The American journal of medicine
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The physiologic perturbations associated with renal disease can have a pronounced effect on the kinetics of elimination of drugs and their metabolites from the body. Drugs are ordinarily cleared from the body by a number of routes, each of which can be characterized by a clearance value. The sum of these clearances (renal, hepatic, etc.) is the total or body clearance which is inversely proportional to the steady-state plasma concentration produced by a given drug dosage regimen. ⋯ To compensate for the increased elimination of a drug during hemodialysis, the dosing rate (i.e., the dose per unit of time) must be increased by the factor (hemodialysis clearance and body clearance):body clearance, where body clearance is that during a day between dialyses. Further dosage compensation may be needed if body clearance is increased during hemodialysis due to decreased plasma protein binding of the drug. Under certain conditions, an increased accumulation of pharmacologically active drug metabolites during renal failure becomes a matter of serious concern.
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Anterolateral myocardial infarction resulted in the formation of both true and false aneurysms in a 75 year old man in whom severe congestive heart failure subsequently developed as the false aneurysm became progressively larger. Left ventriculography detected and quantified both aneurysms, and demonstrated reasonable function of the remaining volume-overloaded left ventricle. Resection of both aneurysms was accomplished with marked relief of symptoms. The literature on false aneurysm is reviewed, and the dilemma posed by the need to recognize false aneurysms before they become symptomatic or rupture is discussed.
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Among 21 patients with sepsis attributed solely to decubitus ulcers, bacteremia was documented in 16 (76 per cent)9 Bacteremia involved obligate anaerobes in eight patients (50 per cent) and was polymicrobial in eight patients (50 per cent). Twelve of 17 patients who received antibiotics had persistent bacteremia; in five patients, bacteremia was terminated only after surgical debridement. ⋯ Among 14 patients who underwent surgical debridement, only four patients died. Surgical debridement and antibiotics effective against aerobic as well as anaerobic bacteria are both important in the treatment of this serious complication.
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Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic mycosis of importance in Latin America. Because of its polymorphic manifestations, it is not always suspected and patients are sometimes misdiagnosed. Case histories of patients with paracoccidioidomycosis are presented in order to illustrate its various manifestations, with emphasis on the primary pulmonary localization.