Medicine
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Inappropriate initial antimicrobial therapy (IIAT) has been associated with decreased survival in patients with health care-associated pneumonia (HCAP). We performed a study to determine whether empiric HCAP antibiotic regimens targeting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are associated with greater appropriate therapy. A retrospective cohort study of culture-positive HCAP over 6 years (January 2003-December 2008) was performed at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a 1200-bed urban teaching hospital. ⋯ Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that empiric anti-pseudomonal antibiotics (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34-2.29; p=0.036), empiric anti-MRSA antibiotics (AOR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.36-2.14; p=0.018), infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae (AOR, 2.82; 95% CI, 2.03-3.91; p=0.002), absence of Acinetobacter species infection (AOR, 10.57; 95% CI, 7.29-15.33; p<0.001), absence of P. aeruginosa infection (AOR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.36-2.05; p=0.014), and absence of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia infection (AOR, 20.43; 95% CI, 9.35-44.66; p<0.001) are independent predictors of appropriate therapy for HCAP. Our study suggests that initial therapy for HCAP should include antibiotics targeting MRSA and P. aeruginosa in order to provide appropriate initial therapy. However, the selection of individual antibiotic agents should be based on local patterns of infection and adjusted when microbiology results become available.
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Comparative Study
Acquired von Willebrand syndrome associated with monoclonal gammopathy: a single-center study of 36 patients.
In this single-center retrospective study, we evaluated the accuracy of laboratory tests in diagnosing acquired von Willebrand syndrome associated with lymphoproliferative disorders in 36 consecutive patients diagnosed at the University Hospital of Nantes, France. We also compared hemostatic treatments in the following groups: 21 patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM), 14 with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) (10 with IgG-MGUS and 4 with IgM-MGUS), and 1 with IgA multiple myeloma (IgA-MM). The diagnosis was made in 18 (50%) patients during systematic screening, in 6 (17%) during active mild hemorrhage, and in 12 (33%) during an active, severe bleed. ⋯ Desmopressin infusions were effective in 3 patients with IgG-MGUS and 2 patients with IgM-MGUS when the baseline values were above 10 IU/dL, but levels soon returned to the baseline. The 7 WM patients had a good response to desmopressin. These results confirm the efficacy of IVIg in IgG-MGUS patients and the prominent role of closure time in the diagnosis of acquired von Willebrand syndrome.