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Introduction: The stage of a malignant tumor defines how advanced the malignant process is at the time of diagnosis. In many clinical scenarios it is an indirect measurement of the efficacy of screening interventions used for early detection. We have evaluated changes in the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage of colorectal cancer across a 15-year period.Methods: This was a retrospective study in which all patients who underwent colorectal cancer surgery at the HIMA San Pablo Medical Center in 1988-1990 (period 1) and 2002-2004 (period 2) had their pathological report examined. The TNM stage for all patients was examined by using standard criteria.Results: A total of 285 patients were evaluated: 108 in period 1 and 177 in period 2. The number of patients > 71 years of age who underwent colon surgery increased (33% vs 46%). An increase in patients with stage one colon cancer was observed in period 2 (30% vs 10%) with a corresponding decrease in stage 2 and 3 (59% vs 83%).Conclusion: The pathologic and demographic profile of patients with colorectal cancer has changed over 15 years. Patients with colon cancer are younger and have an earlier stage of disease with a decrease in lymph node involvement. Patients with rectal cancer were older and more likely to be men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Antimicrobial resistant extended-spectrum-β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE) have been shown to be present in healthy communities. This study examined healthy children from the rural Andean village of Llano del Hato, Mérida, Venezuela, who have had little or no antibiotic exposure to determine the prevalence of fecal carriage of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC)., Methods: A total of 78 fecal samples were collected in healthy children aged from 1 to 5 years. ESBL-EC were selected in MacConkey agar plates with cefotaxime and further confirmed by the VITEK 2 system. ESBL were phenotypically detected and presence of bla genes and their variants were confirmed by molecular assays. Determination of phylogenetic groups was performed by PCR amplification. Risk factors associated with fecal carriage of ESBL-EC-positive isolates were analyzed using standard statistical methods., Results: Of the 78 children studied, 27 (34.6%) carried ESBL-EC. All strains harbored the bla CTX-M-15 allele. Of these, 8 were co-producers of bla TEM-1 , bla TEM-5 , bla SHV-5 or bla SHV-12 . Co-resistance to aminoglycosides and/or fluoroquinolones was observed in 9 strains. 51.9% of ESBL-EC isolates were classified within phylogroup A. A significant, positive correlation was found between age (≥2.5 - ≤5 years), food consumption patterns and ESBL-EC fecal carriage., Conclusion: This is the first study describing the high prevalence of fecal carriage of ESBL-EC expressing CTX-M-15- among very young, healthy children from a rural Andean village in Venezuela with scarce antibiotic exposure, underlining the importance of this population as a reservoir., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Objectives: To determine the clinical and microbiological characteristics of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CA-UTI) in patients admitted to the Internal Medicine services of the Hospital Universitario de Los Andes (HULA), Mérida, Venezuela and to establish the clonal distribution of multi-resistant Enterobacteriaceae that produce this infection., Materials and Methods: Seventy-three adult patients with bladder catheterization were studied between January and July 2015. The microbiological processing of the urine samples was performed using conventional and automatized methods. Extended- spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase were detected phenotypically. Clonal classification was determined using repetitive element sequence-based PCR., Results: A total of 53.4% of the patients were male, and the average age was 50.6 years. The average time the catheter remained in the patient was 10.9 ± 6.5 days and 54.8% of patients had positive urine cultures. Yeasts were the main etiological agent (44.7%), followed by enterobacteria (29.8%). Enterobacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii produced ESBL and carbapenemase associated with other resistance markers. Two clonal groups were identified in multi-resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains that circulated in the shock trauma unit in the adult emergency department., Conclusions: The findings in this study show the need to adopt strict criteria justifying the use of bladder catheterization and its duration, as well as the implementation of programs to prevent and control the spread of multi-resistant bacterial clones in patients with CA-UTI in the HULA Internal Medicine department.

Enterobacter spp. have emerged as an important group of pathogens linked to outbreaks in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), usually involving strains expressing extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs). The aim of this study was to describe the first nosocomial bloodstream infection outbreak caused by Enterobacter ludwigii co-harbouring CTX-M-8, SHV-12 and TEM-15 in a NICU in a Venezuelan hospital. Initial bacterial identification was achieved by VITEK ® 2 system and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (VITEK ® MS) and was subsequently confirmed by nucleotide sequencing of the 16S rDNA gene and hsp60 genotyping. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was determined by AST-GN-299 VITEK ® 2 system cards and Etest strips. Isolates were typed by repetitive element sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR). Detection of bla ESBL genes was carried out by molecular methods. Plasmid analysis included Southern blot and restriction pattern analysis, with transferability of resistance genes being assessed by conjugation. ESBL-producing E. ludwigii isolates were recovered from three neonates with bloodstream infection from the NICU in a 21-day period. rep-PCR fingerprints were indistinguishable among all of the isolates, strongly suggesting spread of a clonal strain. All isolates carried an ca. 56kb conjugative plasmid harbouring the bla CTX-M-8 , bla SHV-12 and bla TEM-15 genes. Considering that isolation of ESBL-producing E. ludwigii remains an unusual phenomenon, not previously reported in Venezuela, the results of this study reveal the potential role of E. ludwigii as an emerging pathogen and highlight the importance of microbiological surveillance and judicious antibiotic use as measures to curb the emergence and spread of ESBL-producing bacteria., (Copyright © 2016 International Society for Chemotherapy of Infection and Cancer. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

During the last decade, carbapenem resistance has emerged among clinical isolates of the Enterobacteriaceae family. This has been increasingly attributed to the production of β-lactamases capable of hydrolyzing carbapenems. Among these enzymes, Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemases (KPCs) are the most frequently and clinically significant class-A carbapenemases. In this report, we describe the first nosocomial KPC-2-producing K. oxytoca isolated from a pediatric patient with pneumonia admitted to the intensive care unit at The Andes University Hospital, Mérida, Venezuela. This strain was resistant to several antibiotics including imipenem, ertapenem, and meropenem but remained susceptible to ciprofloxacin, colistin, and tigecycline. Conjugation assays demonstrated the transferability of all resistance determinants, except aminoglycosides. The isolate LMM-SA26 carried a ~21 kb conjugative plasmid that harbored the bla KPC-2, bla CTX-M-8, and bla TEM-15 genes. Although carbapenem resistance in the Enterobacteriaceae is still unusual in Venezuela, KPCs have a great potential to spread due to their localization on mobile genetic elements. Therefore, rapid detection of KPC-carrying bacteria with phenotypic and confirmatory molecular tests is essential to establish therapeutic options and effective control measures.

Introduction: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IICH) typically presents in young women with obesity or a recent weight increase. The differential diagnosis of IICH includes thrombosis of the cerebral venous sinuses (TCVS), which can also present as an isolated intracranial hypertension syndrome. We review the frequency with which patients with a typical IICH profile presented TCVS as their diagnosis., Patients and Methods: The study consisted in a retrospective review of all the admissions due to intracranial hypertension syndromes in our centre between 2000 and 2011. The cases selected were those with a normal cerebrospinal fluid study and computerised axial tomography scan of the head that presented as an isolated intracranial hypertension syndrome; those who manifested a focal neurological picture, however, were excluded. From the patients that were included, a subgroup made up of females between 16 and 35 years of age with a body mass index of above 25 were selected., Results: A total of 37 cases were obtained. Of these, 35 (94.6%) were cases of IICH and two (5.4%) were TCVS. The time elapsed between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis was less than seven days in both cases of TCVS (100%) and in two cases (5.4%) of IICH., Conclusions: Up to 5.4% of patients with a typical IICH profile that present with an intracranial hypertension syndrome can present TCVS. The presence of prothrombotic factors and a high D-dimer can suggest this possibility, although there is still a need for well-established parameters that allow decisions to be made in emergencies in the absence of any chance of performing an urgent MR phlebography scan.

The binding constants of the interaction between plasminogen and Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes were determined. An indirect method in which the bound plasminogen is detached from the cell by epsilon-aminocaproic acid and a direct method through biotinylated plasminogen were used. The analyses revealed a dissociation constant (Kd) from 0.4 to 1.2microM, these values being compatible with recognition in vivo. Moreover, epimastigotes from the gut of Rhodnius prolixus were able to bind plasminogen from the blood meal. Fragments derived from elastase digestion of plasminogen were tested for their ability to bind T. cruzi cells. The fragment with highest ability to interact with the parasite was miniplasminogen that bound in a concentration-dependent and saturable manner with a Kd similar to that for plasminogen. This binding was inhibited by epsilon-aminocaproic acid indicating that the lysine-binding site of kringle 5 may be responsible for the interaction of plasminogen with T. cruzi.

The LD50 of strains of L. interrogans used in the potency assay of the Cuban trivalent leptospiral vaccine intended for human use was standardized. The control of the leptospires content of the cultures by means of the adjusting dilution (10 to 12 leptospires per field) was introduced. That was the key of the standardization of the assay, since it guaranteed the reproducibility of the estimate of the LD50 value for each serogroup: 10(5.98) for canicola, 10(5.60) for icterohaemorrhagiae and 10(6.60) for pomona, with the following limits for an interval of 1 log10: 10(4.98)-10(6.98), 10(4.60)-10(6.60) and 10(5.49)-10(7.49), respectively; whereas for a 95% (+/- 2 SD) confidence interval the values were: 10(5.54)-10(6.19); 10(5.33)-10(5.75) and 10(6.35)-10(6.60), respectively. These values were lower than the previous ones, which means ever more reproducibility. The methodology described proved to be satisfactory for the standardization of the LD50 of the challenge strains and it could also be used for evaluating the virulence of other strains of L. interrogans, including those used for the vaccine production.