraction

QT dispersion: does it change after percutaneous coronary intervention?

Myocardial ischemia is one of several causes of prolonged QT dispersion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect that percutaneous coronary intervention has on the depolarization and repolarization parameters of surface electrocardiography in patients with chronic stable angina. We assessed the effects of full revascularization in patients with chronic stable angina and simple-vessel disease who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. Twelve-lead electrocardiograms were recorded before intervention and 24 hours subsequently. We measured parameters including QRS duration, QT and corrected QT durations, and JT and corrected JT duration in both electrocardiograms and compared the values. There were significant differences between the mean QRS interval [0.086 +/- 0.01 sec vs. 0.082 +/- 0.01 second; p value =0.01], mean corrected QT dispersion [0.080 +/- 0.04 sec vs. 0.068 +/- 0.04 sec; p value = 0.001], and mean corrected JT dispersion [0.074 +/- 0.04 sec vs. 0.063 +/- 0.04 sec; p value = 0.001] before and after percutaneous coronary intervention. No significant differences were found between the other ECG parameters. Our data indicate that the shortening of corrected QT dispersion and corrected JT dispersion in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention is prominent

Heart and athlete

Regular participation in intensive physical exercise is associated with electro-morphological changes in the heart. This benign process is called athlete's heart. Athlete's heart resembles few pathologic conditions in some aspects. So differentiation of these conditions is very important which otherwise may lead to a catastrophic event such as sudden death. The most common causes of sudden death in young athletes are cardiomyopathies, congenital coronary anomalies, and ion channelopathies. The appropriate screening strategy to prevent sudden cardiac death in athletes remains a challenging issue. The purpose of this review is to describe the characteristics of athlete's heart and demonstrate how to differentiate it from pathologic conditions that can cause sudden death