Parvovirus B19 Infection as a Rare Cause of Fulminant Liver Failure: A Case Report.

Parvovirus B19 infection is common in childhood. The clinical presentations range from benign to life threatening. The literature shows that the clinical presentation is influenced by the patient's age and the presence of chronic disease such as chronic hemolytic disorders and immunosuppressed conditions. As the majority of patients with liver failure are diagnosed as indeterminate, knowledge about parvovirus B19 associated liver disease is limited. We examined 3 children with parvovirus B19-induced fulminant liver failure, 2 of whom underwent liver transplantation. Although the presented patients received standard corticosteroid and tacrolimus therapy as an immunosuppressive regimen, acute rejection, parvovirus B19 persistence, or any other complications due to parvovirus B19 were not observed. Physicians should be aware of the parvovirus B19 infection in association to acute liver diseases.

Validation of Solus One Salmonella from Select Food Matrixes and Stainless-Steel and Plastic Environmental Surfaces.

Background: Solus One Salmonella is designed to accurately detect Salmonella species (Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica, salamae, arizonae, diarizonae, houtenae, indica, and Salmonella bongori) from select food matrixes and stainless-steel and plastic environmental surfaces. Solus One Salmonella uses an antibody-based technology test system that is paired with media and our proprietary media supplement, the Solus One Salmonella supplement combined with a manual or automated sample preparation method. Objective: Solus One Salmonella was evaluated for inclusivity and exclusivity, and a matrix comparison study was done for six food matrixes (raw beef trim, pasteurized liquid egg, raw salmon, cheddar cheese, Romaine lettuce, nonfat dry milk) and two environmental surfaces (stainless steel and polystyrene). Methods: Solus One Salmonella was compared with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual Chapter 5: Salmonella (July 2018) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service Microbiology Laboratory Manual, 4.09 (January 2017) in the matrix study. Both the manual and automated sample preparation methods were performed for cheddar cheese and stainless-steel environmental surfaces. Results: For the inclusivity and exclusivity evaluation, Solus One Salmonella correctly detected all 108 target organism isolates and correctly excluded all 35 nontarget strains that were analyzed. Conclusions: In the method comparison study, both Solus One Salmonella manual and automated sample preparation methods demonstrated no significant differences based on probability of detection (POD) statistical analysis between presumptive and confirmed results or between candidate and reference method results for the six food matrixes after 20-22 h and two environmental surfaces after 16-20 h of enrichment time. POD analysis of Solus One Salmonella method robustness, product consistency, and stability studies using the automated sample preparation method demonstrated no statistically significant differences.

Comparison of manual and automated measurements of the QT interval in healthy volunteers: an analysis of five thorough QT studies.

We analyzed five crossover, thorough QT (TQT) studies to compare automated, manual, and computer-assisted (CA) measurement methods. All the methods detected moxifloxacin-induced, baseline-adjusted, placebo-subtracted mean changes in Fridericia-corrected QT interval (QTcF), with peak effect ranging from 10 to 21 ms. The variability associated with manual and CA measurements was generally 5-28% greater than that associated with automated methods. The performances of automated, manual, and CA measurements were comparable for the purpose of demonstrating assay sensitivity in TQT studies with healthy volunteers.

Morquio syndrome: a rehabilitation perspective.

Morquio Syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis type IV A) is a rare inherited connective tissue disorder characterized by skeletal dysplasia, restrictive pulmonary disease and normal intelligence. Tetraplegia secondary to subluxation of C1 over C2 because of odontoid dysplasia is a common occurrence in these patients but there are limited descriptions regarding their specific physiatric management. Two patients (aged 20 and 17 years) were admitted to a pediatric rehabilitation facility after cervical spine stabilization following recurrent tetraplegia (C4 ASIA C and C4 ASIA D). Following surgery, patients were ventilator dependent and aphonic. One patient was successfully weaned off the ventilator to nocturnal BiPAP, while the other was able to tolerate three hours of ventilator free time despite being ventilator dependent for ten years. At discharge, both patients showed significant improvement in mobility, self care skills and communication abilities. Functional independence was encouraged through use of various assistive devices for mobility, activities of daily living (ADL) and communication. Group counseling and peer support were extremely helpful in their adjustment to disability. Physiatric intervention is essential and requires understanding of the unique impairments encountered by tetraplegics with Morquio Syndrome.

Argon peripheral iridotomy and cataract formation.

The records of 74 patients with primary angle-closure glaucoma were reviewed. Cataract formation in 103 eyes treated with argon laser were compared with eyes in an age- and sex-matched, randomly-selected control group to determine whether cataract formation was hastened by laser iridotomy. Twenty-three percent of eyes in the study group showed development of cataracts 29.9 months after laser treatment. This did not differ from the incidence of cataract formation (20%) in the same group before laser exposure (P = .357) and was significantly lower than the 49% incidence of cataracts observed in the age-matched control group (P less than .001). These data demonstrate the safety of laser iridotomy in the treatment of narrow-angle glaucoma.