Growth performance of stocker calves backgrounded on sod-seeded winter annuals or hay and grain.

Economically viable options for retaining ownership of spring-born calves through a winter backgrounding program are somewhat limited in the southeastern United States. Although sod-seeded winter annual forages produce less forage than those same forages planted using conventional tillage practices, sod-seeded winter annual forages have the potential to provide a low-cost, rapid-gain, ecologically and economically viable option for retaining ownership of fall-weaned calves. A study was conducted during the winters of 1998, 1999, and 2000 using 180 crossbred calves (261 +/- 2.8 kg initial BW; n = 60 each year) to compare sod-seeded winter annual forages with conventional hay and supplement backgrounding programs in southeast Arkansas. Calves were provided bermudagrass hay (ad libitum) and a grain sorghum-based supplement (2.7 kg/d) on 1-ha dormant bermudagrass pastures or were grazed on 2-ha pastures of bermudagrass/dallisgrass overseeded with 1) annual ryegrass, 2) wheat plus annual ryegrass, or 3) rye plus annual ryegrass at a set stocking rate of 2.5 calves/ha. Calves grazed from mid-December until mid-April but were fed bermudagrass hay during times of low forage mass. Mean CP and IVDMD concentrations were 19.0 and 71.1%, respectively, across sampling dates and winter annual forages, but three-way interactions among forage treatments, year, and sampling date were detected (P < 0.01) for forage mass, concentrations of CP, and IVDMD. The IVDMD of rye plus ryegrass was greater (P < 0.05) than that of ryegrass in yr 2. A forage treatment x sampling date interaction was detected for forage CP in yr 1 (P < 0.05) and 2 (P = 0.05) but not in yr 3 (P = 0.40). Forage mass did not differ (P > or = 0.22) among winter annual treatments on any sampling date. During the first 2 yr, calves fed hay plus supplement gained less (P < 0.05) BW than calves that grazed winter annual forages; gains did not differ (P > or = 0.23) among winter annual treatments. During the 3rd yr, undesirable environmental conditions limited growth of the winter annual forages; total gain did not differ (P = 0.66) among the four treatments. Winter annual forages offer potential to provide high-quality forage for calves retained until spring, but consistent forage production and quality are a concern when sod-seeding techniques are used.

Unilateral lung infiltrate. Lipoid pneumonia.

A case of unilateral lipoid pneumonia, proven by alveolar lavage and transbronchial lung biopsy, is presented. Following a stroke, which resulted in difficulty in swallowing, the patient slept only on his right side accounting for the unilateral lung infiltrate. He had been taking mineral oil for several years accounting for the lipoid pneumonia.

Chronic obstructive lung disease and acute respiratory failure.

Patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) experience one or more episodes of acute respiratory failure in the late years of their illness. Initial evaluation is aimed at assessing the precipitating factor or factors as well as the severity of the acute episode and the need for intubation and mechanical ventilation. Specific treatment is directed toward the individual precipitating cause, as well as toward the general relief of hypoxemia and airflow obstruction. The prognosis for recovery from most episodes of acute respiratory failure is excellent and warrants an aggressive approach.

Persistent tracheal dilatation: onset after brief mechanical ventilation with a "soft-cuff" endotracheal tube.

Persistent tracheal dilatation, a sign of severe tracheal damage, has been reported in the past primarily as a complication of prolonged mechanical ventilation through high-pressure, low-compliance cuffs of tracheostomy and endotracheal tubes. A case is presented in which a 26-year-old man developed severe tracheal dilatation with a soft-cuff endotracheal tube beginning four days after intubation, which persisted despite only eight total days of intubation and mechanical ventilation. The pathogenesis and possible prevention of this complication are reviewed.

Asymptomatic esophageal carcinoma with esophagopulmonary fistula masquerading as a primary lung abscess.

A 58-year-old man presented with the clinical signs and symptoms of a large right upper lobe lung abscess. His course was complicated by diffuse bilateral necrotizing pneumonitis, and death occurred as a result of massive aspiration of lung abscess contents into uninvolved lung. At postmortem examination, an esophageal carcinoma with a direct fistulous communication with the abscess cavity was present. Although rare, asymptomatic malignant esophageal disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a lung abscess which does not follow a typical course.

Bulging (sagging) fissure sign in Hemophilus influenzae lobar pneumonia.

A bulging fissure sign was noticed on chest roentgenogram in a patient with H influenzae pneumonia. This sign is usually associated with Klebsiella pneumonia and has also been seen in pneumococcal and plague pneumonia, tuberculosis, mass lesions of the lung, and large lung abscesses. This is thought to be the first report of a bulging fissure sign associated with pneumonia due to H influenzae.

Spirometry in office practice: getting full measure from a useful tool.

Spirometry is a simple but underutilized test that is particularly well suited for office practice. With it, the physician can distinguish among different types of ventilatory impairment and follow the patient's course. It also permits detection of small-airway disease at an early stage, when measures to prevent development of chronic bronchitis and emphysema may be effective.

Correlation of the serial-dilution protamine sulfate test with models of "hypercoagulability" and thrombosis in dogs.

In a dog model, combinations of venous-injury thrombosis, homologous serum-induced "hypercoagulability," and fibrinolytic blockade were evaluated to determine the factors involved in the generation of a positive serial-dilution protamine sulfate test. Stasis and operative procedures did not produce a positive test. Small local thrombi induced by electrical current produced a positive test that tended to persist only during the initial formation and propagation of the thrombus, and was blocked by pretreatment with epsilon-aminocaproic acid, suggesting in this model that the test was detecting mainly early fibrin degradation products. Homologous serum infusion without venous-injury thrombosis also produced positive serial-dilution protamine sulfate test results that could not be blocked with epsilon-aminocaproic acid suggesting here that the serial-dilution protamine sulfate test was detecting mainly soluble complexes of fibrin monomer rather than early fibrin degradation products. The serial-dilution protamine sulfate test is therefore capable of detecting both small local thrombi and serum-induced "hypercoagulability" without thrombosis in the dog model.

Intravascular coagulation associated with the adult respiratory distress syndrome.

In seven of 30 consecutive patients with the adult respiratory distress syndrome, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) developed. Increasing respiratory dysfunction characterized by decreased effective static compliance and increased hypoxemia coincided with the development of DIC. Patients in whom DIC developed were characterized by a high incidence of bleeding, gangrene of the extremities, renal dysfunction, mortality and autopsy evidence of fibrin microthrombi in the lungs, kidney and skin. In 12 of 23 patients who did not meet the criteria for DIC, the platelet count decreased by at least 50 per cent of the initial values at some time during their illness. Fibrin microthrombi were found in the lungs in the majority of the patients subjected to autopsy. These data support the concept that depostion of platelet on damaged pulmonary capillary endothelium may be more common in the adult respiratory distress syndrome than the DIC syndrome.

The course of untreated Mycobacterium kansasii disease.

Four patients with Mycobacterium kansaii pulmonary infection were followed without treatment for 10 to 14 years after diagnosis. Although spontaneous resolution of active disease occurred 5 years after diagnosis in one patient, slowly progressive disease in the absence of significant symptoms was documented in 3 patients during a 12-to-14-year follow-up period. Administration of antituberculous drugs resulted in rapid resolution of signs of active disease in these patients. These observations added to our limited knowledge of the natural history of M. kansasii disease.