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Negative pressure ventilation via an external device ('iron lung') has the potential to provide better oxygenation with reduced barotrauma in patients with ARDS. This study was designed to see if oxygenation differences between positive and negative ventilation could be explained by CT. Six anaesthetized rabbits had ARDS induced by repeated saline lavage. Rabbits were ventilated with positive pressure ventilation (PPV) and negative pressure ventilation (NPV) in turn. Dynamic CT images were acquired over the respiratory cycle. A computer-aided method was used to segment the lung and calculate the range of CT densities within each slice. Volumes of ventilated lung and atelectatic lung were measured over the respiratory cycle. NPV was associated with an increased percentage of ventilated lung and decreased percentage of atelectatic lung. The most significant differences in ventilation and atelectasis were seen at mid-inspiration and mid-expiration (ventilated lung NPV = 61%, ventilated lung PPV = 47%, p < 0.001; atelectatic lung NPV = 10%, atelectatic lung PPV 19%, p < 0.001). Aeration differences were not significant at end-inspiration. Dynamic CT can show differences in lung aeration between positive and negative ventilation in ARDS. These differences would not be appreciated if only static breath-hold CT was used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intestinal permeability has been assessed as a parameter of the small intestinal barrier function in 33 patients with AIDS (WR 6), in 25 healthy volunteers, 32 patients with Crohn's disease, 18 patients with ulcerative colitis and in 12 patients with untreated coeliac disease. Permeability was measured by means of the 5 hour urinary excretion of lactulose and rhamnose after administration of these sugars (1 g rhamnose, 10 g lactulose) which allowed to calculate the urinary lactulose/rhamnose - ratio (L/R-r) as an index of intestinal permeability. Compared to the controls (L/R-r=0,014±0,010) patients with AIDS had significantly increased lactulose/rhamnose - ratios (0,189+0,164; p<0.01) indicating abnormal permeation both of lactulose and rhamnose. This alteration of intestinal permeability was more pronounced than the significant increase of the L/R-r in the patients with either Crohn's disease or coeliac disease. However, intestinal permeability was not altered in the patients with ulcerative colitis. Among the patients with AIDS, the most abnormal permeability ratios were observed in two subjects with intestinal cryptosporidiosis. This investigation demonstrates by means of the 'double sugar ratio', that intestinal permeability in patients with AIDS is highly abnormal, the impairment being even more abnormal than in patients with other small intestinal disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifty consecutive AIDS autopsy cases were evaluated. All subjects showed one or more opportunistic infections and malignancies included in the AIDS case definition with cytomegalovirus and Kaposi's sarcoma being most prevalent. Mycobacterial and cryptococcal infections occurred only infrequently. Most patients of our series after successful treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia or cerebral toxoplasmosis later succumbed to less treatable conditions like disseminated cytomegalovirus or fungal infections or malignant lymphoma. In the absence of specific treatment for the HIV infection leading to these lethal complications special emphasis must be put on the prevention of HIV transmission and spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In a randomized, open study, the efficacy of fluconazole as a prophylaxis of recurrent oral candidiasis in patients with advanced stages of HIV-infection (CD4 cell count<100/mm) was studied. For this purpose, the frequency of episodes of oral candidiasis during two different prophylaxis regimens (50 mg/day vs. 100 mg/day) were compared to an untreated control group. Sixty-five HIV-positive patients were included in the study from May, 1989 to January, 1990. Of these, 58 were evaluated over an observation time of 137-215 days. Prophylaxis with fluconazole clearly reduced the occurrence of oral candidiasis. In 20 out of 21 patients in the untreated control group, a total of 60 relapses occurred. In the prophylaxis group receiving 50 mg/day (group 2), two out of 18 patients had four relapses. In the group receiving 100 mg/day (group 3), four out of 19 patients had nine relapses in total. Of 3575 observation days in the control group, treatment due to oral candidiasis was necessary on 393 days (28 %). In group 2, on 57 of 3316 days (2 %), fluconazole in a higher dosage was administered for treatment. In group 3, relapse treatment with fluconazole 200 mg/day, or treatment with ketoconazole, became necessary in 116 out of 3314 observation days (3 %). In all relapses, Candida albicans cfu>10/ml were isolated in the oral wash-outs. As compared to the untreated control group, fluconazole prophylaxis in a daily dosage of 50 as well as 100 mg led to significantly less frequent relapses of oral candidiasis (p<0.01). The lower dosage of 50 mg/day, as compared to the higher dosage of 100 mg/day, resulted in no significant difference in the frequency of relapses (p=0.66). The fact that the patient gains more quality of life by longer symptom-free periods outweighs the disadvantages emerging from increased drug intake and higher costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Infection is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Infection is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The clinical history of 1538 HIV positive patients was analyzed on the basis of the new CDC classification system of HIV disease and AIDS. This classification system combines three CD4 cell categories (1, 2, and 3) with three clinical categories (A, B, and C) into nine subgroups AI-C3. We examined the overall survival for all subgroups and the AIDS-free survival for subgroups Al-B3. AIDS-free survival for patients in subgroups Al, A2, and B1 was considerably longer than survival in patients from subgroups A3, B2, and B3 ( P < 0.0001). According to these findings, the new CDC classification system could be simplified into three stages, stage I and II comprising the above mentioned six subgroups, and stage III comprising clinical AIDS defining categories C1, C2, and C3. These three stages correspond to different periods in the management of HIV positive patients, i.e., period of observation, period of prophylaxis, and period of treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diarrhoea and weight loss are found in more than 50% of patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In some patients the symptoms can be very severe, leading to death even in the absence of opportunistic infections. In 30% of these patients, enteric pathogens cannot be identified, and approximately only half of the identifiable aetiologic agents of diarrhoea in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were treatable with antibiotics. Immunoglobulins from bovine colostrum (Lactobin, Biotest, Dreieich, FRG) contain high titers of antibodies against a wide range of bacterial, viral and protozoal pathogens as well as against various bacterial toxins. Lactobin (LIG) is quite resistant to 24-h incubation with gastric juice. In a multi-center pilot study 37 immunodeficiency patients with chronic diarrhoea [29 HIV-infected patients, 2 patients with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), one unidentified immunodeficiency, five patients with graft versus host disease (GvHD) following bone marrow transplantation] were treated with oral LIG (10 g/day for 10 days). Good therapeutic effects were observed. Out of 31 treatment periods in 29 HIV-infected patients 21 gave good results leading to transient (10 days) or long-lasting (more than 4 weeks) normalisation of the stool frequency. The mean daily stool frequency decreased from 7.4 to 2.2 at the end of the treatment. Eight HIV-infected patients showed no response. The diarrhoea recurred in 12 patients within 4 weeks (32.4%), while 19 patients were free of diarrhoea for at least 4 weeks (51.3%). In 5 patients intestinal cryptosporidiosis disappeared following oral LIG treatment. LIG treatment was also beneficial in 4 out of 5 GvHD patients. No serious side effects were recorded in any of the treated patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Langenbecks Archiv fuer Chirurgie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Infection is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Infection is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Infection is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)