A Multistate Investigation of Antibiotic-Resistant Salmonella enterica Serotype I 4,[5],12:i:- Infections as Part of an International Outbreak Associated with Frozen Feeder Rodents.

While most human Salmonella infections result from exposure to contaminated foods, an estimated 11% of all Salmonella infections are attributed to animal exposures, including both direct animal handling and indirect exposures such as cleaning cages and handling contaminated pet food. This report describes the epidemiologic, environmental and laboratory investigations conducted in the United States as part of the response to an international outbreak of tetracycline-resistant Salmonella enterica serotype I 4,[5],12:i:- infections with over 500 illnesses occurring from 2008 to 2010. This investigation found that illness due to the outbreak strain was significantly associated with exposure to pet reptiles and frozen feeder rodents used as food for pet reptiles. Salmonella isolates indistinguishable from the outbreak strain were isolated from a frozen feeder mice-fed reptile owned by a case patient, as well as from frozen feeder mice and environmental samples collected from a rodent producing facility (Company A). An international voluntary recall of all Company A produced frozen feeder animals sold between May 2009 and July 2010 occurred. Only 13% of cases in our investigation were aware of the association between Salmonella infection and mice or rats. Consumers, the pet industry, healthcare providers and veterinarians need to be aware of the potential health risk posed by feeder rodents, whether live or frozen. Frozen feeder rodent producers, suppliers and distributors should follow the animal food labelling requirements as described in 21 CFR §501.5, and all packages of frozen feeder rodents should include safe handling instructions. Persons should wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling live or frozen feeder rodents, as well as reptiles or anything in the area where the animals live. Continued opportunities exist for public health officials, the pet industry, veterinarians and consumers to work together to prevent salmonellosis associated with pet food, pets and other animals.

[Cardiac involvement in familial amytrophic chorea with acantocytosis: description of two new clinical cases]. / Coinvolgimento cardiaco nella coreo-acantocitosi amiotrofica familiare: descrizione di due nuovi casi clinici.

Familial amyotrophic chorea and acanthocytosis, also known as the Levine-Critchley syndrome, is a rare inherited disease characterized primarily by central nervous system involvement with progressive demyelinization and autosomic or dominant transmission. Clinical symptoms include orofaciolingual dyskinesia and involuntary choreiform movements associated with skeletal muscle atrophy due to axonal demyelinization and erythrocyte acanthocytosis. A few patients have some cardiac abnormality, including an electrocardiographic pattern of left ventricular hypertrophy, left atrial wave abnormalities, non-specific ST-T wave changes, and a pseudonecrosis pattern with abnormal Q waves in the inferior leads. Two-dimensional echocardiography has disclosed concentric ventricular hypertrophy and the typical findings of congestive cardiomyopathy. We report the case of two brothers, 40 and 58 years old, who had asymmetric left ventricular hypertrophy (more marked in the younger brother), left ventricular mass index increase unrelated to a hypertensive state or the percent of circulating acanthocytes. Functional systolic parameters were normal. The younger brother had dilation of the aortic root and marked enlargement of the non-coronary Valsalva sinus, and both patients manifested mitral leaflet redundancy without evident prolapse. Our observations suggest the hypothesis that connective tissue and/or vessel muscle-elastic fiber pathology is associated with the well-known neurological disorders typical of the Levine-Critchley syndrome. It is thus advisable that these patients undergo thorough cardiovascular evaluation.

[Evaluation of the kinetics of MB creatine kinase in patients undergoing systemic thrombolytic therapy]. / Valutazione della cinetica della CK-MB in pazienti sottoposti a terapia trombolitica sistemica.

This study was aimed to evaluate if the time-course of creatinkinase MB in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is influenced by therapy and which index, derived from the enzymatic curve, is the most reliable marker of successful coronary artery recanalization. We studied the enzymatic curves in 38 patients with transmural myocardial infarction, 19 treated with streptokinase (SK) and 19 with tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA). Blood samples were obtained every 2 hours for the first 12 hours and every 6 hours until the level of serum CK returned to baseline. Three indexes were calculated: peak serum enzyme level, time to peak enzyme level and maximal enzyme rise velocity. Time to peak did not differ significantly between SK and rtPA groups. Peak levels were significantly higher (414 +/- 40 vs 249 +/- 33; p = 0.004) in rtPA groups, as well as maximal enzyme rise velocity (1.7 +/- 0.4 vs 0.8 +/- 0.1; p = 0.02). However, infarct size evaluated by the total release of CK-MB in 28 patients was greater in rtPA group (10949 +/- 1097 vs 6346 +/- 869; p = 0.002). These findings suggest that differences in peak level and in maximal velocity of rise observed between SK and rtPA are due to differences in infarct size and not to a different recanalization rate. Thus, enzymatic estimate of infarct size significantly correlates to peak enzyme (r = 0.894, p less than 0.001), and to maximal rise velocity (r = 0.518, p = 0.007) but not to time to peak (r = 0.208, NS).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Standing-up test in young borderline hypertensives.

Seventeen normals (mean age, 34 +/- 4.31 years) and thirteen borderline hypertensives (BH) (mean age, 33 +/- 4.6), immune from any other pathology, were tested (standing-up test) in order to assess possible parasympathetic dysfunctions in young BH, not preselected as hyperkinetic subjects. Curves of heart rate (HR) variations were monitored by electrocardiogram during the test with an exhaustive analysis carried out to obtain indexes showing the whole trend as well as the 30 degrees/15 degrees ratio. No significant difference emerges between the two groups when mean values of such parameters are compared. It is concluded that parasympathetic dysfunctions do not occur in BH patients.

Abnormalities in pituitary thyroid axis function tests in patients with paroxysmal supraventricular arrhythmias.

The study was carried out on 60 consecutive patients (23 males and 37 females) aged between 20 and 83 years (means +/- SD, 40.7 +/- 16) who arrived at our Cardiologic Unit with paroxysmal supraventricular arrhythmias (PSVA) including junctional paroxysmal tachycardia (n = 32), atrial fibrillation (n = 13), atrial flutter (n = 1), premature beats (n = 13) and with no obvious cardiovascular causes. Serum thyroxine and triiodothyronine were normal in all patients and thyroid scintiscan revealed normal shape and size thyroids without autonomously functioning nodule(s). Thyrotropin (TSH) response to thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) was normal in 44 subjects in whom normal serum free T4 (FT4) and free T3 (FT3) levels were measured. Six patients with normal FT4 and FT3 levels did not respond to TRH. Abnormalities in thyrotropin response to TRH were observed in 10 patients all exhibiting increased FT4 or also FT3 levels. Among these, 5 patients did not respond to TRH, whereas the remaining 5 exhibited a blunted TSH response to TRH. These results suggest that only in a small proportion (5/60) of consecutive patients with PSVA it is possible to recognize a status of "occult thyrotoxicosis" on the basis of the combined evaluation of free thyroid hormones and TSH response to TRH.

[Acute amiodarone poisoning. Description of a case]. / Intoxication aiguë par l'amiodarone. Description d'un cas.

A case of attempted suicide with 2600 mg amiodarone is reported. This overdose did not cause any clinical symptoms, change in heart rate, blood pressure or biochemical parameters. No ventricular arrhythmias were observed in ECG monitoring, but a considerable lengthening of the Q-T interval and T wave inversion in the precordial leads with transient disappearance of the R wave in leads V1 - V4, simulating an anteroseptal infarction, were recorded. This case underlines the possibility of giving larger loading doses of amiodarone than those generally used.