[Antibiotic susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated in two university hospitals in Rabat, Morocco]. / Sensibilité aux antibiotiques des souches de Staphylocoques aureus isolées dans deux hôpitaux universitaires à Rabat, Maroc.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the in vitro activity of several antimicrobial agents against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). METHOD: This 2 year study was made in two Moroccan teaching hospitals. Four hundred and sixty-one non-repetitive clinical S. aureus strains were isolated and collected from various samples collected in several units between March 2006 and March 2008. The susceptibility of strains was determined by the agar disk diffusion method. RESULTS: The rate of methicillin resistance was 19.3% for S. aureus isolates. 53.93% of S. aureus strains were resistant to gentamycin, and all strains were susceptible to glycopeptides. CONCLUSION: The rate of MRSA was high. Resistance to methicillin is often associated with resistance to gentamycin and fluoroquinolones. Vancomycin and teicoplanin were still effective on S. aureus in the two university hospitals.

Reproducibility of bone mineral density measurements using dual X-ray absorptiometry in daily clinical practice.

Bone mineral density (BMD) measurements are frequently performed repeatedly for each patient. Subsequent BMD measurements allow reproducibility to be assessed. Previous studies have suggested that reproducibility may be influenced by age and clinical status. The purpose of the study was to examine the reproducibility of BMD by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and to investigate the practical value of different measures of reproducibility in three distinct groups of subjects: healthy young volunteers, postmenopausal women and patients with chronic rheumatic diseases. Two hundred twenty-two subjects underwent two subsequent BMD measurements of the spine and hip. There were 60 young healthy subjects, 102 postmenopausal women and 60 patients with chronic rheumatic diseases (33 rheumatoid arthritis, 10 ankylosing spondylitis and 10 other systemic diseases). Forty-five patients (75%) among the third group were receiving corticosteroids. Reproducibility was expressed as the smallest detectable difference (SDD), coefficient of variation (CV), least significant change (LSC) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Sources of variation were investigated by linear regression analysis. The median interval between measurements was 0 days (range 0-7). The mean difference (SD) between the measurements (g/cm2) was -0.0001 (+/-0.003) and -0.0004 (+/-0.002) at L1-L4 and the total hip, respectively. At L1-L4 and the total hip, SDD (g/cm2) was +/-0.04 and +/-0.02, CV (%) was 2.02 and 1.29, and LSC (%) 5.60 and 3.56, respectively. The ICC at the spine and hip was 0.99 and 0.99, respectively. Only a minimal difference existed between the groups. Reproducibility in the three groups studied was good. In a repeated DXA scan, a BMD change, the least significant change (LSC) or the SDD should be regarded as significant. Use of the SDD is preferable to use of the CV and LSC because of its independence from BMD and its expression in absolute units. Expressed as SDD, a BMD change of at least +/-0.04 g/cm2 at L1-L4 and +/-0.02 g/cm2 at the total hip should be considered significant. This reproducibility seems independent from age and clinical status and improved in the hips by measuring the dual femur.