Analysis of recurrence and complications after percutaneous needle fasciotomy in Dupuytren's disease.

INTRODUCTION: The partial aponeurectomy for treatment of Dupuytren's contracture represents the gold standard for treatment of Dupuytren's contracture. In selected cases, the alternative is the percutaneous needle fasciotomy (PNF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 2008 and 2018, 80 rays in 64 patients were treated using PNF. 53 patients (68 rays) were reviewed with a mean follow-up of 31 months. RESULTS: The recurrence rate was 18.9%. 49 patients with 62 rays had a totally free extension intra-operatively (92.4%). There were no complications. Only one patient reported a transient dysesthesia (1.8%) in the zone of operation. 86% of all patients would undergo the treatment again, if necessary. Patients were able to return to their job in an average of 5.5 days. CONCLUSIONS: PNF is reliable and relatively simple to perform compared to partial aponeurectomy. Therefore, the PNF could be seen as a serious alternative for selected cases.

Retrospective audit of blood donation at a hospital-based blood centre. Implications for blood product supply and safety.

An audit of blood donation at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) was performed between January 1995 and December 1998. During these four years, 21,733 persons attended the blood collection centre and 6711 (30.8%) were rejected as donors. Females accounted for 3,054 (45.6%) of rejected donors while 3,647 (54.4%) were males. Females were rejected primarily because of low haemoglobin levels, while rejection of males was most frequently attributed to symptoms of the common cold and recent drug use. One hundred and two rejected donors (1.5%) admitted to recent treatment for a sexually transmitted disease, and 138 (2.0%) presented within 16 weeks of a prior donation. Of 15,022 units donated, altruistic voluntary donations accounted for 307 (2%) and 53 (0.3%) were autologous donations. Seven hundred and four units (4.6%) were discarded because of positivity on initial testing for a marker of transmissible infection. Overall prevalence for markers of infection was 2.5% for HTLV-1, 0.9% for Hepatitis B and 0.4% for HIV I/II. Donations at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) collection centre contributed 15.8% of the national blood supply for the period under study.

Retrospective audit of blood donation at a Hospital-based blood centre: Implications for blood product supply and safety

An audit of blood donation at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) was performed between January 1995 and December 1998. During these four years, 21,733 persons attended the blood collection centre and 6,711 (30.8 percent) were rejected as donors. Females accounted for 3, 054 (45.6 percent) of rejected donors while 3,647 (54.4 percent) were males. Females were rejected primarily because of low haemoglobin levels, while rejection was most frequently attributed to symptoms of the common cold and recent drug use. One hunderd and two rejected donors (1.5 percent) admitted to recent treatment of a sexually transmitted disease, and 138 (2.0 percent) presented within 16 weeks of a prior donation. Of 15,022 units donated, altruistic voluntary donations accounted for 307 (2 percent) and 53 (0.3 percent) were autologous donations. Seven hundred and four units (4.6 percent) were discarded because of positivity on initial testing for a marker of transmissible infection. Overall prevalence for markers of infection was 2.5 eprcent for HTLV-1, 0.9 percent for Hepatitis B and 0.4 percent for HIV I/II. Donations at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) collection centre contributed 15.8 percent of the national blood supply for the period under study.(Au)

Retrospective audit of blood donation at a Hospital-based blood centre: Implications for blood product supply and safety

An audit of blood donation at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) was performed between January 1995 and December 1998. During these four years, 21,733 persons attended the blood collection centre and 6,711 (30.8 percent) were rejected as donors. Females accounted for 3, 054 (45.6 percent) of rejected donors while 3,647 (54.4 percent) were males. Females were rejected primarily because of low haemoglobin levels, while rejection was most frequently attributed to symptoms of the common cold and recent drug use. One hunderd and two rejected donors (1.5 percent) admitted to recent treatment of a sexually transmitted disease, and 138 (2.0 percent) presented within 16 weeks of a prior donation. Of 15,022 units donated, altruistic voluntary donations accounted for 307 (2 percent) and 53 (0.3 percent) were autologous donations. Seven hundred and four units (4.6 percent) were discarded because of positivity on initial testing for a marker of transmissible infection. Overall prevalence for markers of infection was 2.5 eprcent for HTLV-1, 0.9 percent for Hepatitis B and 0.4 percent for HIV I/II. Donations at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) collection centre contributed 15.8 percent of the national blood supply for the period under study.

Lymphocyte immunophenotype reference ranges in healthy Thai adults: implications for management of HIV/AIDS in Thailand.

Lymphocyte immunophenotype reference ranges for T, B, and NK subsets were determined for healthy adult Thais in a multi-center study in Bangkok. Immunophenotyping was by flow cytometry using lysed whole blood. A standard protocol for flow cytometry instrumentation, reagents and quality control was used to minimize site differences and to facilitate comparison of the Thai reference values to those found for Caucasians in previous studies. Major differences were determined for CD3(T), CD4 (T helper/inducer) and CD16+56 (NK) lymphocyte percentages and CD4 lymphocyte absolute counts. Age trends and sex differences were also observed. Compared to Caucasians, Thais, particularly Thai males, had lower CD3 and CD4 T lymphocyte percentages and absolute numbers whereas the percentage of NK lymphocytes was higher. Heterogeneity attributed to biological variation of CD4 T lymphocyte but not other immunophenotype subset distributions was also observed in a well defined geographic population. This study demonstrates the importance of ethnicity, age, sex and possibly environment as factors that influence distribution characteristics of normal lymphocyte immunophenotype reference values. These observations have important implications for the use of lymphocyte subsets-particularly CD3+ CD4+ T lymphocyte measurements as applied to HIV disease staging, AIDS definition and the overall clinical management of HIV/AIDS in Thailand.

An optimized method for routine HLA-B27 screening using flow cytometry.

Flow cytometry and monoclonal antibodies are promising tools for HLA-antigen detection. Previous approaches have been hampered by the lack of a carefully standardized system for calibration and sample analysis. A new system for HLA-B27 screening was developed using a FACScan flow cytometer, software for automated calibration and analysis, calibration beads, and the anti-HLA-B27-FITC/anti-Leu4-PE (CD3) monoclonal antibodies. The median fluorescence channel result for the HLA-B27-FITC signal of CD3+ T lymphocytes is compared to a decision marker. Values lower than this threshold are read as HLA-B27 negative and those above are recommended for retesting with the classic microcytotoxicity assay on the presumption of HLA-B27 positivity. The anti-HLA-B27 antibody reacts with all six HLA-B27 subtypes and shows a weaker binding to HLA-B7. The screening test results were compared with those from the microcytotoxicity assay for HLA-typing in studies involving several European centers. The observed sensitivity was 100% (95% Cl:98.6-100) and the specificity was 97.4% (95% Cl: 96.4-98.3). Other performance studies verified the reproducibility and reliability of results obtained with the screening system.

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma in a renal transplant recipient: an opportunistic occurrence.

A 42-year-old man with chronic renal failure and homograft transplantation developed adult T cell lymphoma in one native kidney. The role of transfusion in the acquisition of human T-lymphotropic virus type I and its role in the early development of adult T cell lymphoma, particularly on the background of chronic immunosuppression, are discussed. To our knowledge, this is the first such case.

[Salmonella enteritidis in chicken eggs]. / Salmonella enteritidis in Hühnereiern.

After an outbreak caused by salmonella enteritidis (SE) of which home-made mayonnaise and remoulade sauce were found to be the cause, SE was detected in ten of the remaining eggs. Subsequently 409 eggs of the next shipment from the same outlet were examined bacteriologically. Of 70 of the eggs examined, SE was found in 5 egg yolk samples and in 3 egg white samples as well as in 2 of 7 pooled shell samples. Five out of 35 pooled whole egg samples comprising a total of 349 eggs were likewise positive for SE. The isolates belonged to the phage types 4 and 7 carried the virulence plasmid pRQ29.

Cryogenic preservation of rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

Rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) were frozen to --196 degrees C, thawed, and tested for functional viability using a variety of criteria, which included: qualitative and quantitative nitroblue tetrazolium assays, fluorometric membrane integrity assays, chemotactic assays, and bactericidal assay. Using these criteria, the survival of rat PMNs obtained from a glycogen-induced peritoneal wash averaged approximately 70% after thawing. The survival of PMNs obtained from rat peripheral blood was greater than 95%. Maximal survival for cryopreservation of these cells frozen in the presence of 10% dimethyl sulfoxide and 5% hydroxyethyl starch was obtained when the cells were cooled at approximately 10 degrees C/min.