Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0036690 (sepsis)
 59,461 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We determined the diseases associated with extremely high levels of alkaline phosphatase in hospitalized patients. Computerized laboratory records of the Hospital of Saint Raphael identified all inpatients who had elevations of alkaline phosphatase above 1,000 U/l from April 1994 to September 1995. Thirty-seven inpatients with alkaline phosphatase levels above 1,000 U/l were identified. Six had bone involvement from malignancy or Paget's disease and were eliminated from further analysis, and 31 patients were included in the study. Levels of alkaline phosphatase ranged from 1,014 to 3,360 U/l. Ten patients had sepsis as the cause of the elevated alkaline phosphatase. These included gram-negative organisms, gram-positive organisms, and two patients with fungal sepsis. Seven of 10 patients with sepsis had an extremely high alkaline phosphatase level and a normal bilirubin, 3 of 10 patients with sepsis also had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Eight patients had biliary obstruction, 7 with malignant obstruction and 1 with a common bile duct stone. Nine patients had AIDS. The cause of the elevated alkaline phosphatase in these included three with sepsis, three with mycobacterium avium intracellulare (MAI) infection, two with cytomegalovirus infection, and one with Dilantin toxicity. Three patients had diffuse liver metastases. Finally, four patients had benign intrahepatic disease, including one patient with liver hemangiomas, one patient with sarcoid hepatitis, one patient with lead toxicity, and one patient with drug-induced cholestasis. Extremely high elevations of alkaline phosphatase are most frequently seen in patients with sepsis, malignant obstruction, and AIDS. Patients with sepsis can have an extremely high alkaline phosphatase level and a normal bilirubin. A variety of other causes were also noted.
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PMID:Extremely high levels of alkaline phosphatase in hospitalized patients. 985 66

After initial support with an intraaortic balloon pump, and since the introduction of cyclosporine for immunosuppression, five patients have undergone cardiac transplantation in our institution with good results. Not one of these patients died of sepsis in the immediate postoperative period. We report the clinical course of one such patient to show the advantage of cyclosporine immunosuppression and the value of circulatory support devices in patients awaiting suitable cardiac donors. A 22-year-old mother of two children was transferred to our institution with progressive cardiac failure. An intraaortic balloon (IABP) was inserted after she had become hypotensive, obtunded and acidotic, with severe congestive heart failure. However, she failed to improve and we performed a cardiac transplantation. After major problems with infections-a leading cause of death among cardiac transplant recipients-and episodes of convulsions that were controlled with Dilantin, along with other complications, she slowly but progressively improved and was discharged 7 weeks post-transplantation. She had one episode of allograft rejection, which was reversed with a short course of Solu Medrol. She is alive and well 18 months post-transplantation. In conclusion, cardiac transplantation in patients with sepsis can be expected to have a favorable outcome if cyclosporine is used for immunosuppression. When IABP or any other circulatory assist device is used as a bridge to cardiac transplantation, it is still possible to control infection in such patients, especially when cyclosporine is used as the major immunosuppressive.
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PMID:Cardiac transplantation in a patient with septicemia after prolonged intraaortic balloon pump support: implications for staged transplantation. 1522 27