Small bowel infarction by Aspergillus.

Primary gut involvement by Aspergillus is a rare and often fatal complication of intensive antileukemic therapy. We describe the case of an adult patient affected by acute leukemia who developed a small bowel fungal thromboembolism without radiographic evidence of lung involvement during the post-induction aplastic phase. The diagnosis was made histologically at laparotomy performed for small bowel perforation. The patient died a week later in spite of amphotericin-B treatment and neutrophil recovery. Anti-Aspergillus prophylaxis and early introduction of amphotericin-B in the treatment of febrile neutropenia is probably advisable in all cases of AML.

Evaluation of in vitro activity of teicoplanin against recent clinical isolates.

The in vitro antibacterial activity of teicoplanin, a new glycopeptide antibiotic, previously named teichomycin A2, has been compared to that of five other chemoantibiotics: netilmicin, clindamycin, rifampicin, enoxacin and vancomycin. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values against 588 gram-positive strains, 561 facultative aerobes and 27 anaerobes, recently isolated from clinical specimens, were evaluated. Teicoplanin showed the highest activity against all the tested strains, with a geometrical mean of the MICs (GMM), a MIC50 and MIC90 of 0.123, 0.12 and 0.5 micrograms/ml respectively.

Comparative evaluation of the new Titertek Enterobac Rapid Automated System (TTE-RAS) for identification of members of the family Enterobacteriaceae.

The Titertek Enterobac Rapid Automated System (TTE-RAS; Flow Laboratories, SpA, Milan, Italy), a new semiautomated system for the identification of members of the family Enterobacteriaceae, was compared with the API 20E system (API System P.A., Montalieu Vercieu, France) by using 284 clinically isolated strains that were previously identified by conventional methods. Six strains from the American Type Culture Collection (Rockville, Md.) were included to evaluate the reproducibility of identification by both systems. Correct identifications at the species level were 93.7% with TTE-RAS and 96.1% with API 20E. Although some of the features of the TTE-RAS data base were not satisfactory, we consider this new miniaturized system to be a very valuable tool for the rapid identification of the most frequently isolated opportunistic bacteria.

[Evaluation of the in vitro activity of aztreonam on 1990 gram-negative bacterial strains recently isolated in Campania hospitals]. / Valutazione dell'attività in vitro dell'aztreonam su 1990 ceppi batterici gram-negativi di recente isolamento ospedaliero in Campania.

The in vitro activity of aztreonam, leader of a new class of antibiotics, the monobactams, has been investigated. The effectiveness of the new molecule on 1990 strains of Gram-negative clinical isolates has been compared to that of some other drugs widely utilized for the treatment of nosocomial infections. Aztreonam has shown the highest activity against all the tested strains, with a geometrical mean of MICs (MG) of 0.37 and a MIC 90 of 8 micrograms/ml.

[Evaluation of the in vitro activity of flumequine on bacterial strains recently isolated in the hospital]. / Valutazione dell'attività in vitro della flumechina su ceppi batterici di recente isolamento ospedaliero.

The in vitro activity of the quinolone derivative flumequine against 1918 bacterial strains, isolated from urinary tract infections, has been compared to the antibacterial activity of other compounds, such as pipemidic acid, oxolinic acid and cefazolin. The results are reported in terms of minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and geometrical mean (MG) of MICs. Flumequine appeared to be the most effective molecule over all the clinical isolates, showing a MG of MICs of 1.12 and a MIC 90 of 32 micrograms/ml.

[Evaluation of the in vitro activity of cefotetan on bacterial strains of recent hospital isolation]. / Valutazione dell'attività in vitro del cefotetan su ceppi batterici di recente isolamento ospedaliero.

The in vitro activity of cefotetan, a new cephamycin antibiotic, was tested against 296 bacterial strains, recently clinically isolated, by measuring the minimum inhibitory concentrations. Comparisons were made with other drugs (cefoxitin, cefotaxime, piperacillin, rifampicin, clindamycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol) widely utilized for the treatment of nosocomial infections. Cefotetan showed the highest activity against all the tested strains, with a geometrical mean of MICs (MG) of 0.32 and a MIC 50 and MIC 90 of 0.12 and 8 micrograms/ml, respectively.

[Evaluation of a rapid computerized method (Cobas-Bact) for the determination of in vitro sensitivity to antibiotic drugs]. / Valutazione di un metodo rapido e computerizzato (Cobas-Bact) per la determinazione della sensibilita' in vitro ai chemioantibiotici.

426 strains recent clinically isolates have been investigated with respect to their sensitivity against several chemioantibiotics. Data obtained with the Bauer and Kirby standard agar diffusion method have been compared with those carried out by using a new computerized system (Cobas-Bact, Roche), which is able to perform antibiograms in five hours. The performance of Cobas-Bact has been very significative, since the overall major concordance between the two methods was higher than 94%.