Chloroprocaine for spinal anesthesia: a retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recent volunteer and clinical studies of chloroprocaine (CP) have evaluated its use for outpatient spinal anesthesia. This retrospective review describes the discharge characteristics and reported side effects of spinal CP in a large number of patients undergoing outpatient procedures. METHODS: All patients who received spinal anesthesia for ambulatory procedures over a 20-month period were accessed using computer-generated reports. Charts from 601 anesthetics were analyzed for spinal drug used, block characteristics, side effects and discharge data. RESULTS: CP was the most frequently used spinal anesthetic (84% of cases, n=503) for outpatient procedures. CP (median dose 40 mg, range 20-60 mg) times from injection to ambulation and discharge were 107±24 and 171±45 min, respectively. Lidocaine (median dose 60 mg, range 30-100 mg, n=84) times from injection to ambulation and discharge were 155±40 and 224±57 min, respectively (P<0.05). The incidence of urinary retention, the most common side effect, was similar in both groups. There were no reports of transient neurologic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: For ambulatory patients at our institution, the time to achievement of discharge criteria was significantly reduced with CP 40 vs. lidocaine 60 mg. There have been no reports of perioperative neurologic injury with the introduction of CP as a spinal anesthetic at our institution.

Bioaccumulation of mercury in various fish species from Orlík and Kamýk water reservoirs in the Czech Republic.

The study evaluated contamination of fish by mercury in two important Czech water reservoirs, Orlík and Kamýk, which receive water from the whole watershed of Otava and Vltava rivers. Contamination of these reservoirs reflects the situation in southern and western Bohemia. Six environmentally representative sites were sampled in the area of interest and the evaluation was based on regression models relating Hg concentrations in fish tissues to the age of fish. A total number of 170 analyzed individuals from 3 indicative species (Rutilus rutilus, Abramis brama, and Perca fluviatilis) allowed site-specific analyses of model residuals. The results of biological monitoring corresponded to the sediment analyses and suggested that Orlík reservoir receives a substantial part of the pollution from the Vltava river. Temporary oxygen deficiency and decreased value of pH were probably the key factors responsible for the increased exposure of fish to Hg in the Kamýk reservoir. An additional comparison of 286 analyzed individuals belonging to 11 fish species provided the following decreasing order for muscle contamination: typical predators

Effect of the new fluorescent brightener Rylux BSU on morphology and biosynthesis of cell walls in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Rylux BSU, a new fluorescent brightener from the family of 4,4'-diaminostilbene-2,2'disulfonic acid derivatives, inhibited growth and cytokinesis of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the presence of 0.1-1 mg/ml Rylux BSU the cells grew in clumps, had irregular shape and were larger than controls. They formed apparently normal primary septa but their secondary septa and lateral cell walls, especially those in older cells, were abnormally thick with large deposits of amorphous wall material in the periplasmic spaces all over the cell surface. Chitin content in the cell walls of cells grown in the presence of Rylux BSU was increased 2 to 5 times in comparison to that of the controls and glucan content was reduced by up to 30%. In the in vitro assays with particulate membrane fractions, Rylux BSU acted as a non-competitive inhibitor of beta-1,3-glucan synthase with inhibitory constant Ki = 1.75 mg/ml whereas the chitin synthase was inhibited to a much lesser extent. From the difference of the effects of Rylux BSU on the synthesis of chitin in vivo and in vitro it is concluded that the brightener interacts with chitin synthase only indirectly, possibly by influencing the properties of integral plasma membrane.

The fluorescence brightener Rylux BSU induces dimorphism in Basidiobolus ranarum.

The fluorescence brightener Rylux BSU (RBSU) showed an affinity for polysaccharide components of cell walls and accumulated in the extension zones of hyphal apices in Basidiobolus ranarum. It inhibited the polarized growth of mycelial hyphae and induced isotropic growth resulting in spherical thick-walled cells up to 456 microm in diameter. On the inner cell wall surface, massive protuberances were formed. The cell wall and protuberances were positive in PAS and the Grocott method and stained with fluorochromes Blankophor BA, Calcofluor, Uvitex 2B, Rylux BSU and FITC-labeled WGA- and ConA-lectins. The WGA-FITC fluorescence intensity of the wall's outermost layer, if not connected with neighbouring cells, and the fluorescence intensity of the innermost layer and of some protuberances mainly in their apical parts were on the average twice higher than the fluorescence intensity of the remaining wall material. RBSU binding to the cell wall material was stable. The process of converting from polarized to isotropic growth was reversible, depending upon contact with RBSU-containing medium. Repeated transfers of cells from RBSU-containing medium to an RBSU-free medium resulted in the development of apical swollen dumbbell-shaped cells.

Genetics of dermatophytes.

By the end of 60s a team of scientists has started at Medical Faculty of Olomouc the research of micromycetes pathogenic for both the humans and animals. In this study, the appropriate results are summarized as concerned with the genetics of dermatophytes. Among these results, those significant in deeper assessing the biology of dermatophytes and etiopathogenesis of dermatophytoses have been selected. In our opinion, they may be of interest for the successors in the direction mentioned. Here are also formulated certain open problems and the applicative outputs are traced, for example, those concerning with vaccines. The approaches used, even unusual in the medical mycology from a traditional scope, are believed to prove the convenience of genetic methods when researching mycopathogens. We regret to miss at the edition of this publication the late founder of the team, RNDr. Nora Hejtmánková, CSc. which had the greatest contribution to the Chapters on the karyology and variability of dermatophytes as well as to the hybridization analysis of Trichophyton mentagrophytes complex.

Staining of fungal cell walls with fluorescent brighteners: flow-cytometric analysis.

Spore walls of Backusella lamprospora (Mucorales) were stained with ten fluorescent brighteners (FB) and the intensity of their fluorescence was determined. The fluorescence was most intense with Uvitex 2B (100%), other brighteners yielding lower fluorescence intensities: Blankophor BA 267% and BA 200% about 75%, Rylux BSU about 50%, other Rylux agents 10-30%. The agents most suitable for microscopic diagnostics of human and animal mycoses are Uvitex 2B, Blankophor BA 267% and BA 200%, Rylux BSU, and also Rylux BS and PRS. The regulation of excessive fluorescence of fungal cells during microscopic observation is discussed. For the purposes of microscopic diagnosis of human and animal mycosis Uvitex 2B, Blankophor BA 267% and BA 200%, Rylux BSU and, possibly, Rylux BS and PRS are recommended.

[Fluorescence microscopy detection of mycopathogens using Rylux BSU]. / Fluorescencne mikroskopický prukaz mykopatogenu Ryluxem BSU.

Rylux BSU (Synthesia, Pardubice--Semtín), a derivative of diaminostilbendisulphonic acid, has a good affinity to chitin of fungal cell walls as well as to cellulose of algae. A histologic method using this compound for detection of fungi in dermatology is presented accompanied with results of a quick diagnostic procedure. Pathogenic fungi were stained with a 2 per cent solution of Rylux BSU in phosphate buffer (pH 7.3) or in a 2 per cent aqueous solution of NaOH with an admixture of 10 per cent dimethylsulphoxide. A yellow green fluorescence of the cell walls of fungi (tested on 52 species) and algae (2 species) was evoked by incident blue light (max. filter transmission for 405 nm) combined with a barrier filter (max. 578 nm). Fluorescence was not fading and remained stable in Canada balsam. Moreover, the method could be applied on sections previously stained (HE, Weigert, Giemsa, KOH-preparations) because of more information offered by a combined procedure.

[Quantitative determination of yeast in sputum--a direct microscopy method]. / Kvantitativní stanovení kvasinek ve sputu--prímá mikroskopická metoda.

The authors describes a fluorescence microscopic method using fluorochrome Blankophor (Bayer) which binds to chitin of the cell walls of yeasts and filamentous fungi. The authors processed, using this method, 50 specimens of sputum and compared the results with those of cultivation examinations. In five instances, where cultivation was negative by the microscopic method large numbers of fungi were detected. The method is suitable for quantitative assessment of yeasts and other fungi in sputum and other clinical specimens (urine, irrigation of cavities etc.). The author discusses the interpretation of microscopic findings.

Teleomorphs and mating types in Trichophyton mentagrophytes complex.

In the set of 132 strains of Trichophyton mentagrophytes isolated from humans (129 strains) and animals (3 strains) with dermatophytosis in Czechoslovakia, 41 strains were classified as Arthroderma benhamiae. Out of them, 40 strains were of mating type + and one strain of type -. Ten strains were A. vanbreuseghemii, including 3 strains of mating type + and 7 strains of type -. Other strains studied did not form any fertile cleistothecia during crossing. Some strains of A. benhamiae developed defective cleistothecia with rare asci or without ascospores. From conidia of two strains (T. mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes and T.m. var. quinckeanum) two morphological variants (granular and fluffy) were cultivated. Both variants were A. benhamiae type + and pathogenic. The determination of mating types using the test of sexual stimulation with Arthroderma simii and hybridization test with the reference strains of A. benhamiae and A. vanbreuseghemii gave identical results. No relationships between the variety of anamorphous state (T. mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes, var. granulosum, var. interdigitale, var. quinckeanum), teleomorph, mating type, localization of dermatophytosis, and pathogenicity for guinea pig were found. The reasons for unequal distribution of mating types in clinical isolates of various dermatophytes are discussed.

Hybridization and sexual stimulation in Trichophyton mentagrophytes.

Mating and sexual stimulation tests applied to 132 strains of this dermatophyte isolated in Czechoslovakia revealed among them strains of Arthroderma benhamiae (40 strains of the + mating type, one of the - mating type) and A. vanbreuseghemii (three strains of the + type, seven of the - type). No dependence was found concerning the anamorphic variety (T. mentagrophytes var. granulosum, var. interdigitale, var. mentagrophytes, var. quinckeanum), teleomorphic species, mating type and the clinical localization of dermatophytosis. Plausible reasons of different frequencies of the mating types are discussed.