Bacteraemia due to OXA-48-carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae: a major clinical challenge.

Bacteraemia due to carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae is an emerging medical problem. Management of this entity is complicated by the difficulty in identifying resistance patterns and the limited therapeutic options. A cohort study was performed including all episodes of bloodstream infection due to OXA-48-producing Enterobacteriaceae (O48PE), occurring between July 2010 and April 2012. Data on predisposing factors, clinical presentation, therapy and outcome were collected from medical records. There were 40 cases of bacteraemia caused by O48PE, 35 Klebsiella pneumoniae and five Escherichia coli. Patients were elderly with significant comorbidities (57.5% underlying malignancy). Thirty-five cases (87.5%) were nosocomial, and five (12.5%) were healthcare-associated. Patients had frequently been exposed to antibiotics and to invasive procedures during hospitalization. The most common source of bacteraemia was the urinary tract followed by deep intra-abdominal surgical site infection. Clinical presentation was severe sepsis or shock in 18 cases (45%). Extended-spectrum ß-lactamase production was detected in 92.5% of isolates. MIC(90) for ertapenem, imipenem and meropenem were 32, 16 and 16 mg/L, respectively. Most frequently preserved antibiotics were amikacin, colistin, tigecycline and fosfomycin. These antibiotics combined are the basis of targeted therapies, including carbapenem in selected cases. Median delay in starting clinically adequate and microbiologically appropriate treatment was 3 days. Crude mortality during admission and within 30 days from bacteraemia was 65% and 50%, respectively. Bloodstream infections caused by O48PE have a poor prognosis. Delay in diagnosis and in initiation of optimal antimicrobial therapy is frequent. Suspicion and rapid identification could contribute to improving outcomes.

Impact of liver steatosis on the correlation between liver stiffness and fibrosis measured by transient elastography in patients coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus.

We assessed the effect of different hepatic conditions such as fibrosis, steatosis and necroinflammatory activity on liver stiffness as measured by transient elastography in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients. We studied all consecutive HIV/HCV-coinfected patients who underwent liver biopsy and elastography between January 2007 and December 2008. Liver fibrosis was staged following METAVIR Cooperative Study Group criteria. Steatosis was categorized according to the percentage of affected hepatocytes as low (≤10%), moderate (<25%) and severe (≥25%). A total of 110 patients were included. Fibrosis was distributed by stage as follows: F0, n = 13; F1, n = 47; F2, n = 29; F3, n = 18; and F4, n = 3. Liver biopsy revealed the presence of hepatic steatosis in 68 patients (low to moderate, n = 53; and severe n = 15). By univariate regression analysis, fibrosis, necroinflammatory activity, and the degree of steatosis were correlated with liver stiffness. However, in a multiple regression analysis, steatosis and fibrosis were the only independent variables significantly associated with liver stiffness. With a cut-off of 9.5 kPa to distinguish patients with F ≤ 2 from F ≥ 3, elastography led to a significantly higher number of misclassification errors (25%vs 5%; P = 0.014), most of which were false positives for F ≥ 3. Our study suggests that the correlation between liver stiffness and fibrosis as estimated by transient elastography may be affected by the presence of hepatic steatosis in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients.

[Clinical data I. Clinical experience with tenofovir in combination with nonnucleoside analogue transcriptase inhibitors]. / Datos clínicos I. Experiencia clínica de tenofovir en combinaciones con inhibidores no análogos de la transcriptasa inversa.

Highly active antirretroviral therapy has transformed the prognosis of patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus. The efficacy of these drugs has shifted the clinicians; attention to other therapeutic aspects like QD regimens, fixed dose combinations and clinical safety. Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate(TDF) is a nucleoside monophosphate (nucleotide) analogue that inhibits reverse trascriptase enzyme. It's administered in a q.d. regimen and it's recommended by most of the clinical guidelines as a start regimen in combination with two other drugs. Currently more than 5 years of clinical experience is accumulated and confirmed that a combination of tenofovir and a nonnucleoside analogue transcriptase inhibitor is a comfortable, safe, highly effective and low pill burden regimen.

[Necrotizing vasculitis of the panarteritis nodosa type in a long-course primary Sjögren's syndrome]. / Vasculitis necrotizante tipo panarteritis nodosa en un síndrome de Sjögren primario de larga evolución.

Vasculitis is a complication happening in a third of patients with primary Sjögren's Syndrome. It can be of 2 types: neutrophilic or mononuclear and sometimes mixed. Very occasionally, a necrotizing vasculitis polyarteritis nodosa type during the evolution of Sjögren's Syndrome has appeared. A case of a female patient with a Sjögren's Syndrome of large evolution, who suddenly showed a poly-systemic affliction (nervous system, kidneys, muscles and digestive system) secondary to a necrotizing vasculitis type polyarteritis nodosa with a good response to immunosuppressors, is presented.