Appearance of resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics during therapy for Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis.

A young boy had meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae that was relatively resistant to penicillin and susceptible to cefotaxime. After 10 days of therapy with penicillin and cefotaxime, fever recurred and a second lumbar puncture revealed a pneumococcus that was resistant to all beta-lactam antibiotics. We now add vancomycin to empiric third-generation cephalosporin therapy for meningitis in children when gram-positive cocci are seen on the cerebrospinal fluid smear.

[Study using non-invasive methods in prostheses of bovine pericardium in aortic position manufactured at the Ignacio Chávez National Institute of Cardiology]. / Estudio por procedimientos no invasivos de las prótesis de pericardio bovino en posición aórtica manufacturadas en el Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez.

We studied 28 patients to whom a prosthestic valve of bovine pericardium manufactured in the Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez (INCICH) were implanted in aortic position, from February 1983 to May 1985. We analyzed the clinic follow-up and the prosthetic function was studied by Phonocardiography, Echocardiography M mode, Two-Dimensional and pulsed wave Doppler recordings obtained before and after surgery. The patient were 26 males, 2 females whose age varied from 12 to 66 years. The aortic valve disease was rheumatic in 12, congenital in 11 and of other type in 5. After surgery 26 patients are in functional class I, one in class II and one died, but death was not related to prosthetic valve function. In the Phonocardiogram we observed significant diminution of the ventricular ejection time of 32 +/- 2 msec. to 29 +/- 2 msec. (P less than 0.05), the aortic valve opening sound was of less intensity than the valve closure sound, with relation between both of 0.53. All of them had a systolic ejection murmur. In the Echocardiogram we observed a significant decrease of the end diastolic diameter of 53 +/- 11 mm to 45 +/- 10 mm (P less than 0.05), the end systolic diameter decreased from 37 +/- 13 mm to 33 +/- 10 mm., but the difference was not significant. The aortic prosthetic flow by pulsed Doppler Echocardiography had a maximum velocity of 137 +/- 23 cm/sec., it represents a valvular gradient of 7.5 +/- 0.02 mmHg. Early diastolic regurgitant flow was recorded in two patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Enamel hypoplasia in relation to caries in Guatemalan children.

Guatemalan children with anterior linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) had a significantly greater caries experience in posterior dentition than their peers who did not have anterior LEH. The findings suggest that the synergistic mechanism of undernutrition and infection, which may underlie the occurrence of anterior LEH, may also predispose clinically normal appearing deciduous molars to an excessive caries attack equal to that observed in the grossly hypoplastic anterior teeth. The nutritional implications merit further investigation.

Dental caries experience in the deciduous dentition of rural Guatemalan children ages 6 months to 7 years.

A study of 528 Guatemalan children indicated that caries prevalence in the deciduous dentition was twice as great as but in the permanent dentition was similar to that for US white children. This is a repeated observation for children of some preindustrial societies. Caries experience was significantly greater in boys. Until 4 years of age, caries attack was greater in the anterior segment of the oral cavity; linear enamel hypoplasia was a predisposing factor.