Intususcepción eecocólica e invaginación del ciego en un canino: reporte de caso / Cecocolic intusuusception and invagination of the cecum in a dog: case report

Se expone el caso de un perro mestizo de Fox Terrier que presentaba diarrea sanguinolenta que no mejoró al tratamiento inicial; se detectó a la palpación una masa a nivel del colon, que se confirmó con un estudio radiográfico de tránsito intestinal; también, se diagnosticó un megacolon. Se decidió realizar una laparotomía exploratoria donde se encontró una intususcepción cecocólica y la invaginación del ciego, el procedimiento quirúrgico realizado consistió en hacer tiflectomia y enteroanastomosis término-terminal; luego de este procedimiento, el paciente se recuperó completamente del cuadro intestinal que presentaba.

A case is presented of a mestizo Fox Terrier dog than presented diarrhea with blood and the initial treatment didn't achieved any improve; with palpation it was determinate a mass to the colon, which was confirmed after performing the routine clinical testing and radiographic studies of intestinal transit; also, megacolon is diagnosed. Exploratory laparotomy was performed at it was found cecocolic intussusepction and the cecum invagination, the surgical procedure developed was typhlectomy and of end-to-end intestinal anastomoses; after the procedure, the patient was completely recovered to the intestinal disease.

Residual pulmonary abnormalities in adult patients with chronic paracoccidioidomycosis: prolonged follow-up after itraconazole therapy.

Itraconazole effectively controls active paracoccidioidomycosis but appears not to hinder lung fibrosis. Clinical records and chest radiographs from 47 itraconazole-treated patients with prolonged posttherapy follow-up (mean follow-up period, 5.6 years) were analyzed; the radiographs were interpreted following pneumoconiosis standards that consider the lungs as 6 fields and grade damage according to the number of fields involved. Infiltrative lesions were observed at diagnosis in 93.6% of the patients. Fibrosis was observed in 31.8% of the patients at diagnosis and had not cleared at the end of the observation period in any of these patients. Fibrosis also developed de novo in 11 patients (25%), so that by the end of the follow-up period it was seen in 53.2% of patients overall. Fibrosis correlated with severity of infiltrates at diagnosis: fibrosis was present in 83% of patients with very severe infiltration and in 12.5% of patients with minor infiltration. Among patients with severe infiltration, fibrosis was present in 30%; this increased (to 75%) when bullae were concomitantly present at diagnosis. Prompt initiation of treatment is necessary to avoid the development of fibrosis.

Antigenemia in patients with paracoccidioidomycosis: detection of the 87-kilodalton determinant during and after antifungal therapy.

Serological diagnosis and follow-up of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) patients have relied mainly on the detection of antibody responses by using techniques such as complement fixation (CF) and immunodiffusion. We recently described a novel inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (inh-ELISA) which proved to be useful in the diagnosis of PCM via the detection of an 87-kDa determinant in patient sera (B. L. Gomez, J. I. Figueroa, A. J. Hamilton, B. Ortiz, M. A. Robledo, R. J. Hay, and A. Restrepo, J. Clin. Microbiol. 35:3278-3283, 1997). This test has now been assessed as a means of following up PCM patients. A total of 24 PCM patients, classified according to their clinical presentation (6 with the acute form of the disease, of whom two had AIDS, 12 with the multifocal form of the disease, and 6 with the unifocal form of the disease), were studied. The four human immunodeficiency virus-negative patients with acute PCM showed a statistically significant decrease in circulating antigen levels after the start of antifungal therapy. Antigen levels in this group became negative by our criteria (

Micosis de los senos paranasales: descripción de seis casos / Paranasal sinus mycosis: description of 6 clinical cases

La afeccion micotica de los senos paranasales ha aumentado en los ultimos años, tanto bajo la forma de sinusitis alergica como de tipo invasivo y no invasivo, de tipo colonimnte. Se analizan en forma retrospectiva, seis casos de micosis en senos paranasales; dos de ellos con mucormicosis y los cuatro restantes con aspergillosis. Cinco de los pacientes fueron diagnosticados por examen directo y uno de ellos, por estudio histopatologico. Fue posible aislar el agente etiologico en dos casos, en uno de mucormicosis y en otro de aspergillosis. Los pacientes con mucormicosis presentaban una enfermedad de base y no fue posible salvarlos, a pesar del manejo quirurgico y del tratamiento con anfotericina B. Los cuatro casos de aspergillosis se observaron en pacientes inmunocompetentes; la sintomatologia era similar a una sinusitis cronica, pero en dos de ellos, el TAC mostro calcificaciones que hicieron sospechar la enfermedad. Los cuatro pacientes se recuperaron despues de cirugia endoscopica y de la administracion de itraconazole

Paracoccidioidomycosis and AIDS: report of the first two Colombian cases.

The records of the first two Colombian patients with AIDS and paracoccidioidomycosis are presented. Both patients were males and had no known risk factors for HIV although in the past they had worked in the field where they could have been infected with the fungus. They exhibited the juvenile type of disease with multiple organ system involvement and symptoms of short duration. They were deeply immunodepressed as indicated by less than 100 CD4 T lymphocytes per mL; however, serologic tests revealed circulating anti-Paracoccidioides brasiliensis antibodies and in one patient the first diagnostic clue came from such tests. In one case, the mycosis preceded the AIDS diagnosis while in the other, both pathologies were discovered simultaneously. Antimycotic therapy with itraconazole was administered for over 10 months, with an initial dose of 200 mg/day followed by 100 mg/day; marked improvement of the mycotic signs and symptoms was soon noticed an there have been no signs of relapse. The patients improvement was also due to the combined retroviral treatment that was instituted. In spite of the rarity of the AIDS-paracoccidioidomycosis association, physicians practicing in endemic areas should consider the presence of the mycosis in immunosuppressed patients, since a prompt diagnosis and institution of combined antimycotic-anti-retroviral treatments would result in patient improvement and survival. It appears possible that the longer survival time of today's AIDS patients would give the quiescent fungus the opportunity to revive, multiply and cause overt disease.

[The value of immunological assays in the diagnosis of meningeal histoplasmosis]. / Valor de las pruebas inmunológicas en el diagnóstico de la histoplasmosis meníngea.

INTRODUCTION: Between 1985 and 1995, 3,860 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with mycotic meningitis were analyzed. METHODS: Direct examination, cultures, complement fixation (CF) and immunodiffusion (ID) with Histoplasma capsulatum were carried out. RESULTS: Seventy four samples from 31 patients (three of them with AIDS) were reactive at the immunological assays. Cultures were positive in five patients. In 26 patients the clinical diagnosis together with positive CSF assays gave indirect evidence of meningeal histoplasmosis. ID and CF reactivity were 93.5% and 100% respectively. For 23 patients who had simultaneous examination of blood and CSF the double positivity was 78.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the direct isolation of Histoplasma capsulatum is a difficult one, the diagnosis of subacute or chronic meningeal histoplasmosis may be confirmed by indirect immunological assays.

Disseminated histoplasmosis in children: the role of itraconazole therapy.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical characteristics and laboratory diagnosis of seven children with disseminated histoplasmosis and evaluate the effectiveness of itraconazole therapy in this severe form of the mycosis as well as to determine the long term results of such treatment. METHODS: The diagnosis of histoplasmosis was based on the direct observation of Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum and/or on the isolation of the fungus from pathologic materials; the results of the serologic tests were taken into consideration. Chest roentgenograms also contributed to the diagnosis. PATIENTS: The patients were seven rural children, five girls and two boys, ages 1 to 14 years (mean, 4.6), with a confirmed diagnosis of disseminated histoplasmosis and who had no underlying disease other than malnourishment. RESULTS: The seven children experienced a subacute febrile syndrome for 4 months accompanied by anorexia, weight loss and signs of reticuloendothelial involvement such as lymph node hypertrophy, hepatomegaly and/or splenomegaly. The lung revealed roentgenographic alterations consisting mainly of nodular infiltrates. All patients received itraconazole orally in a mean dosage of 7.2 mg/kg/day, for variable periods (3 to 12 months), depending on the individual response and the toxic effects of the medication. One of the patients who was improving after 1 month of treatment was taken from the hospital by his guardian against medical advice and died shortly afterward. The remaining six patients responded to the treatment with marked clinical improvement and showed negative cultures and decreases in anti-H. capsulatum antibody titers after 3 months of treatment. Only one patient, the youngest and most severely affected child, exhibited hepatotoxicity, which subsided when itraconazole was discontinued. Extended follow-up studies revealed no relapses. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that itraconazole is effective for treatment of disseminated childhood histoplasmosis. More studies should be performed to determine the most appropriate dosage and the optimal duration of itraconazole treatment in children.