[Retrospective study--pregnancy after assisted medical reproduction from 2001 to 2009 at the Central Hospital of Luxembourg (first section)]. / Etude retrospective--suivis de grossesses après Procréation Médicalement Assistée (PMA) de 2001 à 2009 au Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (1re partie).

Retrospective study on a nine year ART practice focusing on pregnancy outcomes and multiple pregnancies, their complications, the gestational duration, delivery options, the new born weights and health statements til the age of two. Post ART pregnancies seem to have an increased complication rate; multiple births are more frequent than with spontaneous conception. The first chapter deals with the entire group. The second chapter analyses several sub-groups according to the ART method employed. The results are compared to publications in PubMed and Medline.

[Retrospective studies of pregnancies after assisted medical reproduction from 2001-2009 and Central Hospital in Luxembourg (part 2)]. / Etude rétrospective--suivis de grossesses après Procréation Médicalement Assistée (PMA) de 2001 à 2009 au Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (2e partie).

The first chapter analyses the ART methods of the Centre Hospitalier of Luxembourg, in the department of reproductive medicine between 2001 and 2009. The second chapter examines the techniques individually, their influence on pregnancy outcomes, the complications on offsprings and their health. The results coincide with literature in that risks are acceptable as long as good medical and biological conditions are maintained. Multiple pregnancies remain the most frequent complication, particularly once out of IVF. These are analysed separately as well as the pregnancies after egg and semen donation.

Rapid identification of Candida dubliniensis with commercial yeast identification systems.

Candida dubliniensis is a newly described species that is closely related phylogenetically to Candida albicans and that is commonly associated with oral candidiasis in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients. Several recent studies have attempted to elucidate phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of use in separating the two species. However, results obtained with simple phenotypic tests were too variable and tests that provided more definitive data were too complex for routine use in the clinical laboratory setting. The objective of this study was to determine if reproducible identification of C. dubliniensis could be obtained with commercial identification kits. The substrate reactivity profiles of 80 C. dubliniensis isolates were obtained by using the API 20C AUX, ID 32 C, RapID Yeast Plus, VITEK YBC, and VITEK 2 ID-YST systems. The percentages of C. dubliniensis isolates capable of assimilating or hydrolyzing each substrate were compared with the percentages from the C. albicans profiles in each kit's database, and the results were expressed as percent C. dubliniensis and percent C. albicans. Any substrate that showed >50% difference in reactivity was considered useful in differentiating the species. In addition, assimilation of methyl-alpha-D-glucoside (MDG), D-trehalose (TRE), and D-xylose (XYL) by the same isolates was investigated by the traditional procedure of Wickerham and Burton (L. J. Wickerham and K. A. Burton, J. Bacteriol. 56:363-371, 1948). At 48 h (the time recommended by the manufacturer for its new database), we found that the assimilation of four carbohydrates in the API 20C AUX system could be used to distinguish the species, i.e., glycerol (GLY; 88 and 14%), XYL (0 and 88%), MDG (0 and 85%), and TRE (15 and 97%). Similarly, results with the ID 32 C system at 48 h showed that XYL (0 and 98%), MDG (0 and 98%), lactate (LAT; 0 and 96%), and TRE (30 and 96%) could be used to separate the two species. Phosphatase (PHS; 9 and 76%) and alpha-D-glucosidase (23 and 94%) proved to be the most useful for separation of the species in the RapID Yeast Plus system. While at 24 h the profiles obtained with the VITEK YBC system showed that MDG (10 and 95%), XYL (0 and 95%), and GLY (26 and 80%) could be used to separate the two species, at 48 h only XYL (6 and 95%) could be used to separate the two species. The most useful substrates in the VITEK 2 ID-YST system were TRE (1 and 89%), MDG (1 and 99%), LAT (4 and 98%), and PHS (83 and 1%). While the latter kit was not yet commercially available at the time of the study, it would appear to be the most valuable for the identification of C. dubliniensis. Although assimilation of MDG, TRE, and XYL proved to be the most useful for species differentiation by the majority of commercial systems, the results with these carbohydrates by the Wickerham and Burton procedure were essentially the same for both species, albeit following protracted incubation. Thus, it is the rapidity of the assimilation achieved with the commercial systems that allows the differentiation of C. dubliniensis from C. albicans.

Results of Micro stent implantations in coronary lesions of various complexity.

Micro stents appear to be especially suitable for the safe treatment of complex coronary lesions and adverse vessel morphology. Stenting of lesions with type C morphology is associated with a higher restenosis rate than stenting of less complex coronary obstructions.