ABSTRACT
Sixteen normal individuals and 100 hospital patients, all black, were tested for abnormal carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels. Male and female subjects (smokers and non-smokers) were tested. The results of the tests are discussed. For normal subjects, the CEA values ranged from 0.0 ng/ml to 2.6 ng/ml. Among hospital patients with neoplastic disease, male patients with lung disease showed elevated CEA titers but their female counterparts did not. On the other hand, female patients with breast cancer, in contrast to their male counterparts, had raised values of CEA. The clinical indices for laboratory tests of sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value were calculated and determined to be 71.5, 56, and 47.5 percent, respectively.
Subject(s)
Black or African American , Carcinoembryonic Antigen/analysis , Adult , Aged , Cardiovascular Diseases/immunology , Endocrine System Diseases/immunology , Female , Gastrointestinal Diseases/immunology , Humans , Liver Diseases/immunology , Lung Diseases/immunology , Male , Middle Aged , Neoplasms/immunologyABSTRACT
The value of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) isoenzymes, in the presence of normal total CPK, for assessing myocardial infarction is discussed. Forty-six patients in a coronary care unit were studied to ascertain the clinical usefulness of CPK isoenzymes for diagnosing myocardial infarction when the levels of total CPK were within normal range. The majority of patients studied had some cardiac abnormality on either ECG or x-ray examination. Approximately 50 percent of patients had chest pain, but only five of the 46 had a detectable CPK isoenzyme level on CPK electrophoresis. The results of this study suggest that CPK isoenzymes do not add anything of diagnostic value to the clinical picture if the total CPK is normal.
Subject(s)
Clinical Enzyme Tests , Creatine Kinase/blood , Isoenzymes/blood , Myocardial Infarction/diagnosis , Humans , Myocardial Infarction/bloodABSTRACT
A case of osteomyelitis associated with Edwardsiella tarda is reported. Specimens from a wound exudate of a 58-year-old female with osteomyelitis revealed on a direct gram-stained smear, pleomorphic, gram-negative rods. Growth of the organism on differential media and analysis of its Analytab (API)(*) patterns produced results consistent with E. tarda. The identification of the organism was confirmed by the Center for Disease Control, Atlanta. This represents the first reported case of a wound infection attributable to this organism.
Subject(s)
Enterobacteriaceae/isolation & purification , Osteomyelitis/microbiology , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Wound Infection/microbiologyABSTRACT
Strain T-44 is a thermosensitive mutant of Escherichia coli in which both cell division and prophage repression are altered at elevated temperatures. The effects of various ribosides, pantoyl lactone, and the furfural derivatives nitrofurazone and 5-methyl furfural suggest that some low-molecular-weight compound is important in the control of cell division and prophage repression in this strain. This low-molecular-weight compound may have a five-membered oxygen-containing ring as part of its structure.
