Since 2005, invasive isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been collected in the Czech Republic as part of the European Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS). Forty-eight microbiology laboratories throughout the country including approximately 81% of the population provide consecutive isolates from blood and cerebrospinal fluid. Surprisingly, no metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) was found in 1,259 invasive isolates tested over the past three years until the detection of two MBL-producing strains in mid-2008. Both strains were isolated from patients hospitalised in one regional hospital. The MBL was identified as IMP-7, which had been seen previously in Canada, Japan, Malaysia and Slovakia.
PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and conventional bacterial culture methods in the detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in contact lens-induced severe, partially treated corneal ulcers referred to a tertiary center.
METHODS: The study duration was 6 months. All patients with contact lens-related corneal ulcer, requiring admission during the study period were recruited. Samples from corneal scrapings were simultaneously sent at the time of admission for PCR and culture testing. An in-house real-time PCR was developed to detect the P. aeruginosa lasA gene. The results of PCR and culture were compared using McNemar's chi2 test.
RESULTS: Ten patients were recruited. The mean age was 33 years (20-45 years). All the patients had contact lens-related keratitis (>4 mm) of which eight (80%) were found positive for P. aeruginosa by PCR or culture. There was no significant difference between PCR and culture in detecting P. aeruginosa (P<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: PCR is, at least, as good as conventional cultures in detecting P. aeruginosa. It is a rapid assay as compared with culture, and early detection enables prompt treatment thus reducing the destructive effect of the organism on the cornea.
A 57-year-old male chronic smoker with underlying diabetes mellitus presented with dysphonia associated with cough, dysphagia and reduced effort tolerance of 3 months' duration. Videoendoscope finding revealed bilateral polypoidal and erythematous true and false vocal fold with small glottic airway. The patient was initially treated as having tuberculous laryngitis and started on antituberculous drug. However, no improvement was observed. CT of the neck showed erosion of thyroid cartilage, which points to laryngeal carcinoma as a differential diagnosis. However, the erosion was more diffuse and appeared systemic in origin. The diagnosis of laryngeal perichondritis was made when the histopathological examination revealed features of inflammation, and the tracheal aspirate isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa The patient made a good recovery following treatment with oral ciprofloxacin.
Acupuncture is used for some conditions as an alternative to medication or surgical intervention. Several complications had been reported, and they are generally due to physical injury by the needle or transmission of diseases. We report a case of life-threatening necrotising fasciitis that developed after acupuncture treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee in a 55-year-old diabetic woman. She presented with multiple discharging sinuses over the right knee. As the patient did not respond to intravenous antibiotics, extensive debridement was performed. She made a good recovery. Since many old diabetic patients with degenerative joint diseases may consider this mode of treatment, guidelines on cleanliness and sterility of this procedure should be developed and practiced.