Angioedema hereditario de presentación exclusiva abdominal: ¿actitud terapéutica a seguir? / Hereditary angioedema with exclusive abdominal presentation. What is the therapeutic approach?

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Immunomagnetic purging of Ewing's sarcoma from blood and bone marrow: quantitation by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

PURPOSE: A propensity for hematogenous spread with resulting contamination of autologous cell products complicates cellular therapies for Ewing's sarcoma. We used a new approach to purge artificially contaminated cellular specimens of Ewing's sarcoma and show the capacity for real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to quantify the contamination level of Ewing's sarcoma in such specimens. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Binding of monoclonal antibody (MoAb) 8H9 to Ewing's sarcoma cell lines and normal hematopoietic cells was studied using flow cytometry. Using real-time PCR--based amplification of t(11;22), levels of Ewing's contamination of experimental and clinical cellular products were monitored. Purging was accomplished using immunomagnetic-based depletion. Monitoring of the function of residual hematopoietic progenitors and T cells was performed using functional assays. RESULTS: MoAb 8H9 shows binding to Ewing's sarcoma but spares normal hematopoietic tissues. Nested real-time PCR is capable of detecting contaminating Ewing's sarcoma cells with a sensitivity of one cell in 10(6) normal cells. After 8H9-based purging, a 2- to 3-log reduction in contaminating Ewing's sarcoma was shown by real-time PCR, with purging to PCR negativity at levels of contamination of 1:10(6). Levels of contamination in clinical samples ranged from 1:10(5) to 10(6). Therefore, 8H9-based purging of clinical samples is predicted to reduce tumor cell contamination to a level below the limit of detection of PCR. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate a new approach for purging contaminated cellular products of Ewing's sarcoma and demonstrate the capacity of real-time PCR to provide accurate quantitative estimates of circulating tumor burden in this disease.

Urticaria caused by sensitization to aztreonam.

A 72-year-old woman presented with generalized urticaria after receiving an injection of aztreonam. After successive in vitro and in vivo studies, allergy to aztreonam with a good tolerance of the other beta-lactams was diagnosed.

Seasonal trends and diurnal patterns of man-biting activity of four species of Guatemalan black flies (Simuliidae).

Collections and dissections of black flies from human subjects were carried out over a 13-month period at two onchocerciasis-endemic sites in Guatemala. Simulium ochraceum comprised 87% of all flies collected. Populations of this species peaked during the first part of the dry season in November, while populations of S. metallicum, S. callidum and S. downsi were highest during the rainy season from June-October. Diurnal patterns of host-seeking activity were most pronounced for S. ochraceum, with a sharp peak occurring between 0700 and 0900 hours each day. Parous ratio was lowest at this time (27%), and rose to a peak of 63% between 1200 and 1400 hours each day. Eighty-eight percent of all parous S. ochraceum collected during 1200-1400 hours had large dilatations in the tunica of the ovarioles resulting from recent oviposition, thus indicating that this species oviposits in the morning and immediately seeks the subsequent blood meal. Parous biting density (the product of the total number of flies biting at a given time and the corresponding parous ratio) showed two distinct diurnal peaks, one in the early morning characterized by low parous ratio and high total number of flies, and the other in the early afternoon characterized by high parous ratio and low total number of flies. Moreover, the diurnal pattern of biting density of filaria-infected S. ochraceum was similar to that of parous biting density.