Primary Staphylococcus aureus urinary tract infection: the role of undetected hematogenous seeding of the urinary tract.

Staphylococcus aureus (SA) bacteriuria may accompany SA bacteremia, but primary SA urinary tract infection (UTI) may also occur. Our clinical observation of SA UTIs following intravenous catheter-related phlebitis lead us to review hematogenous and ascending route-related risk factors in patients with primary SA UTIs. The charts from all patients with SA UTIs over a 1.5-year period were reviewed for concurrent or recent hospitalization, intravenous catheterization, and for known UTI risk factors. Patients with concurrent SA bacteremia were excluded. Patients with Escherichia coli UTIs during the same period were included as controls. Twenty cases of primary SA UTI were compared with 43 E. coli UTI cases and they did not differ in age, diabetes mellitus, prostatic hypertrophy, previous UTI, or other urinary tract (UT) abnormality. However, cases were more likely than controls to have had recent or concurrent hospitalization, UT catheterization, and history of recent phlebitis. In multivariate analysis, UT catheterization and recent hospitalization retained significant association with SA UTI. Similar results were shown for the methicillin-resistant SA UTI subgroup. Even though UT catheterization is the main predisposing factor for primary SA UTI, some cases may be mediated through unrecognized preceding bacteremia related to intravascular device exposure or other healthcare-related factors.

Long-term intermittent dobutamine infusion combined with oral amiodarone improves the survival of patients with severe congestive heart failure.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of long-term intermittent dobutamine infusion (IDI) with concomitant administration of low-dose amiodarone in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) refractory to standard medical treatment. DESIGN: Prospective, interventional clinical trial. SETTING: Inpatient and outpatient heart failure clinic in a university teaching hospital. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS: Twenty-two patients with CHF refractory to standard treatment who could be weaned from dobutamine therapy after an initial 72-h infusion were included in this study. The first 11 patients (group 1) were treated with IDI, 10 micromin, as needed (mean, once every 16 days, lasting for 12 to 48 h); the next 11 patients (group 2) received oral amiodarone, 400 mg/d, and IDI, 10 microg/kg/min, for 8 h every 7 days. MEASUREMENT AND RESULTS: There were no differences in baseline clinical, hemodynamic, and five biochemical characteristics between the two groups. The left ventricular ejection fraction was 13.5 +/- 4.5% in group 1 vs 15.5 +/- 4.9% in group 2 (mean +/- SD; p = 0.451); mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure was 31.3 +/- 4.4 mm Hg vs 29.4 +/- 3.3 mm Hg (p = 0.316); serum creatinine was 1.9 +/- 0.4 mg/dL vs 1.6 +/- 0.5 mg/dL (p = 0.19); and serum Na was 139.6 +/- 6.2 mEq/L vs 138.4 +/- 3.1 mEq/L (p = 0.569). At 12 months of follow-up, 1 of 11 patients (9%) was alive in group 1 vs 6 of 11 patients (55%) in group 2 (p = 0.011). Furthermore, in group 2, the functional status improved significantly within the first 3 months of treatment, from New York Heart Association functional class IV to 2.63 +/- 0.5 (p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Long-term IDI in conjunction with amiodarone, added to conventional drugs, improved clinical status and survival of patients with severe CHF.

Relation of dispersion of QRS and QT in patients with advanced congestive heart failure to cardiac and sudden death mortality.

This study examined the usefulness of 01 and QRS dispersion in the prognosis of patients with advanced congestive heart failure (CHF). One hundred four patients in New York Heart Association functional classes II to IV, with a left ventricular ejection fraction of <35%, and untreated with antiarrhythmic drugs, were followed prospectively. QRS and QT dispersion were defined as the maximum difference in QRS and QT interval duration, respectively, measured on all leads of standard 12-lead electrocardiograms. The end points of the study were non-sudden and sudden cardiac mortality. During an average follow-up of 20 months, there were 13 non-sudden and 10 sudden deaths. The average QRS duration was significantly longer in nonsurvivors than in survivors (125 ¿ 34 vs 113 ¿ 34 ms, respectively, p <0.04). Similar results were obtained with 01 dispersion (95 ¿ 48 ms vs 78 ¿ 31 ms, respectively, p <0.03) and QRS dispersion (54 ¿ 17 ms vs 46 16 ms, respectively, p <0.02). Furthermore, patients who died suddenly had significantly greater QRS dispersion than patients who survived (56 ¿ 13 vs 46 ¿ 16 ms, respectively, p <0.02). In a multivariate analysis, QT and QRS dispersion were both independent predictors of non-sudden cardiac death (p = 0.01 and p = 0.001, respectively), and QRS dispersion was also an independent predictor of sudden cardiac death (p = 0.04). Death rate in patients with 01 dispersion >90 ms was 2.8-fold higher than those with 01 dispersion 90 ms (95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.2 to 6.4). Similarly, the death rate in patients with QRS dispersion >46 ms was 3.9-fold higher than in those with QRS dispersion 46 ms (95% Cl 1.6 to 9.5). These findings suggest that QT and QRS dispersion are useful predictors of mortality in patients with advanced CHF. ¿2000 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.