Parenterally administered gastrointestinal nematode infective larvae viable after more than 15 years in liquid nitrogen.

After cryopreservation for 13.3-15.8 years, the viability of the infective larvae (L3) of Trichostrongylus axei, T. colubriformis, Oesophagostomum columbianum, Haemonchus contortus, Ostertagia circumcincta, T. falculatus, Nematodirus spathiger, Chabertia ovina and Dictyocaulus filaria was assessed in sheep, by being deposited at their predilection sites. D. filaria was, however, an exception, in that the L3 were injected into the jugular vein. The mean development of all the species was 22.8%, but if three species (O. columbianum, C. ovina and D. filaria), that developed poorly are disregarded, then the mean development was 33.4%, similar to previous tests after shorter periods of cryopreservation. The L3 of some of the species appeared sluggish when examined 10-15 min after being thawed, and in the case of H. contortus practically all the larvae of the original batch tested in the previous trials of the series appeared dead when thawed for use in the present trial, and were replaced by another batch of L3 of the same species. When re-examined after about 8 h, however, a high percentage of the L3 of the original batch appeared to have become revitalised, and their viability was tested in a trial reported elsewhere. The intestinal cells of the majority of the L3 of N. spathiger, O. circumcincta and C. ovina were vesiculated when they were thawed. Nevertheless, the degree of development of the former two species was of the highest in the trial, and it can be concluded that this phenomenon does not necessarily impede the viability of larvae.

Methicillin resistance and beta-lactamase production in Staphylococcus aureus.

Staphylococcus aureus isolates were either sensitive, resistant or partially resistant (minimum inhibitory concentration 90 of 4 micrograms/ml) to methicillin. Low-level methicillin resistance was shown to be due to beta-lactamase production. The clinical significance of this beta-lactamase-mediated resistance is still unclear, so it is recommended that these strains should, at present, be regarded as methicillin-resistant.

Granulocytic sarcoma of the kidney in a patient with acute myelomonocytic leukaemia. A case report.

A 26-year-old man with acute myelomonocytic leukaemia had been in remission for 16 months when he developed a painful swelling of the right testis. Intravenous pyelography showed a non-functioning right kidney. Surgical exploration revealed a granulocytic sarcoma of the right kidney and a right nephrectomy was performed. The patient refused further treatment and relapsed 3 months after the nephrectomy. Autopsy revealed a large greyish-white tumour mass occupying the pelvis and retroperitoneal tissue. Special techniques with immunoperoxidase and naphthol-ASD chloro-acetate esterase staining confirmed the histological diagnosis of granulocytic sarcoma. The literature is reviewed and the rarity of this case is discussed.