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Query: UMLS:C0243026 (sepsis)
 52,417 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Group B streptococci (GBS) are the major cause of neonatal pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis. Steps considered to be important in the pathogenesis of this infection include colonization of the rectum and vagina of the mother, aspiration of GBS into the fetal lung during or just prior to delivery, and invasion of GBS into pulmonary epithelial cells. We have previously demonstrated that GBS can invade pulmonary epithelial cells both in vivo and in vitro. Adherence of GBS to epithelial cells may play an important role in colonization of the rectum and vagina and constitute a first step in invasion of pulmonary epithelial cells. Because GBS can both adhere to and invade epithelial cells, we have developed two assays for GBS adherence which measure cell surface and not intracellular bacteria. Using these assays, we were able to demonstrate specific adherence of GBS to pulmonary epithelial cells. Adherence levels were similar at 4 and 37 degrees C and for log- and stationary-phase bacteria. Physiologic conditions vary considerably between the rectum, vagina, and lung, and a range of conditions was therefore tested. Adherence was enhanced in hypotonic solutions, while magnesium and calcium had no effect on adherence at physiologic concentrations. In comparison with adherence at neutral pH, adherence was increased 6- to 20-fold at pH 4, which is the normal vaginal pH. Neither capsular polysaccharide nor lipoteichoic acid was important for adherence in these assays. Treatment of GBS with trypsin decreased their adherence by more than 75%, indicating that surface proteins play an important role.
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PMID:Adherence of group B streptococci to cultured epithelial cells: roles of environmental factors and bacterial surface components. 818 70

The existence of combined rectal and vaginal prolapse is more common than the literature would suggest. This paper outlines a further development in the operative management which has been applied to 24 patients with this problem. All had had a hysterectomy and most had had in addition one or more vaginal repairs. The common mode of presentation was one of pelvic pain (19 patients), sometimes severe, crippling and intractable and some form of protrusion (14 patients), difficult or unsatisfied defaecation and rectal incontinence (9 patients). The vaginal prolapse which always involved the vault and usually involved the lower vagina was usually found to be incomplete and the rectal prolapse complete (but occult). The operative procedure essentially consists of a Wells type rectopexy which has a new modification in which the sling is extended to anchor the vaginal vault after correction of the enterocele by the abdominal approach. A vaginal repair is subsequently performed at the same operation where anterior or posterior vaginal prolapse persists. Important points in the procedure are the avoidance of sepsis (the vaginal vault is not opened during the procedure) and protection of the ureters by careful assessment of the lateral margins of the vaginal vault which is illuminated by transvaginal vault endoscopy. At this early stage operative morbidity has been minimal, relief of the pelvic symptoms has been most encouraging, but the length of follow-up is short (range 6-30 months, average 15.6) and long-term evaluation will be necessary as with all surgery for prolapse.
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PMID:Posthysterectomy rectal and vaginal prolapse, a commonly overlooked problem. 830 99

In the Netherlands a 34-year old pregnant women presented at the obstetrics and gynecology department of OLVG Hospital in Amsterdam with uterine bleeding. She was at 11 weeks gestation and had an IUD in situ. A vaginal ultrasound revealed that the pregnancy was intact so the physicians could not remove the IUD. She returned 12 days later because she was suffering from an incomplete spontaneous abortion. The physicians removed the IUD and performed an aspiration curettage. They did not administer antibiotics. 10 days after the operation the woman suffered worsening pain in the right thigh and leg and had difficulty walking, a fever, and general sickness. She was breathing very rapidly. Repeated vaginal ultrasounds revealed that she had retained the conceptus. The physicians prescribed respiratory support and antibiotics (claforan, gentamicin, and metronidazole). Blood culture indicated Staphylococcus aureus. Computer tomography revealed a retroperitoneal abscess at the level of the right iliopsoas muscle near the os ilium and the sacro-iliac joint. The physicians performed an extraperitoneal incision and drainage of the abscess and a repeat aspiration curettage. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from all abscess samples, the conceptus, the cervix, the vagina, the urine, and the sputum. The physicians continued gentamicin and metronidazole treatment. They dismissed her after a complete recovery 16 days after the 2nd aspiration curettage. Possible complications of psoas abscess are sepsis, pulmonary embolism, hemorrhage, and bowel obstruction. Antibiotic prophylaxis in abortion curettage may prevent late sequelae, such as psoas abscess and pelvic inflammatory disease.
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PMID:Psoas abscess related to spontaneous abortion, intra-uterine contraceptive device and curettage. 838 62

Melanoma is rare in Singapore with an age-standardised rate (ASR) of 0.4-0.8 per 100,000 per year. Thirteen patients with metastatic or locally advanced melanoma were referred to the Department of Medical Oncology, Singapore General Hospital between Feb 1991 and Nov 1993. Ten patients were given combination chemotherapy comprising carmustine (BCNU), cisplatin, dacarbazine (DTIC) and tamoxifen. The remaining 3 patients either rejected chemotherapy or were too ill to receive chemotherapy. Patient characteristics were as follows: there were 6 males and 4 females; age range 29-75 years; all were Chinese; sites of primary disease: extremities 8, retroorbital 1, vagina 1; sites of metastases: lymph nodes 6, skin 2, pulmonary 3, liver 1. All received the same combination chemotherapy comprising iv BCNU 150 mg/m2 q8wk, iv DTIC 220 mg/m2 x 3 days q4 wk, iv cisplatin 25 mg/m2 x 3 days q4 wk and tab tamoxifen 40 mg daily. There were 6 partial responses and no complete responses, giving a response rate of 60% with a median survival of 11.5 months. Three patients with sites of disease in the vagina, retroorbital region and metastatic liver disease had progressive disease despite chemotherapy and one died of treatment related sepsis. The 6 responders include those with metastases to the skin, nodes and/or lung. Treatment was generally tolerable. Two patients experienced delays of their subsequent cycles of treatment by 1-2 weeks due either to neutropenia and/or thrombocytopenia. This regimen is a fairly active combination against metastatic melanoma, particularly those with metastases to the nodes, skin and the lung. Those with involvement of other sites tend to respond poorly.
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PMID:Combination chemotherapy (dacarbazine, carmustine, cisplastin, and tamoxifen) in advanced melanoma. 894 55

Eleven patients, 13 to 76 (mean, 40) years of age, had granulocytic sarcoma of the female genital tract (FGT) (ovary, seven cases; vagina, three cases; cervix, one case). In nine cases, the FGT involvement was the initial clinical presentation of the disease, and in the other two cases, the FGT involvement was discovered during a relapse of acute myeloid leukemia. The tumors ranged from 0.5 to 14 (mean, 7.5) cm in greatest dimension. Two ovarian tumors were bilateral, and three were green. Microscopic examination revealed a predominantly diffuse pattern of growth, but cords and pseudoacinar spaces were also present focally in several cases. Sclerosis was seen in five tumors and was prominent in one. Prominent myeloid differentiation was readily recognizable on routinely stained sections in three cases, whereas the neoplastic cells in the other cases were primitive with only rare eosinophilic myelocytes. All 11 tumors were positive for chloroacetate esterase, nine of nine were strongly and diffusely positive for lysozyme, eight of eight for myeloperoxidase, seven of seven for CD68, and six of six for CD43. Examination of bone marrow or peripheral blood performed after the diagnosis of FGT involvement revealed acute myeloid leukemia in three of five cases. Two of these patients died of disease, 1 and 16 months after the initial diagnosis, and the third, who received chemotherapy, is alive and free of disease 8 months after the initial diagnosis. One of the two patients with negative bone marrow had recurrent granulocytic sarcoma 30 months after diagnosis and died of sepsis 1 month later; no residual disease was noted at autopsy. The other patient is alive and free of disease 18 months after the diagnosis. One of the four remaining patients with primary FGT involvement who did not have a bone marrow biopsy died of leukemia 24 months later; no follow-up information is available for the other three patients. One of the two patients with a prior diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia was alive with disease 26 months later; follow-up is not available for the second patient. The diagnosis was often difficult in these cases, the most common problem being distinction from malignant lymphoma, but carcinoma, granulosa cell tumor, and, rarely, other tumors were considered. Immunohistochemical and enzyme histochemical staining were useful in establishing the diagnosis, although suspicion of the diagnosis on examination of routinely stained sections was of paramount importance.
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PMID:Granulocytic sarcoma of the female genital tract: a clinicopathologic study of 11 cases. 933 Dec 87

We report on a 52-year-old female patient with a bulky, recurrent cervical carcinoma involving the vagina and bladder, who developed entero-recto-vesicovaginal fistulas and sepsis with pelvic cellulitis after external radiation of 40 Gy and 2 courses of concurrent chemotherapy. Chemoradiation was interrupted and an ileostomy was performed. After recovery, no residual tumor was detectable. Thirteen months after ceasation of chemoradiation, repair of vesicovaginal and rectovaginal fistulas via posterior sagittal approach was performed. Revision of double bowel ileostomy and ileo-T-colostomy was performed 17 months later. The patient enjoyed the restoration of enteral and urinary function only temporarily. She developed rectovesical fistula and underwent an ileostomy again 6 months later. She had another episode of peritonitis and upper gastrointestinal bleeding and expired at 4 years from initiation of salvage therapy. She had no evidence of cancer recurrence during a series of laparotomies and biopsies. The dramatic regression of the tumor may be attributed to its extraordinary radiosensitivity or chemosensitivity. The acute pelvic inflammatory complications may also contribute to the tumor cell killing. The prognosis of recurrent cervical carcinoma is invariably poor except in small tumors confined to vagina. This case gives support to the efficacy of chemoradiation and the potential role of biologic therapy in treatment of this dismal disease.
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PMID:Sustained complete remission after incomplete chemoradiation complicated with pelvic cellulitis in a patient with recurrent cervical carcinoma. 939 13

Transvaginal ultrasonography (US) is a noninvasive, readily available imaging technique that has greatly enhanced diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy for both gynecologic and nongynecologic disease. High-frequency US probes placed in the vagina allow high-resolution assessment of all the pelvic viscera, including portions of the gut and urinary tract. In addition, they allow visualization of the peritoneum of the pelvic pouch and the pelvic side walls without interference from bowel gas or adipose tissue. Evaluation of these areas requires a modified US technique that includes the use of the highest-frequency probes with angulation of the transducer to allow assessment of the region of interest. In women of childbearing age, the similarity of symptoms in gynecologic and gastrointestinal tract disease in particular underscores the potential utility of transvaginal US, which may, for example, help differentiate appendicitis in a pelvic appendix from pelvic inflammatory disease. Transvaginal US may also help determine the correct course of therapy, thereby improving patient management. Other indications for transvaginal US include assessment for pelvic appendicitis and diverticulitis, rectal and perianal complications of Crohn disease, and ureteric and bladder calculi and tumors as well as evaluation of the anal sphincters in women with fecal incontinence. Transvaginal US is also superior to routine US in the detection and characterization of ascites and peritoneal disease. Transvaginal US examination should include the entire pelvic cavity and contents, especially in women at risk for pelvic sepsis or peritoneal disease.
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PMID:Nongynecologic applications of transvaginal US. 1051 54

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a generic term relating to a broad range of conditions. The term is used to describe infections of the fallopian tubes, uterus, ovaries, or peritoneum. PID is a potentially life-threatening condition in any woman, but HIV-positive women are at serious risk of severe complications or death. PID is caused when infection-producing organisms spread upwards from the vagina through the cervix to the upper reproductive organs. Untreated sexually transmitted diseases are a leading cause of PID. Consequences include chronic pelvic pain, abdominal abscesses, inflammation of the covering of the liver, sepsis, and death. Sterility may also result from PID. PID is generally treated with a combination of antibiotics, and it is crucial to treat other concurrent infections as well. Early treatment of PID in HIV-positive women is essential.
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PMID:Pelvic inflammatory disease. 1136 14

The Dalkon shield tail theoretically can provide a mechanism whereby pathogenic bacteria can move from the vagina to the uterine cavity and cause sepsis. However, an in vitro experiment was run for 3 months and Escherichia coli did not move up the tail. Therefore, if a patient is satisfied with the Dalkon shield, it is not necessary to remove it. However, pregnancy can cause the IUD tail to enter the uterine cavity bringing bacterial contaimination with it. Therefore, Dalkon shield wearers should be adivsed to report to their physician as soon as a period is missed.
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PMID:Escherichia coli transport by Dalkon shield string. (Letter to the editor). 1225

An analysis of causes of maternal deaths in the Southern Highlands Zone of Tanzania, concentrating on avoidable factors contributing to these deaths, was conducted in 1983. Deaths were ascertained by forms sent to doctors in hospitals and assistants in health centers, by visiting hospital and centers regularly, and from reports to Regional Medical Officers. The majority of deaths occurred in hospitals, producing a maternal mortality rate of 2.5/1000 in hospitals, compared to 0.8/1000 for the Zone overall. Total numbers and notable cases were discussed in each of the following etiologies: ectopic pregnancy (1), sepsis after abortion (20), placenta previa (3), eclampsia (4), postpartum hemorrhage (21), anemia (3), obstructed labor (6), puerperal infection (10), sepsis after surgery (7), puerperal pulmonary embolism (2), aspiration after anesthesia (1), herbal medicines (2). The greatest number of deaths were in gravida 3 women. The main avoidable factors were lack of blood for transfusion, no partogram being kept in labor, and risk factors noted but not acted upon. Blood was not available for several reasons: blood not kept in maternity ward, equipment not available to transfuse and relatives refused to give blood. Some other avoidable risk factors were: lack of or slow transport to facility, interference abortion, no antenatal care, lack of gas gangrene serum, packing vagina with cloths to stop bleeding, staff errors. It was felt that isolation of rural doctors contributed to errors, which may possibly be avoided by holding periodic seminars and reviews.
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PMID:Preliminary report on maternal deaths in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania in 1983. 1228 47


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