Evaluation of a new packaging process for non-autoclavable endoscopes: results for the first 100 microbiological samples.

BACKGROUND: A new process for packaging endoscopes (SureStore®, Medical Innovations Group) immediately after they exit from washing and disinfection in an automated endoscope reprocessor (AER) allows for endoscopes to be stored for up to 15 days. AIM: To describe the microbiological quality of samples from gastrointestinal endoscopes following this process. METHODS: Three-month prospective study using microbiological sampling from a stock of 38 gastrointestinal endoscopes carried out in a French University Hospital. The compliance rate (proportion of samples ≤25 cfu with no pathogenic micro-organisms) and the rate of sterile samples (proportion of germ-free samples) were calculated. We then used multivariate analysis to determine the factors associated with the maintenance of sterility. FINDINGS: One hundred samples were taken from stored endoscopes: 31 stored for ≤3 days, 34 stored between 3 and 7 days, and 35 after storage between 7 and 15 days. The compliance rate was 98% and the sterile sample rate was 60%. Only the time between leaving the AER and packaging was significantly associated with the sterility of samples (P = 0.02). The probability of having a sterile sample decreased 17-fold when the endoscope was packaged >2 h after leaving the AER (P = 0.04) compared to an endoscope packaged within 1 h after leaving the AER. CONCLUSION: The SureStore process seems capable of satisfactorily maintaining compliance (98%) of samples taken from endoscopes stored for up to 15 days. The delay in packaging should not exceed 1 h, as the rate of sterile samples decreases thereafter.

En-suite bathrooms in protected haematology wards: a source of filamentous fungal contamination?

BACKGROUND: In spite of 25 recently built high-risk haematology rooms with a protected environment and fitted with en-suite bathrooms in our university hospital centre in 2008, sporadic cases of hospital-acquired invasive aspergillosis remained in these wards. AIM: This study aimed to identify unsuspected environmental sources of filamentous fungal contamination in these rooms. METHODS: Over two months, environmental fungal flora in the air (150 samples) as well as air particle counting and physical environmental parameters (airspeed, temperature, humidity, pressure) were prospectively monitored twice on the sampling day in all 25 protected rooms and en-suite bathrooms in use, and on bathroom surfaces (150 samples). FINDINGS: In rooms under laminar airflow, in the presence of patients during sampling sessions, fungi were isolated in two samples (4%, 2/50) with a maximum value of 2cfu/500L (none was Aspergillus sp.). However, 88% of the air samples (44/50) in the bathroom were contaminated with a median range and maximum value of 2 and 16cfu/500L. Aspergillus spp. were involved in 24% of contaminated samples (12/44) and A. fumigatus in 6% (3/44). Bathroom surfaces were contaminated by filamentous fungi in 5% of samples (8/150). CONCLUSION: This study highlighted that en-suite bathrooms in protected wards are likely to be a source of fungi. Before considering specific treatment of air in bathrooms, technicians have first corrected the identified deficiencies: replacement of high-efficiency particulate air filters, improvement of air control automation, and restoration of initial technical specifications. Assessment of measure effectiveness is planned.

[Mushroom poisoning]. / Intoxication par les champignons.

Mushroom poisoning is a regular complaint for consultation in emergency facilities. These situations are usually benign and symptomatic treatment is sufficient. However, severe damage can occur, potentially life-threatening. We review the various syndromes associated with the toxins involved, their management and the major signs that are suggestive of serious injury and requiring hospitalization.

Tender Nesting Polypore (Hapalopilus rutilans) poisoning: report of two cases.

INTRODUCTION: Only four cases of Hapalopilus rutilans poisoning have been previously published. We report two new cases. CASE REPORTS: A father and his 13-year-old daughter picked mushrooms identified as Fistulina hepatica specimens and ate an unknown quantity (Hour 0). At Hour 12 post-ingestion, both subjects complained of abdominal pain, then nausea, vomiting, anorexia, asthenia, diplopia, and blurred vision. The father also had visual hallucinations. On Day 2 post-ingestion, clinical examination showed multidirectional nystagmus. The father also had balance disorders and both subjects emitted purple urine. Laboratory tests showed elevated serum creatinine and blood urea levels, proteinuria and leukocyturia in both subjects, and mild elevation of hepatic enzymes in the father. Urine color returned to normal on Day 2 and Day 7 post-ingestion in the girl and her father, respectively. Complete clinical and biochemical recovery was obtained within one week in both cases. DISCUSSION: Signs and symptoms are similar to those previously reported after H. rutilans ingestion. This mushroom can be easily confused with F. hepatica. Purple discoloration of the urine after ingestion of a polyporic mushroom is highly suggestive of H. rutilans poisoning. Polyporic acid is probably the active toxin.

[The impact of air pollution on health. The "Programme de Surveillance Air et Santé 9 villes" (Air and Health surveillance program in 9 cities)]. / Retentissement de la pollution atmosphérique sur la santé. Le Programme de Surveillance Air et Santé 9 villes.

OBJECTIVES: To quantify the short term effects of air pollution on mortality and hospitalisation for cardiovascular or respiratory disorders in the nine French cities (Bordeaux, Le Havre, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Paris, Rouen, Strasbourg and Toulouse) of the Surveillance Air et Santé program. METHODS: Data were available on mortality and hospitalisation were available, respectively, from 1990 to 1997 and 1995 to 1999. Exposure data were the concentrations of sulphur dioxide, particles with a diameter of less than or equal to 10 mm, black smoke, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and carbon monoxide. The analysis assessed the relationships, in each of the cities, between the daily numbers of deaths and hospitalisations and the daily levels of polluting agents, taking into account confounding factors. A combined relative risk was calculated for all the cities. The number of deaths and hospitalisations attributable to air pollution was then estimated for each of the cities, based on the relative risk. RESULTS: Significant relationships were found for mortality, from whatever cause, and for hospitalisations for respiratory disorders in children aged under 15. If the levels of air pollution were reduced to 10 microg/m3 in the nine cities, 2800 premature deaths and 750 hospitalisations for respiratory disorders in children would be avoided, every year. CONCLUSION: Today, it is possible to assess the benefits of reducing air pollution in terms of health in the short term. These analyses would provide a sanitary dimension to the strategies for the reduction of urban pollution on local and European level.

Mass spectrometric determination of acromelic acid A from a new poisonous mushroom: Clitocybe amoenolens.

As Clitocybe acromelalga, the mushroom Clitocybe amoenolens is responsible for erythermalgia. Acromelic acids isolated from C. acromelalga have been suspected to be to some extend the active principles. The objective was to develop a specific and sensitive liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric method that would allow acromelic acid A identification and quantification in mushrooms. The method involved a single-step methanol-water extraction followed by a selective cleanup of the extract with solid-phase extraction cartridges (strong-anion exchange). The chromatographic separation was achieved on a porous graphitic carbon column with acetonitrile-water-formic acid as mobile phase. Detection was done with a mass analyzer equipped with a TurboIonSpray source, operated in the negative ionization mode. Acromelic acid A concentration was determined in dried mushroom at around 325 ng/mg in C. amoenolens and 283 ng/mg in C. acromelalga.

The role of captodiamine in the withdrawal from long-term benzodiazepine treatment.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Discontinuation of benzodiazepines can be associated with the emergence of a withdrawal syndrome which compromises successful termination of treatment. The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether a six week administration of captodiamine during benzodiazepine discontinuation could prevent emergence of a benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome and thus facilitate discontinuation of these drugs. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A controlled, randomised, double-blind trial of captodiamine versus placebo was conducted in 81 subjects presenting mild to moderate anxiety and treated for at least 6 months with a stable dose of benzodiazepine. Each subject was gradually weaned from benzodiazepines over a 14 day period using a tapering dose schedule and received captodiamine (150 mg/d) or placebo for 45 days from the beginning of the weaning period. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome criterion was the extent of withdrawal symptoms assessed using the Tyrer Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptom Questionnaire. Secondary outcome criteria were; self-evaluation of tension, anxiety, drowsiness and slowing of physical and mental performance using visual analogue scales; quality of sleep using the Spiegel questionnaire; anxiety using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale; and cognitive function using a driving stimulation test. RESULTS: Analysis of the primary study criterion revealed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.0001) in the emergence of withdrawal symptoms between the two groups in favour of captodiamine at two, six and eight weeks following initiation of therapy. These results were supported by significant beneficial effects of captodiamine on the majority of secondary outcome measures. The switch to captodiamine was associated with an improvement in vigilance, which may be an advantage for the overall safety of the anxiolytic treatment, for example with regard to road safety. Discontinuation of captodiamine was not associated with the emergence of rebound anxiety. CONCLUSION: Captodiamine represents an interesting strategy for achieving benzodiazepine substitution with a low risk of dependence or impairment of cognitive function. Further clinical studies addressing the anxiolytic activity and safety of captodiamine in such subjects are merited.

Toxicity of the Clitocybe amoenolens mushroom in the rat.

Ingestion of Clitocybe amoenolens, a mushroom collected in Savoie (France), induced erythermalgia in 5 patients. To assess C. amoenolens toxicity, increasing doses were given randomly to 4 rats corresponding to 1 to 25 fold the dose eaten by the most severely poisoned patient. The 2 rats receiving the highest doses had loss of bodyweight, locomotor disability and erythema of the toes. Examination of sciatic nerves showed decreased axon density and neuronal fiber degeneration. Oral administration of C. amoenolens to rats led to lesions that might be explained by the presence of acromelic acid A, a kainate analogue.

[Acute erythermalgia: look for mushrooms!]. / Erythermalgie soudaine: cherchez le champignon!

INTRODUCTION: To describe the first European observation of erythromelalgia due to mushroom poisoning. EXEGESIS: Seven cases observed and followed over 4 years are reported. All ill patients had eaten the same mushroom species, gathered in the same French alpine valley. Clinical features of erythromelalgia were observed. This syndrome was first described in Japan after Clitocybe acromelalga ingestion. It had never been observed in Europe before. Clitocybe acromelalga does not grow in Europe. Clitocybe amoenolens was identified as the possible cause of poisoning in our cases. This species can be confused with an edible mushroom, Lepista inversa. CONCLUSIONS: Even in Europe, recent mushroom poisoning is a possible cause of erythromelalgia.

[Short-term relationships between urban atmospheric pollution and respiratory mortality: time series studies]. / Relations à court terme entre la pollution atmosphérique urbaine et la mortalité respiratoire: la place des études temporelles.

Time series studies conducted in the field of air pollution aim at testing and quantifying short-term relations which can exist between daily air pollution levels and daily health effects. The method used for this type of survey has sometimes been misunderstood mainly because individual factors and indoor exposure to air pollutants were not taken into account. The adjustment on these individual confounding factors commonly used in classic epidemiologic studies (case-control studies, cohort studies) is not adequate to times series studies which are based on aggregate data. This is different for those factors that change over time according to the levels of air pollution (meteorological conditions, influenza epidemics, trend of health cases) which, when being analysed, must be taken into account either indirectly through time modelling or directly through non-linear modelling processes. During this last decade, numerous studies using the time series method have been published and have found short-term associations between daily levels of air pollution commonly observed and daily respiratory mortality. The consistency of the numerous results published in the international literature are more arguments in favour of non-confounding short-term relations between air pollution and respiratory mortality.

Erythromelalgia and mushroom poisoning.

OBJECTIVE: To report the first European observations of erythromelalgia due to mushroom poisoning. METHODS: Clinical features of erythromelalgia were observed in 7 cases seen over 3 years. All patients had eaten the same mushrooms species, gathered in the same French alpine valley. Erythromelalgia was first described in Japan after Clitocybe acromelalga ingestion. Clitocybe amoenolens was identified as the possible cause of poisoning in our cases.

[Cortinarius poisoning. Analysis of cases in the literature]. / Intoxications par les cortinaires. Analyse des cas de la littérature.

UNLABELLED: Cortinarius spp. poisoning is characterized by a delayed acute renal failure (ARF). The main features of this severe poisoning are still poorly known and often overlooked. The aim of this review of the literature was a better description of Cortinarius spp. poisoning. METHODS: The main medical databases were searched and analysed. RESULTS: 245 cases were collected and 90 cases could be analysed in details. Gastrointestinal disorders appeared a few days after the ingestion of the mushrooms (median: three days). The renal phase is delayed (median: 8.5 days). Hepatic failure and muscular lesions are highly questionable. Treatment is supportive in half of the cases, ARF progressed towards chronic renal failure, which progressed in 70% of the cases towards terminal renal failure. CONCLUSION: Cortinarius spp. poisoning is severe. Ingestion of Cortinarius species must be systematically suspected whenever tubulo-interstitial nephritis is diagnosed.

Main features of Cortinarius spp. poisoning: a literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Cortinarius spp. poisoning is characterized by a delayed acute renal failure. The main features of this severe poisoning are still poorly known and often overlooked. The aim of this literature review is a better description of Cortinarius spp. poisoning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The main medical databases were searched: Abstracts of Mycology, Current Contents, Medline, Pascal, Micromedex Poisindex, Toxicology abstracts, Toxline. All case reports that included a description of the clinical features of Cortinarius spp. poisoning were studied. RESULTS: 245 cases were collected and 90 cases could be analyzed in details. Gastrointestinal disorders are the main symptoms of the prerenal phase of the poisoning. They appear a few days after the ingestion of the mushrooms (median 3 days). The renal phase is delayed (median 8.5 days). Moderate and transient hepatic abnormalities have been reported. A severe hepatic failure can be ruled out. Muscular lesions are highly questionable. Treatment is supportive. No specific treatment can be recommended. Acute renal failure progressed towards chronic renal failure in half of the cases; intermittent hemodialysis or kidney transplantations were necessary in 70% of those cases. CONCLUSION: Cortinarius spp. poisoning is severe. Ingestion of Cortinarius species must be systematically suspected whenever tubulo-interstitial nephritis is diagnosed, especially as mushrooms may have been ingested 1-2 weeks before.

[Surveillance of short-term effects of urban air pollution on mortality. Results of a feasibility study in 9 French cities]. / Surveillance des effets à court terme de la pollution atmosphérique sur la mortalité en milieu urbain. Résultats d'une étude de faisabilité dans 9 villes françaises.

BACKGROUND: This study aims at quantifying air pollution effects on mortality and at evaluating the feasibility of a standardized epidemiological surveillance system of air pollution in 9 French cities. METHODS: Data collection and analysis followed a standardized protocol. Data pollution depended on the development of local air quality surveillance networks (number of indicators, number of stations.). The Generalised Additive Models (GAM) were used to quantify the association between air pollution and mortality. RESULTS: In the 9 studied areas, associations between all causes, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality, and air pollution indicators were observed. These associations were linear without threshold. Depending on the pollutants, excess in mortality related to an interquartile increase in acid-particulate pollution varied between 0.3 and 3.5% for total mortality, 0.5 and 6.3% for cardiovascular mortality, and between 0.1 and 12% for respiratory mortality. Photochemical air pollution varied between 0.4 and 7.3% for total mortality, 1.4 and 6.7% for cardiovascular mortality, and between 1.7 and 30.4% for respiratory mortality. CONCLUSION: In spite of a standardized common protocol, some disparities, inherent to the local characteristics, were noted (length of time series, numbers of ambient urban stations selected and pollutants available.). Nevertheless, this pilot study showed that multicentric epidemiological monitoring of air pollution effects on health was feasible. Yet, this requires to validate the results obtained through a re-analysis of the mortality data on a longer period of study. It also requires to study the feasibility and the relevance of the use of other health indicators, such as hospital admissions.

[Bromide poisoning and false hyperchloremia]. / Intoxication par les bromures et fausse hyperchlorémie.

A 36-year-old female patient was admitted at three different times for neuropsychiatric disorders. No diagnoses were made during the first two hospital stays. A pseudohyperchloraemia allowed the diagnosis of bromide poisoning during her third hospital stay. Chloraemia was measured over 16 days by potentiometric, colorimetric and coulometric methods, in order to assess the analytical interferences caused by bromides. Results are reported and discussed. Bromide poisoning was treated by saline diuresis.

[Relevance and feasibility of a surveillance system of the effects of atmospheric pollution]. / Pertinence et faisabilité d'un système de surveillance des effets de la pollution atmosphérique.

New regulations on the quality of air together with the epidemiological results obtained in the last 10 years on the short-term effects of air pollution on health have led the InVS to set up a program of epidemiological surveillance in 9 French cities. The first phase of this program was dedicated to the study of feasibility of such a surveillance system. Metrological and health data collection was conducted at both local and national levels in order to obtain significant data in close collaboration with experts of each field. The analysis of the relationship between temporal variations of daily series of the two types of indicators have allowed to obtain dose-response relationships between air pollution and mortality. The organisational and technical feasibility of such a surveillance system was confirmed in the first phase of the program.

Short-term health effects of an industrial toxic waste landfill: a retrospective follow-up study in Montchanin, France.

A retrospective follow-up study was conducted in 1990 to assess the short-term health impacts of an industrial waste landfill. The site, located since 1979 in a French town of 6,000 inhabitants (about 100 m from the nearest houses) released volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air and provoked intense health concern in the community. The landfill was subsequently closed in 1988. Subjects were 694 inhabitants residing in three different parts of town. Individual exposure was estimated, using a dispersion model of volatile air pollutants and accommodated the daily activity patterns of each individual within the area under investigation. Surrogate morbidity data were derived from measurement of the consumption of drugs prescribed for specific therapeutic categories over a 3-y period (18 mo before and 18 mo after the site was closed). Although differences were not statistically significant, the most exposed subjects had been prescribed more drugs for diseases possibly linked to emissions from the site before it closed than the least exposed individuals. There was a suggestion of a slight trend in the consumption of drugs for ear, nose, and throat and pulmonary ailments with individual exposure levels. These results, and the review of toxicological data for some of the VOCs released by the dump, support the decision to close the site.