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Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among patients' perceptions about the roles they played during medical visits, their subsequent attitudes about their illnesses and treatments, and their self-rated improvement., Design: Questionnaires were completed by patients before, one day after, and one week after their medical visits, and by their physicians following the visits., Setting: The study was conducted in a general internal medicine faculty practice that provided adult primary care to a largely HMO population., Participants: Adult patients with new or increased symptoms who were capable of reading and understanding the study questionnaire., Main Results: Fifty-five patients (47%) reported playing an active role; 62 patients (53%) reported playing a passive role. After adjusting for age, sex, baseline illness ratings, and physician-rated prognosis, "active" patients reported less discomfort (p = 0.04), greater alleviation of symptoms (p = 0.008), and more improvement in their general medical condition (p = 0.04) one week after the visits than did "passive" patients. These differences were not influenced by the roles patients desired to play. Active patients also reported less concern with their illnesses (p = 0.04), a greater sense of control of their illnesses (p = 0.04), and more satisfaction with their physicians (p = 0.02) one day after the visit. Post-visit dysfunction ratings were not related to patients' role perceptions., Conclusions: Patients' perceptions about their involvement in care appeared to be related to their attitudes about their illnesses as well as to recovery. Further research is needed, however, to determine the factors that influence these role perceptions and to define the types of patients, illnesses, and settings in which the benefits of active-role perceptions are most likely to be realized.

The in vitro activity of LY 146032, a cyclic lipopeptide antibiotic belonging to the class of agents designated A21978C, was compared with those of vancomycin, cefpirome, cefotaxime, and clindamycin against selected gram-positive bacteria. The new drug inhibited all staphylococcal isolates, including methicillin-resistant strains, at concentrations of less than or equal to 1.0 microgram/ml. The activity of LY 146032 was comparable to that of vancomycin against most streptococci, but the latter demonstrated greater potency against Streptococcus faecium and penicillin-resistant strains of pneumococci and viridans group streptococci. LY 146032 was markedly less active than vancomycin against Listeria monocytogenes (MICs for 90% of strains tested, 16 and 1.0 microgram/ml, respectively). The activity of LY 146032 was enhanced as the concentration of calcium in the test medium was increased. MBCs were within eightfold of the MIC for each of 12 strains tested. In a rat model of enterococcal endocarditis, the administration of LY 146032 resulted in increased survival and a reduction in the bacterial titer within cardiac vegetations compared with untreated control animals.

In a pediatric and in an adult group of patients with hematuria and normal creatinine clearance overnight urine examination was carried out on 2 nonconsecutive days by means of phase contrast microscopy by two independent observers working in two different institutions. In this way it was possible to distinguish between patients on the basis of dysmorphic (glomerular) and isomorphic (nonglomerular) red cells in urine and to correlate the findings with the final diagnosis. A clear-cut indication (more than 80% of isomorphic and/or dysmorphic red cells) was obtained in 163 patients (102 of pediatric age) and final diagnosis of hematuria correlated with red-cell microscopy findings in 96.4% of glomerular diseases and in all cases of nonglomerular origin. Mixed hematuria (50-75% of dysmorphic red cells) was found in 2 cases of renal tuberculosis, 2 cases of polycystic kidney disease and in 1 child with viral meningoencephalitis with a bladder stone. The data indicate that the method is safe and accurate but further experience must be gathered for the many etiologies of glomerular and nonglomerular diseases hitherto not studied.

We compared the administration of sodium bicarbonate via a catheter inserted in the external jugular and extending to the junction with the subclavian vein (group 1) and a peripheral hindpaw vein (group 2) in puppies. During spontaneous cardiac activity, the increases in pH (0.12 +/- 0.04 in group 1 vs. 0.08 +/- 0.04 in group 2) and PCO2 (11 +/- 2.8 torr in group 1 vs. 6 +/- 3.2 torr in group 2) in blood from the right atrium 10 sec after the injection of bicarbonate differed significantly. However, the increases in pH (0.31 +/- 0.07 in group 1 vs. 0.30 +/- 0.15 in group 2) and PCO2 (86 +/- 33 torr in group 1 vs. 72 +/- 35 torr in group 2) in blood from the right atrium during closed chest CPR were similar in the two groups. We found that the sodium bicarbonate reached the central circulation more rapidly when administered in the external jugular vein as compared to a peripheral site, but this difference was small and did not reach the level of significance during CPR. Our findings do not provide evidence of any advantage to obtaining central venous access (a potentially complicated procedure) in children with cardiac arrest in regard to the delivery of medications to the heart.

Thirty-five patients with serious infections and impaired renal function were treated empirically with 2 to 8 g of cefoperazone per day. Infections included sepsis in 14, nonbacteremic urinary infections in nine, pneumonia in five, intra-abdominal infection in five, fasciitis in one, and malignant otitis externa in one. The average age of this group was 64.3 years, 25 had ultimately fatal underlying diseases, and their average serum creatinine level was 5.2 mg/dl. Infections were caused by Enterobacteriaceae in 23 patients, Streptococcus faecalis in five, Pseudomonas aeruginosa in four, Staphylococcus aureus in four, Hemophilus influenzae in three, and Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Clostridium sordelli in one each. Overall, 32 patients had clinical and microbiologic cures, two had improvement, and one had failure. Hypoprothrombinemia occurred in 18 of 28 patients not given vitamin K for prophylaxis and occurred more often in those with serum albumin concentrations below 3.5 g/dl. Prothrombin times returned to normal within 36 hours of treatment with vitamin K, although two patients experienced mild hematemesis. In anicteric patients with liver function abnormalities, 2 g every 12 hours produced peak and trough serum concentrations that averaged 254 and 125 micrograms/ml, respectively, compared with 179.5 and 19.5 micrograms/ml, respectively, in five with normal liver function test results. In jaundiced patients treated with 1 g every 12 hours, trough concentrations were comparably elevated. Serum concentrations did not correlate with hypoprothrombinemia, but high levels throughout the dosing interval may have contributed to the excellent cure rate in this study.

A bleeding diathesis characterized by in-vitro platelet dysfunction and prolongation of the template bleeding time (TBT) has been reported in patients receiving latamoxef ('moxalactam'), but not cefotaxime or cefoperazone. Hypoprothrombinaemia has been associated with the use of both latamoxef and cefoperazone in seriously ill and malnourished patients. We administered either latamoxef, cefotaxime or cefoperazone intravenously, at dosages within the range recommended by each manufacturer, to 14 normal volunteers. Latamoxef caused a dose and time dependent defect in platelet function characterized in vitro by abnormalities in aggregation to adenosine diphosphate and in vivo by prolongation of the template bleeding time. In two out of two subjects, a single 4 g dose of latamoxef caused neither prolongation of template bleeding times nor aggregation abnormalities. Two out of two subjects receiving latamoxef 6 g/day for six days had progressive prolongation of bleeding times to 12 and 15 min. Two additional subjects receiving latamoxef 12 g/day for four days had prolongation of template bleeding times to greater than 20 min. Of four subjects receiving cefotaxime 12 g/day for seven days, none had prolongation of template bleeding times or abnormalities in platelet aggregations. Of four subjects receiving cefoperazone 6 g/day, none had significant prolongation of template bleeding times and one had abnormalities in aggregation attributed to inadvertent salicylate ingestion. Prolongation of the prothrombin time or activated partial thromboplastin time did not occur in any of the 14 volunteers. Latamoxef is more likely to interfere with platelet function than either cefotaxime or cefoperazone.