Interference Rendering Capillary Electrophoresis of Serum Proteins Uninterpretable.

BACKGROUND: The authors report a clinical case where biological interference rendered the electrophoretic trace of serum proteins obtained by capillary electrophoresis as uninterpretable. METHODS: Electrophoresis of serum proteins and immunotyping immunoassay were performed on Capillary 2 Flex Piercing® Sebia. RESULTS: A 72-year-old male patient was hospitalized in the clinical hematology department for deep lymphadenopathies with hepatocellular failure. The biological assessment revealed chronic renal failure stage G3b, icteric cholestasis with alkaline phosphatase levels, and hepatic cytolysis. Electrophoresis of serum proteins showed a thickening at the base of albumin peak on its anodic slope but, in particular, it revealed the appearance of a super-numerary split peak between albumin and α1 globulins. These peaks made it impossible to identify and integrate peaks. Based on the clinical information, immunotyping immunoassay was performed on the same sample. The comparison of the different curves with the reference curve does not show any monoclonal immunoglobulinopathy but eliminates all the supernumerary peaks. Suspecting an interference, a Hydrasys 2 Scan® agarose gel electrophoresis (Sebia) was run on the same sample; however, it did not show qualitative anomalies interfering with identification and integration of all the peaks. CONCLUSIONS: Our clinical case emphasizes the importance of the knowledge of certain endogenous interferences that may be the origin of unusual images when interpreting electrophoretic profiles, especially in capillary electrophoresis.

Unexpected discovery of hemoglobinopathy C/ß° thalassemia.

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the current method of choice for the detection of hemoglobinopathies and the quantification of A2 and fetal hemoglobin. We are describing a case where a double heterozygosity C/beta-thalassemia was fortuitously identified, during assaying HBA1c, by HPLC.

Rare and unusual case of anti-factor XI antibodies in patient with plasma cell leukemia.

BACKGROUND: The acquired inhibitors of coagulation have been observed in very rare cases of monoclonal gammopathies. We report a very rare case of anti-factor XI antibodies in patient with plasma cell leukemia (PCL). CASE PRESENTATION: This is a 59-year-old male patient without pathological history, admitted to the nephrology department for management of renal insufficiency and anemia syndrome. The history and physical examination revealed stigmata of hemorrhagic syndrome including hemothorax and hemoptysis. The hemostasis assessment showed an isolated prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) with APTT ratio = 2.0.The index of circulating anticoagulant (37.2%) revealed the presence of circulating anticoagulants. The normalized dilute Russell viper venom time ratio of 0.99 has highlighted the absence of lupus anticoagulants. The coagulation factors assay objectified the decrease of the factor XI activity corrected by the addition of the control plasma confirming the presence of anti-factor XI autoantibodies. In addition, the blood count showed bicytopenia with non-regenerative normocytic normochromic anemia and thrombocytopenia. The blood smear demonstrated a plasma cell count of 49% (2842/mm3) evoking PCL. The bone marrow was invaded up to 90% by dystrophic plasma cells. The biochemical assessment suggested downstream renal and electrolyte disturbances from exuberant light chain production with abnormalities including hyperuricemia, hypercalcemia, elevated lactate dehydrogenase, non nephrotic-range proteinuria and high level of C reactive protein. The serum protein electrophoresis showed the presence of a monoclonal peak. The serum immunofixation test detects the presence of monoclonal free lambda light chains. He was treated with velcade, thalidomide and dexamethasone. The patient died after 2 weeks despite treatment. CONCLUSION: Both PCL and anti-factor XI inhibitors are two very rare entities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a factor XI inhibitor arising in the setting of PCL. Factor inhibitors should be suspected in patients whose monoclonal gammopathies are accompanied by bleeding manifestations.

Unexpected discovery of multiple myeloma following cardiomyopathy.

We report the case of multiple myeloma of unexpected discovery in an old patient admitted to the emergency department of cardiomyopathy. This observation emphasizes the need for exploring any anemia before linking it to heart failure or kidney disease. Serum protein electrophoresis remains crucial especially in the elderly patients.

A clinical picture of pulmonary embolism revealing light-chain myeloma.

We are highlighting on the particularity of a clinical picture of pulmonary embolism revealing light-chain myeloma in a 56-year-old male patient. Myeloma remains a rare affection. Even though its revelation through pulmonary embolism remains rare, it can be explained by hyperviscosity syndrome accompanying it.

Intensive care unit-acquired Acinetobacter baumannii infections in a Moroccan teaching hospital: epidemiology, risk factors and outcome.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to examine the epidemiology, risk factors and outcome associated with Acinetobacter baumannii infections in the intensive care units (ICUs) in a Moroccan teaching hospital. METHODS: This is a matched case-control study conducted as a joint collaboration between the clinical Bacteriology department and the two ICUs of Mohammed V Military Teaching Hospital from January 2015 to July 2016. RESULTS: Among 964 patients hospitalized in the ICUs, 81 (8.4%) developed A. baumannii infections. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified the following independent risk factors for ICU-acquired A. baumannii infections: ICU stay ≥14 days (odds ratio (OR)=6.4), prior use of central venous catheters (OR=18), prior use of mechanical ventilation (OR=9.5), duration of invasive procedures ≥7 days (OR=7.8), previous exposure to imipenem (OR=9.1), previous exposure to amikacin (OR=5.2), previous exposure to antibiotic polytherapy (OR=11.8) and previous exposure to corticotherapy (OR=5). On the other hand, the admission for post-operative care was identified as a protective factor. The crude mortality in patients with A. baumannii infection was 74.1%. Multivariate analysis showed that septic shock (OR=19.2) and older age (≥65 years) (OR=4.9) were significantly associated to mortality risk in patients with A. baumannii infection. CONCLUSION: Our results show that shortening the ICU stay, rational use of medical devices and optimizing antimicrobial therapy could reduce the incidence of these infections. Elderly patients and those with septic shock have a poor prognosis. These findings highlight the need for focusing on the high-risk patients to prevent these infections and improve clinical outcome.

Clonal diversity and detection of carbapenem resistance encoding genes among multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates recovered from patients and environment in two intensive care units in a Moroccan hospital.

BACKGROUND: Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii has recently been defined by the World Health Organization as a critical pathogen. The aim of this study was to compare clonal diversity and carbapenemase-encoding genes of A. baumannii isolates collected from colonized or infected patients and hospital environment in two intensive care units (ICUs) in Morocco. METHODS: The patient and environmental sampling was carried out in the medical and surgical ICUs of Mohammed V Military teaching hospital from March to August 2015. All A. baumannii isolates recovered from clinical and environmental samples, were identified using routine microbiological techniques and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using disc diffusion method. The carbapenemase-encoding genes were screened for by PCR. Clonal relatedness was analyzed by digestion of the DNA with low frequency restriction enzymes and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and the multi locus sequence typing (MLST) was performed on two selected isolates from two major pulsotypes. RESULTS: A total of 83 multidrug-resistant A. baumannii isolates were collected: 47 clinical isolates and 36 environmental isolates. All isolates were positive for the blaOXA51-like and blaOXA23-like genes. The coexistence of blaNDM-1/blaOXA-23-like and blaOXA 24-like/blaOXA-23-like were detected in 27 (32.5%) and 2 (2.4%) of A. baumannii isolates, respectively. The environmental samples and the fecally-colonized patients were significantly identified (p < 0.05) as the most common sites of isolation of NDM-1-harboring isolates. PFGE grouped all isolates into 9 distinct clusters with two major groups (0007 and 0008) containing up to 59% of the isolates. The pulsotype 0008 corresponds to sequence type (ST) 195 while pulsotype 0007 corresponds to ST 1089.The genetic similarity between the clinical and environmental isolates was observed in 80/83 = 96.4% of all isolates, belonging to 7 pulsotypes. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the clonal spread of environmental A. baumannii isolates is related to that of clinical isolates recovered from colonized or infected patients, being both associated with a high prevalence of the blaOXA23-like and blaNDM-1 genes. These findings emphasize the need for prioritizing the bio-cleaning of the hospital environment to control and prevent the dissemination of A. baumannii clonal lineages.

First Whole-Genome Sequences of Two Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Strains Isolated from a Moroccan Hospital Floor.

This report describes the whole-genome shotgun sequences of two multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains, ABE8_07 and ABE12_M, isolated from a Moroccan hospital floor. These two genome sequences will initiate the study and characterization of the Acinetobacter baumannii genome in Morocco.

In vitro evaluation of the susceptibility of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates to antiseptics and disinfectants: comparison between clinical and environmental isolates.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to assess the susceptibility of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates to the antiseptics and disinfectants commonly used, and to the non-approved product. METHODS: This is a prospective study carried out from February to August 2015, in the Bacteriology department of Mohammed V Military Teaching hospital of Rabat on A.baumannii isolates collected from colonized and/or infected patients and environmental samples. The antiseptics and disinfectants susceptibility testing was assessed using the micromethod validated in our department. The antiseptics and disinfectants studied were: 70% ethyl alcohol, chlorhexidine, povidone-iodine, didecyldimethylammonium chloride and a commercial product which was presented as a hospital disinfectant (non-registered product). RESULTS: Povidone-iodine, 0.5% chlorhexidine digluconate, 70% ethyl alcohol and didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride in combination with N- (3-aminopropyl) -N-dodecylpropane-1, 3-diamine were effective against all the 81 A.baumannii isolates tested, and their logarithmic reduction ≥ 5 were observed in 100% of the isolates in their undiluted form. The strains isolated from patients were more resistant than environmental strains: at a dilution of ½ for 70% ethyl alcohol (37.77% vs 11.11%, p = 0.007) and at a dilution of 1/10 (100% vs 69.44%, p < 0.001) for povidone iodine. The non-registered product was ineffective with a resistance rate of 96.29% at a dilution of 1/50, 45.67% at a dilution of 1/10 and 13.58% in its purest form. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed the effectiveness of the main disinfectants and antiseptics used in Morocco; three antiseptics tested were effective in their purest form against the 81 A.baumannii isolates. Regarding disinfectants, our results showed an efficacy of didecyl dimethyl ammonium at the recommended use concentration and in its purest form. This study emphasizes the need for using disinfectants and antiseptics in dilutions recommended by the manufacturer because the insufficient dilutions of these products are not effective. Our findings also demonstrated an inefficiency of the non-registered product against A.baumanii isolates. However, the non-registered products should be prohibited.

Severe hemolytic disease of the premature newborn due to RH1 incompatibility: a case report.

We report a case of dramatic outcome of severe hemolytic disease in a newborn due to RH1 incompatibility. A newborn with A RH1 blood group was admitted in the Mohammed V Military Teaching Hospital for the problem of hydrops fetalis associated with RH1 incompatibility. The blood group of his mother, aged 31, was AB RH1-negative and that of his 37 year old father was A RH1. The mother had a history of 4 term deliveries, 3 abortions, and 1 living child. There was no prevention by anti-D immunoglobulin postpartum. The mother's irregular agglutinin test was positive and the pregnancy was poorly monitored. The laboratory tests of the newborn showed a high total serum bilirubin level (30 mg/L) and macrocytic regenerative anemia (Hemoglobin=4 g/dL, mean corpuscular volume = 183 fL, reticulocytes count =176600/m3). The blood smear showed 1256 erythroblasts per 100 leukocytes, Howell-Jolly bodies and many macrocytes. The direct antiglobulin test was positive. He was transfused with red blood cell concentrates and treated with conventional phototherapy. The evolution was unfavourable; he died three days after the death of his mother. The monitoring of these high-risk pregnancies requires specialized centers and a close collaboration between the gynaecologist and the blood transfusion specialist to strengthen the prevention, as well as clinico-biological monitoring in patients with a history of RH1 fetomaternal alloimunization.

[Epidemiological, clinical, cytologic and immunophenotypic aspects of acute leukemia in children: the experience at the hematology laboratory of IBN SINA University Hospital Center]. / Aspects épidémiologiques, cliniques, cytologiques et immunophénotypiques des leucémies aiguës chez les enfants: expérience du laboratoire d'hématologie du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire IBN Sina.

The aim of this study was to describe epidemiological, cytologic and immunophenotypic aspects of acute leukemias (AL) in children diagnosed at IBN SINA University Hospital Center and to determine the concordance between cytology and immunophenotyping results. This is a cross-sectional study conducted in the hematology laboratory of IBN SINA University Hospital Center between June 2012 and May 2014. Among the 104 cases with diagnosed AL, 52% were boys with a sex-ratio H/F= 1.32, the average age was 5.7 years. The distribution of different types of AL was: lymphoid AL (LAL) (74%), myeloid (AML) (20.2%), biphenotypic AL (BAL) (65.8%). Among the LALs, 78% were classified as B LAL and 22% as T LAL. Clinical signs were mainly presented with tumor syndrome (73.1%), fever (61%) and hemorrhagic syndrome (50%). The most common blood count abnormalities were: thrombopenia (89.4%), anemia (86.5%), hyperleukocytosis (79.8%). The rate of peripheral and bone marrow blasts was statistically higher for LAL than for AML and BAL (p <0.001). The rate of relapse and mortality was 21.2% and 16. 3% respectively. Concordance rate between the results of cytology and of immunophenotyping was 92.7% for LAL and 82.6% for AML. Diagnosis of AL is always based primarily on cytology. Immunophenotyping allowed us to make a better distinction between acute leukemias. The management of paediatric AL is a major health problem which requires specialized care centers.

Acinetobacter infections prevalence and frequency of the antibiotics resistance: comparative study of intensive care units versus other hospital units.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to determine the Acinetobacter sp clinical isolates frequency and its antibiotic susceptibility pattern by comparing results obtained from the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) to that of other units at the Mohammed V Military Teaching Hospital in Rabat. METHODS: This is a retrospective study over a 2-years period where we collected all clinical isolates of Acinetobacter sp obtained from samples for infection diagnosis performed on hospitalized patients between 2012 to 2014. RESULTS: During the study period, 441 clinical and non-repetitive isolates of Acinetobacter sp were collected representing 6.94% of all bacterial clinical isolates (n = 6352) and 9.6% of Gram negative rods (n = 4569). More than a half of the isolates were from the ICUs and were obtained from 293 infected patients of which 65, 2% (191 cases) were males (sex ratio = 1.9) and the median age was 56 years (interquartile range: 42-68 years). Acinetobacter clinical isolates were obtained from respiratory samples (44.67%) followed by blood cultures (14.51%). The resistance to ciprofloxacin, ceftazidime, piperacillin / tazobactam, imipenem, amikacin, tobramycin, netilmicin, rifampicin and colistin was respectively 87%, 86%, 79%, 76%; 52%, 43%, 33% 32% and 1.7%. The difference in resistance between the ICUs and the other units was statistically significant (p <0.05) except for colistin, tetracycline and rifampicin. CONCLUSION: This paper shows that solving the problem of prevalence and high rate of multidrug resistant Acinetobacter infection which represents a therapeutic impasse, requires the control of the hospital environment and optimizing hands hygiene and antibiotics use in the hospital.

[Seroprevalence of viral markers among blood donors at the Blood Donor Center of Mohammed V Military Teaching Hospital of Rabat, Morocco]. / Séroprévalence des marqueurs viraux sur les dons du sang au Centre de Transfusion Sanguine, Hôpital Militaire d'Instruction Mohammed V de Rabat.

This study aims to determine the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among blood donors at the Blood Donor Center, Mohammed V Military Teaching Hospital between 2010 and 2012. We conducted a retrospective study among military blood donors aged 18-50 years, with a male predominance (95%). Pre-donation interview is the first selection barrier for individuals at risk. Biological screening was performed by liquid enzyme immunoassay technique using antibodies and/or antigen. Fourth generation combined HCV and HIV antigen/antibody ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test was used. The Blood Donor Center and the laboratory of virology used the same technique performed in duplicate to confirm results. Out of 25661 tested samples, the prevalence rate of HBV infections was 3.97 ‰ (n = 102), the prevalence rate of HCV infections was 2.45 ‰ (n = 63) and the prevalence rate of HIV infections was 0.15 ‰ (n = 4). A single case with HBV and HCV virus co-infection (0.039 ‰) was registered, no association between HIV-HBV, HIV-HCV or HBV, HCV and HIV infections was recorded. The low seroprevalence rates of viral markers recorded in our study show improvement in preventive measures for donor selection and screening tests. The registered prevalence encourages the use of combined reagent, which is the only alternative to molecular biology in developing countries.