Irish journal of medical science
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Serum ferritin was measured in 50 patients at diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM) and in 20 patients with established DM and poor metabolic control. Twenty-two patients had hyperferritinemia at diagnosis. Four patients had a recognised cause for their hyperferritinemia. ⋯ When compared with the newly diagnosed hyperferritinemic patients no difference was found in levels of glycosylated haemoglobin, but ferritin values differed significantly between the two groups (p < 0.001). These results indicate that transient hyperferritinemia is a feature of newly diagnosed DM but not of established DM with poor control. If used to screen diabetic patients for haemochromatosis, serum ferritin should be measured in established DM rather than at diagnosis.
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Case Reports
Foreign body complications of central venous catheterisation in critically ill patients.
In three critically ill patients, central venous catheter--associated foreign bodies were identified while the patients were in the intensive care unit. Two patients had fragments of retained catheter; in the third patient a guide-wire was lost within the vascular tree. The catheter fragments were associated with clinical symptoms while side effects were not observed with loss of the guide-wire. All three foreign bodies were removed without complications.
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Comparative Study
Local beneficial effect of coumarin in experimental peritonitis.
Coumarin, a potent immune stimulant and macrophage activator, has been used to treat brucellosis and as an immune suppressor. The effect of Coumarin and systemic antibiotics on septicaemia, survival and peritoneal contamination in experimental peritonitis was assessed. Four groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats were inoculated with Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli and Bacteroides fragilis. ⋯ Coumarin did not improve survival whether given alone or in combination with antibiotics. Animals given Coumarin (Groups B and D) had significantly less peritoneal soiling (54%, 0%) (P less than 0.02, P less than 0.001) than their controls (Groups A and C: 92%; 29%). While Coumarin did not improve resistance to septicaemia it did exert a local beneficial effect.