Doxycycline vs. levofloxacin in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) affects 5-10 million adults annually in the United States with approximately 1.1 million hospitalizations. Current guidelines recommend fluoroquinolones as monotherapy for treatment of CAP in general medical wards and doxycycline monotherapy for outpatient therapy only. Fluoroquinolones are expensive and development of bacterial resistance to them has become a concern. Therefore, we studied whether doxycycline is as efficacious as levofloxacin in treatment of CAP in general medical wards. METHODS: In this prospective double-blinded trial, non-pregnant adults with clinical and radiological evidence of pneumonia requiring hospitalization were enrolled. Patients who were septic, hypoxic requiring intubations, nursing home residents, diagnosed with severe hepatic or renal dysfunction, recently hospitalized or immunocompromised were excluded from the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to either i.v. levofloxacin 500 mg daily or doxycycline 100 mg twice daily. After discharge, patients were followed for 2 months. RESULTS: There were 30 patients in the levofloxacin group and 35 patients in the doxycycline group. Groups were comparable in both clinical and laboratory profiles. Additionally, efficacy of treatment was not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.844). Length of stay was 5.7 +/- 2.05 days in the levofloxacin group and 4.0 +/- 1.82 days in the doxycycline group (P < 0.0012). Failure rate was similar in both groups (P = 0.893). Total antibiotic cost was $122.07 +/- 15.84 for levofloxacin and $64.98 +/- 24.4 for doxycycline (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study supports doxycycline as an effective and economical alternative therapy for levofloxacin in the empirical treatment of CAP in general medical wards.

Avoiding the futility of resuscitation.

PURPOSE: To identify patients who should not have resuscitation started or continued. DESIGN: Multi-disciplinary prospective study. SUBJECTS: Two hundred forty-one consecutive patients with cardiopulmonary arrests from January 1995 to February 1997 were evaluated, of which 200 were studied. METHODS: Subjects were studied for age, sex, arrest location, CPR duration, recovery from arrest, hospital discharge, 6 weeks' survival, sepsis and co-morbid conditions. RESULTS: Overall 69 (34.5%) recovered from the arrest, 24 (12.0%) left the hospital, and 17 (8.5%) survived 6 weeks. Of inpatients, 13.7% (16/117) were alive at 6 weeks in contrast to 1.2% (1/83) of field/emergency room (ER) arrests. Sepsis did not lessen the immediate recovery rate; however, none of 25 septic patients survived hospitalization. Outcomes were not different between men and women or regular floor and ICU/CCU arrests. Age of survivors was the same as non-survivors. Survivors were resuscitated for 18.7+/-16.5 min and non-survivors 33.1+/-18.4 min (P=0.15). The initial rhythm of asystole or the presence of three or more co-morbid conditions had a negative prognosis. CONCLUSION: CPR survival is problematic, and it is especially poor in field/BR arrests. Emergency squads should terminate CPR for pulseless patients after communicating with the ER physician. Age is not a determinant of recovery or survival. Arrest outside of the hospital, sepsis, three or more co-morbid conditions, previous CPR, asystole or resuscitation for >25 min all decrease the chance of hospital discharge and survival. Instituting or continuing CPR in a great majority of these patients is futile. Families should be so advised.

Hamartoma of the breast in a man: first case report.

Mammary hamartomas were reported in 0.7% of all benign tumors of the female breast. Histologically breast hamartomas contain lobular breast tissue with various degrees of fibrous, fibrocystic, and adipose tissue. Rare types include muscular (myoid) and cartilage (chondroid) hamartomas. We report a case of muscular hamartoma in a man. A 36-year-old man was admitted to the psychiatric unit with the diagnosis of schizophrenia. The patient complained of a slowly growing mass in his left breast. He denied any discharge from the nipple, but he complained of itching. A 2 cm x 3 cm nontender mass was palpable. There was no evidence of axillary lymphadenopathy. A needle aspiration was nondiagnostic. The excisional biopsy specimen revealed fatty tissue which was edematous and hemorrhagic. Microscopically it showed multiple bundles of muscles organized randomly. Myoid hamartoma was the diagnosis. Mammary hamartoma is considered a female tumor exclusively. Myoid hamartoma has been reported previously in 25 women. We report a myoid hamartoma in a man and, to our knowledge, it is the first and only such case to be reported.

Disseminated Pseudomonas aeruginosa and necrotizing pneumonia with complete recovery.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia and recovery with treatment are rare in healthy individuals. We report the case of a 59-year-old man with P aeruginosa skin infection and sepsis, later giving rise to necrotizing pneumonia by hematogenous spread. He responded to prolonged intensive care and 3 weeks of piperacillin-tazobactam and tobramycin therapy. There was no evidence of immunosuppression other than that caused by alcoholism in this unusual case. The resulting cavity healed completely by fibrosis in 1 year.

Dyspnea differentiation index: A new method for the rapid separation of cardiac vs pulmonary dyspnea.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess the utility of a new parameter in the differentiation of dyspnea of cardiac origin from dyspnea of pulmonary origin. METHODS: The peak expiratory flow (PEF) rate and the partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO(2)) were measured in 71 patients with the chief complaint of dyspnea. The patients were treated in the hospital, and the final diagnosis (cardiac or pulmonary) of the cause of dyspnea was made at discharge. We defined a new measure, the dyspnea differentiation index (DDI), as (PEF x PaO(2))/1,000. We performed a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of the data to define the measure that best distinguished cardiac from pulmonary dyspnea. The curves also allowed us to establish an optimal cut-off point to distinguish between cardiac and pulmonary dyspnea. RESULTS: Patients with pulmonary dyspnea had a significantly lower mean PEF than patients with cardiac dyspnea (144 +/- 66 vs 267 +/- 97 L/min, respectively; p < 0.001). They also had a lower DDI than patients with cardiac dyspnea (8.4 +/- 4.0 vs 18.4 +/- 7.9 L-mm/min, respectively; p < 0.001). These two measures, PEF and DDI, also best distinguished pulmonary from cardiac dyspnea. PEF was able to diagnose the correct cause of dyspnea in 72% of patients, and DDI was correct in 79% of patients. This compares favorably to the performance of the emergency department physicians, who were able to predict the correct diagnosis in only 69% of patients. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that the PEF by itself is useful in differentiating between cardiac and pulmonary causes of dyspnea, but that the calculation of DDI is superior in this regard.

Acne conglobata associated with spondyloarthropathy and ankylosis of the wrists.

A 38-year-old man with acne conglobata (AC) presented with generalized arthritis and severe ankylosis of the wrists. We first saw him when he was admitted for an acute flare up of left hip and right ankle arthralgia. He had a history of severe cystic acne which was active for more than 10 years. This had been treated with oral antibiotics, including tetracycline and cephalexin, and topical treatments of chlorhexidine gluconate and keratolytic lotions. He was not taking any treatment when we first saw him. X-rays revealed destructive changes in several axial and peripheral joints. ESR was 108 mm Hr. A diagnosis of AC-associated musculoskeletal syndrome was made. He was treated with naproxen, and symptoms improved.This patient shows that arthropathy in AC can be more serious and disabling than previously recognized. A review of the literature did not reveal any other case of AC associated joint ankylosis. (J Clin Rheumatol 1999;5:169-172).

Esophageal papillomatosis from human papilloma virus proven by polymerase chain reaction.

Human papilloma viruses (HPVs) are known to infect the genitourinary tract, the skin, the anal canal, and the upper respiratory tract. Esophageal papillomas and especially HPV-induced squamous papillomas of the esophagus are rare. The authors report a case of extensive HPV-induced esophageal polyposis, which was probably sexually transmitted. The 53-year-old female patient presented with chronic diarrhea and had occult blood in the stool. She underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy, at which time multiple esophageal polyps were observed and biopsy specimens obtained. Histologic evaluation was consistent with benign papillomas. Polymerase chain reaction and DNA hybridization of the biopsied tissue specimens confirmed the diagnosis of HPV infection. Because of our observation and because of HPV's relationship to cervical and esophageal cancer, further evaluation of HPV as the cause of esophageal papillomatosis and as a risk factor for esophageal cancer is warranted.

Advanced cardiac life support events in a community hospital and their outcome: evaluation of actual arrests.

To evaluate resuscitation efforts for patients with cardiac and/or pulmonary arrest in our hospital a retrospective study was conducted and compared with available data from other community teaching hospitals. Records of 131 consecutive patients of ages 16-98 who received resuscitation according to Advanced Cardiac Life Support protocols were reviewed. Short-term survival (return of spontaneous circulation) and discharge-from-the hospital survival were measured. Nineteen patients (15%) were excluded from the study because the information recorded on the code record sheet was insufficient. Overall short-term survival rate was 34.8%. Resuscitations in the Emergency Room were evaluated separately, because most of them were initiated outside of the hospital. Their short-term survival was 14%, but none of them survived to be discharged. Out of 69 inpatient resuscitative efforts, 33 were successful (47.8%). Of these 33 nine (13.0%) left the hospital. The rest expired during the same hospitalization. Short-term survival for patients after coronary artery bypass graft surgery was 60% (6 of 10) and 30% (3 of 10) were discharged home. Forty percent of official code records were incomplete. We concluded that better education and more emphasis on record-keeping are mandatory, with the main burden falling upon the nurse in charge to have received more precise instruction. Contrary to published data, women did not have a better survival than men (P > 0.05). There was no difference in outcomes between resident physician directed codes compared to attending physician directed codes (P > 0.05). The mean age of inpatient short-term survivors was 69.0 (+/- 13.2) years and that of non-survivors 69.8 (+/- 15.7) years (P > 0.05). Post-bypass surgery patients had a better survival than non-surgical patients, but the difference was significant (P > 0.05). Survival in our hospital was comparable to one hospital and worse than another (34.8% vs. 39.6% or 63.0%). Despite success, prognosis after arrest remain poor.

Case report: subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord from folate deficiency.

Subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord is a rare neurologic complication of folate deficiency. Progressive gait disturbance, weakness, confusion, and depression developed in a 39-year-old man. He had taken phenobarbital for more than 2 years. He was bedbound, with new loss of position and vibration senses in the lower extremities. His hemoglobin was 2.9/dl, mean corpuscular volume 122 fl, vitamin B12 428 pg/ml, and folate 1 ng/ml. Peripheral blood and bone marrow showed megaloblastic anemia. Serum methylmalonic acid and homocysteine levels were consistent with folate deficiency, not B12 deficiency. Treatment with folate and packed erythrocytes resulted at 4 months in overall improvement, including walking. Position sense was restored, and vibration sense had become nearly normal. The authors found no cause for folate deficiency except phenobarbital.