Recent advances in toxic shock syndrome.

The pathogenesis and treatment of toxic shock has become clearer even as its epidemiology has evolved. Nonmenstrual cases due to Staphylococcus aureus can be difficult to diagnose and treat. Invasive Streptococcus pyogenes infections are life threatening.

Idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia--an analysis of five patients with unexplained opportunistic infections.

BACKGROUND: Although patients with idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia and serious opportunistic infections have been described previously, the clinical and immunologic features of this condition have not been well defined. METHODS: We studied in detail five patients with idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia. The studies included serologic testing, culture, and polymerase chain reaction for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) types 1 and 2, serologic testing for the human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) types I and II, lymphocyte phenotyping, immunoglobulin quantitation, and lymphocyte-transformation assays, as well as attempts to isolate a retroviral agent. The results were compared with those in HIV-infected persons matched for CD4+ T-cell counts and with those in normal controls. We also studied the spouses of patients and the blood donors for one patient. RESULTS: In these five patients, there was no evidence of either HIV or HTLV infection. All the patients had both low percentages and low counts of CD4+ T cells, with relative increases in percentages, but not counts, of CD8+ cells. Numbers of B cells and natural killer cells were generally normal. As compared with HIV-infected persons, our patients had lower percentages and counts of CD8+ cells and more lymphopenia. CD4+ counts were relatively stable over time. Instead of the high immunoglobulin levels seen in HIV infection, these patients had normal or slightly low levels of immunoglobulins. The lymphocyte-transformation response to mitogens and antigens was depressed. Results in spouses and blood donors were normal. CONCLUSIONS: Idiopathic CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia differs from HIV infection in its immunologic characteristics and in its apparent lack of progression over time. Nothing about the immunologic or viral-culture studies performed in these patients or about their family members or blood donors suggests that a transmissible agent causes this condition.

The clinical spectrum of endophthalmitis: incidence, predisposing factors, and features influencing outcome.

Endophthalmitis is a virulent ocular inflammation typically developing suddenly and progressing rapidly. To better understand the incidence and factors predisposing to infection and influencing outcome, records of 114 patients with endophthalmitis hospitalized at one institution from 1980 to 1986 were reviewed. An infectious origin was confirmed in 79 patients (69%). The most common pathogens included staphylococcal species (Staphylococcus epidermidis, 33 cases; Staphylococcus aureus, 8 cases), streptococci (18 cases), gram-negative organisms (10 cases), and fungi (7 cases). Predisposing factors for infective endophthalmitis included preceding ocular surgery (67%), penetrating trauma (13%), systemic infection (11%), and periocular infection (5%). Despite vitrectomies and aggressive use of antibiotics, 42 patients (53%) with infective endophthalmitis suffered major visual loss. Morbidity was less pronounced with infection caused by S. epidermidis (23%; P less than .05). Patients with infective endophthalmitis more likely required repeated vitrectomies, were hospitalized longer, and had a worse outcome (as measured by complete enucleation) than those with "sterile" endophthalmitis. On the basis of these data, empiric vancomycingentamicin might be initiated in patients with endophthalmitis. Studies to define optimal management are needed, because the morbidity associated with this entity remains pessimistically high despite state-of-the-art treatment.

Antibiotic therapy of life-threatening infectious diseases in the emergency department.

Initial therapy in acutely ill septic patients is necessarily empiric. Although a specific etiologic infectious diagnosis is rarely made in an acute situation, a treatment decision must be made and must be developed from history, physical examination, and minimal laboratory and roentgen studies. Three life-threatening syndromes are discussed: febrile-neutropenic patients with cancer, immunosuppressed patients with fever and lung infiltrates, and patients with acute community-acquired meningitis.

The association of Streptococcus bovis fecal carriage and colon neoplasia: possible relationship with polyps and their premalignant potential.

We designed a study to evaluate the fecal carrier rate of Streptococcus bovis in patients with endoscopically proven colonic polyps. Benign polyps (n = 63), i.e., hyperplastic, inflammatory, and juvenile, had a similar fecal carrier rate as the normal control colons. Colons with polyps that are at increased risk for malignant degeneration (n = 62), i.e., tubulovillous and villous adenomas, and colons with carcinoma (n = 18), had a statistically significant increase (p less than 0.05) in the fecal carrier rate for S. bovis over the benign colon group. Overall, the incidence of S. bovis carriage in all colons with polyps was intermediary between normal colons and colons with carcinoma although the numbers did not achieve statistical significance.

Mumps arthritis: a review of the literature.

Arthropathy is an unusual but significant complication of mumps viral infection. Predominantly affecting young adult males, large and small joint involvement occur before, after, or in the absence of parotitis. Fever, leukocytosis, and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate accompany an occasionally protracted course. A high incidence of associated visceral manifestations occurs among patients with mumps arthritis. A review of the pathogenesis of these other complications suggests direct viral invasion as the most likely pathogenesis of mumps arthritis. The possibility of mumps virus arthritis should be considered in patients with acute-onset, obscure, or febrile seronegative arthritis.

Cefamandole-erythromycin-heparin peritoneal irrigation: an adjunct to the surgical treatment of diffuse bacterial peritonitis.

The enthusiasm for the use of peritoneal irrigation has waxed and waned since its introduction by Dr. Pierce in 1905. The purpose of this study was to devise a relatively low-cost irrigant that could be used for continuous intraperitoneal lavage, with the intent of decreasing abscess formation following surgical treatment for generalized bacterial peritonitis. A solution of 1 L of normal saline containing 50 mg erythromycin, 50 mg cefamandole, 500 U heparin, and 5 mEq KCl was proven in in vitro studies to be bactericidal to Peptococcus anaerobius and Clostridium perfringens, and bacteriostatic to Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Streptococcus faecalis, and Bacteroides fragilis. In a prospective study 50 patients underwent peritoneal lavage with 36 L over 2 days. No lavage patients developed intraabdominal abscesses. In a control group of 44 patients seven patients (15.9%) developed postoperative abscesses.

Mumps arthritis: unusual presentation as adult Still's disease.

The clinical spectrum of Still's disease suggests disseminated infection. Although the cause of this syndrome remains unknown, recent case reports have noted its association with various viruses. Increased antiviral titers to rubella, coxsackieviruses, and adenovirus have been noted in patients with syndromes similar to juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. We describe a patient with apparent adult Still's disease in whom a significant rise in mumps antibody titers was observed. Arthritis in association with mumps infection is a relatively rare condition. To our knowledge, this is the first report of mumps virus infection related to a disorder similar to juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Antiherpesvirus activity in human sera and urines after administration of adenine arabinoside: in vitro and in vivo synergy of adenine arabinoside and arabinosylhypoxanthine in combination.

The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of adenine arabinoside (ara-A) in rabbit kidney microtiter tissue cultures (RK-13) to a prototype strain of herpes simplex virus, type 1 (E115) based upon inhibition of cytopathic effects is 1.5 mug/ml. In this system, the MIC of arabinosylhypoxanthine (ara-Hx), the major in vivo metabolic derivative of ara-A, is 75 mug/ml. Inhibition of cytopathic effects of herpes simplex virus, type 1 (HSV-1) in microtiter wells of RK-13 cells varies directly with the concentrations of ara-A or ara-Hx, and inversely with residual HSV-1. The MIC of ara-A for HSV-1 in RK-13 cells is 5-20 times lower than similar measures with vero renal, mouse embryo, or human foreskin cultures. With RK-13 tissue cultures in microtiter plates, an assay for "ara-A equivalents" in human body fluids was developed which compares in sensitivity with high pressure liquid chromatography and has the advantage of simultaneously measuring combined antiherpesvirus effects of ara-A and its major metabolic derivative, ara-Hx. In vitro checkerboard studies in RK-13 cells confirmed that ara-A and ara-Hx in combination had antiviral effects which are synergistic. The total of the fractional MIC of ara-A plus ara-Hx in combination also varies inversely with residual HSV-1 in microtiter wells. Because virus adsorption is complete at 2 h before specimens to be tested are added in this assay, and because human interferon is not measured in rabbit cells, the antiviral assay is not affected by the presence of type-specific antiherpesvirus antibody or human interferon.Antiviral activity (AVA) was assayed as ara-A equivalents in sera and urines from 10 patients with serious herpesvirus infections who received 2.5-20 mg/kg daily of ara-A by intramuscular or intravenous routes. When a dosage schedule of 10 mg/kg per day or more was used, sustained concentrations of AVA that ranged from 0.8 to 14.4 mug/ml were found. When an inhibitor of adenosine deaminase (covidarabine) was not added to the specimens, mean serum concentrations were congruent with3.0 mug/ml (10 mg/kg per day, i.v.), and 4.1 mug/ml (20 mg/kg per day). However, in a single patient given 20 mg/kg of ara-A daily with covidarabine immediately added to the sera, the mean concentration of AVA was 12.9 mug/ml. Urines contained even higher AVA. Assays of 19 sera were performed both by microbiologic assay for AVA and by high pressure liquid chromatography for ara-A and ara-Hx. AVA was greater by microbiologic assay, and was greater than that which could be accounted for by stoichiometric chromatographic measures of ara-A and ara-Hx. These results with sera of treated patients are consistent both with the in vitro synergy of ara-A and ara-Hx found by checkerboard titrations, and with the beneficial responses to ara-A of patients with herpesvirus infections reported here and elsewhere.

Simultaneous serum and CSF antibodies in herpes simplex virus encephalitis.

Serial concomitant paired sera (S) and CSF were taken from eight patients with biopsy-proved herpes simplex virus encephalitis (HSVE). These specimen pairs were compared with 28 others from patients with various neurologic conditions. Before and after reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol, a ratio of S/CSF antibody titers of less than or equal to 20 with either the passive hemagglutinating (PHA) or immune adherence hemagglutinating (IAHA) antibody tests occurred in every patient with HSVE. Diagnostic S/CSF ratios were noted in three patients before biopsy of the brain and in four patients by the tenth day of neurologic disease. Among control subjects, a ratio of S/CSF titers greater than 20 was observed in all but four patients. Each of the latter patients had neurologic diagnoses easily distinguishable from HSVE. The PHA or IAHA S/CSF ratio offers a rapid, reliable method for the diagnosis of HSVE (P less than .001).

Localized mucormycosis following intramuscular corticosteroid. Case report and review of the literature.

A case of subcutaneous localized mucormycosis infection which developed following intramuscular (IM) injection of corticosteroid in a patient with leukemia is presented. Aggressive treatment, which included wide local excision, systemic amphotericin-B, and chemotherapy for the leukemia, resulted in eradication of the infection and complete healing of the wound. A review of the literature revealed nine other patients with the localized subcutaneous form of mucormycosis (excluding patients with burns and rhinocerebral types) and six of those nine patients also survived the infection. It is possibly the mildness of the underlying predisposing factors that allows some of these patients to contain the infection at a single site. It is apparent from review of the literature that in subcutaneous localized forms of mucormycosis, the outcome has been generally good. This contrasts sharply with other clinical forms of mucormycosis infections where the underlying predisposing factors are usually severe and any kind of therapeutic approach has been almost always futile. Subcutaneous mucormycosis infection differs clinically and histopathologically from subcutaneous localized entomophthoromycosis which is seen predominantly in tropical countries. An attempt is made to clarify the terminology of these interesting fungi in language that is taxonomically up-to-date and still useful to clinicians.