Reinaldo Martinelli

Renal Involvement in Visceral Leishmaniasis

In a prospective study of 50 patients with visceral leishmaniasis, laboratory abnormalities suggestive of renal involvement were not infrequent. Proteinuria and/or microscopic hematuria or pyuria were observed in 51% of such cases. Twenty-four hour urinary protein excretion was elevated in 57% of patients in all cases below 1g/24 hours. An abnormal acid-load test was demonstrated in 12 of 18 patients studied before therapy of the parasitic infection with N-methyl-glucamine. Of interest was the demonstration of tubulo-interstitial involvement in the renal histology of all seven patients studied; also, in five of seven patients there was a proliferative glomerulonephritis, usually mild, on histologic examination. In general, there was a tendency to subsidence of abnormal laboratory findings within one month after specific therapy. Renal involvement in visceral leishmaniasis was mild and seemed to revert with the cure of the leishmanial infection.

Insuficiência renal aguda após cirurgia de revascularização miocárdica com circulação extracorpórea: incidência, fatores de risco e mortalidade

OBJECTIVE To identify the incidence, risk factors, and mortality of acute renal failure (ARF) in patients undergoing myocardial coronary artery bypass surgery with extracorporeal circulation. METHODS All patients undergoing myocardial coronary artery bypass surgery were prospectively studied, and their clinical and laboratory variables were assessed using uni- and multivariate analysis (logistic regression). RESULTS Acute renal failure occurred in 16.1% of the 223 patients studied; 4.9% of patients required dialysis. Risk factors associated with ARF in the univariate analysis were age > 63 years, OR 3.6 (95% CI=1.6 to 8.3); preoperative serum creatinine > 1.2 mg/dL, OR 5.9 (95% CI=2.4 to 14.6); duration of extracorporeal circulation > 90 min, OR 2.1 (95% CI=1.0 to 4.4); use of intraaortic balloon, OR 2.6 (95% CI=1.2 to 5.5); need for inotropic drugs, OR 4.4 (95% CI=1.9 to 10.2). In the multivariate analysis, independent factors associated with ARF were: age > 63 years, OR 3.0 (95% CI=1.3 to 7.2); preoperative serum creatinine > 1.2 mg/dL, OR 4.3 (95% CI=1.6 to 11.4); need for inotropic drugs, OR 3.2 (95% CI=1.3 to 8.0). Mortality in the patients with ARF was 25.0% compared with 1.1% in those without ARF and 63.6% in those who required dialysis. CONCLUSION Acute renal failure after myocardial coronary artery bypass surgery is a frequent complication associated with a high mortality rate. The independent risk factors are age, previous renal failure, and the need for inotropic drugs.

Clinical effects of intermittent, intravenous cyclophosphamide in severe systemic lupus erythematosus

To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of intermittent intravenous cyclophosphamide in the treatment of severe systemic lupus erythematosus, 20 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and evidence of severe renal involvement or systemic vasculitis, consecutively admitted to the hospital were studied. Cyclophosphamide was administered intravenously at a dosage of 1.0 g/m2 monthly, during 6 months and maintained every 3 months during 12 additional months. Of 10 patients with active lupus nephritis, a reduction or disappearance of proteinuria and maintenance of normal renal function was recorded in 6. Improvement of renal function was observed in 4 out of 7 patients with renal insufficiency at initial evaluation; resolution of renal insufficiency was more frequently observed in patients with recent onset renal failure. At the end of the follow-up (18.0 +/- 14.5 months) disappearance or reduction of nephrotic range proteinuria was recorded in 6 out of 14 patients; there was progression toward renal failure in 4 patients (20%). Response to intravenous cyclophosphamide therapy was observed in 4 of 5 patients with severe extrarenal SLE. Side effects, recorded in 12 patients, were mild and transient and in no patient was the treatment discontinued. Four patients died during the follow-up, although in 2 of them the deaths were not attributable to therapy. Even though this was an open and uncontrolled study, intermittent, intravenous cyclophosphamide was an effective therapy for severe, steroid refractory SLE.

Enterococcal urinary tract infections in a university hospital: clinical studies

Although urinary tract infections (UTI) represent the most common infection caused by enterococci, some aspects remain to be fully clarified. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics present in UTI caused by Enterococcus spp. in patients followed up at the Prof. Edgard Santos Teaching Hospital of the Federal University of Bahia. All patients consecutively examined between 1997 and 2005, who received a diagnosis of UTI caused by Enterococcus spp. were included in the study. UTI was defined as the presence of > or = 10(5) colony-forming units per mL of urine. Standard microbiological techniques were used. During the study period, 6.2% of the urine cultures were positive for Enterococcus spp. The mean age of the patients was 48.9 years and 57% were male. At initial evaluation, 13% of the patients had complaints suggestive of UTI. Nineteen patients had a history consistent with obstructive uropathy and 26 with neurogenic bladder. At final evaluation, UTI was the diagnosis in 48 patients. In 36 patients (29%), the primary diagnosis was related to urogenital diseases, consisting of obstructive uropathy in 23 of these cases, while in 32 patients (25.8%) primary diagnosis was related to neurologic diseases, frequently neurogenic bladder. UTI caused by Enterococcus spp. is not infrequent, is usually associated with few or no symptoms and occurs in sick patients who have anatomical or functional obstructive uropathy associated or not with urinary tract catheterization or instrumentation. The diagnosis of enterococcal UTI may indicate a urinary tract abnormality yet to be diagnosed.

Cefamandole treatment of Salmonella bacteremia.

The efficacy of cefamandole in the treatment of 19 patients with salmonella bacteremia was evaluated. Although all of the salmonella strains isolated were highly susceptible to cefamandole in vitro, a therapeutic failure was observed in 7 (36.8%) of the 19 patients.

Acute tubular necrosis and renal failure in patients with glomerular disease.

Renal failure is common in patients with glomerular disease. Although renal failure may result from the glomerular lesion itself, it is also observed in patients with minimal glomerular alterations. Degenerative changes and necrosis of the tubular epithelium are common findings in kidney biopsies from these patients. The aim of this work is to examine the association between acute tubular necrosis (ATN) and renal failure in patients with glomerulopathy and to estimate the relationship between the degree of ATN and renal failure in these patients. Data on age, sex, presence of nephrotic syndrome, and renal failure were recorded for 149 patients, who underwent a renal biopsy for the diagnosis of glomerulopathy. The biopsies were reviewed, and ATN, when present, was classified as one of four grades depending on its intensity. The mean age of the patients was 21 ± 16 years. Eighty patients (54%) were male, 43 (42%) had renal failure, 104 (72%) had nephrotic syndrome, and 66 (45%) had minimal change disease or focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. ATN was present in 115 (77%) patients. The frequency of renal failure was directly correlated with the intensity of ATN [odds ratio (OR) of 26.0 for patients with grade 2 lesions and OR of 45.5 for patients with grade 3 lesions]. ATN is a common finding in the biopsies of patients with glomerulopathy. The severity of ATN is directly associated with the frequency of renal failure in these patients.

Cyclophosphamide in the treatment of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis

Prednisone is the initial treatment of primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. However, when immunosuppressive agents in combination with steroids are used in the treatment of prednisone-dependent and prednisone-resistant patients the remission rate is variable. We report a long-term trial using cyclophosphamide (2.0 to 3.0 mg/kg body weight for 12 weeks) in combination with prednisone (1.0 to 2.0 mg/kg body weight), as compared with prednisone alone for the treatment of prednisone-resistant and frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Fifty-four patients (34 males and 20 females) with a diagnosis of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, followed-up for an average of 86.1 +/- 82.4 months, were evaluated. Complete remission occurred in 20.4% and partial remission in 14.8% of the patients treated with steroids and in 26.7 and 20.0% of the patients treated with cyclophosphamide + prednisone, respectively. Of the 24 prednisone-resistant patients treated with steroids in combination with cyclophosphamide, 33.3% obtained a complete/partial response. At the time of final evaluation, 25% of the patients treated with prednisone and 10.0% of those treated with prednisone in combination with cyclophosphamide had reached end-stage renal disease. Persistent nephrotic syndrome and progressive renal insufficiency were more frequently observed among the patients treated with prednisone alone (50.0 vs 33.3% and 33.3 vs 16.7%, respectively). The treatments were well tolerated and no patient experienced adverse reactions requiring discontinuation of medications. Although open-label and non-randomized, the present trial showed that cyclophosphamide is a reasonable choice for the treatment of primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and prednisone-resistant nephrotic syndrome.

Clinical Course of Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis Associated with Hepatosplenic Schistosomiasis mansoni

To analyze the clinical course and response to therapy 15 patients (9 male and 6 female) with the hepatosplenic form of schistosomiasis mansoni and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) were prospectively studied (mean follow-up = 115.8 +/- 93.2 months). Nephrotic syndrome was the most frequent clinical presentation, followed by abnormalities of urinalysis. The clinical course was progressive: at final evaluation 9 patients (60%) had developed renal failure. Hypertension or/and renal insufficiency at initial evaluation and persistence of the nephrotic syndrome were associated with progression toward advanced renal failure. Response to immunosuppressive therapy was recorded in 30% of the patients; all responsive patients still had normal renal function at final evaluation. The treatment of the Schistosoma mansoni infection did not influence the clinical course of the renal disease. It is concluded that FSGS in patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis mansoni is a disease progressing to advanced stage independently of the presence of the parasite.

Diagnostic performance of anti-β2 glycoprotein I and anticardiolipin assays for clinical manifestations of the antiphospholipid syndrome

The objective of the present study was to analyse the performance of the tests for detection of anti-β2 glycoprotein I (β2 GP I) and anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies for identification of clinical manifestations of the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as well as carriers of infectious diseases such as Kala-azar, syphilis and leptospirosis were studied. Particular interest was given to the presence of clinical complications related to APS. Anticardiolipin and anti-β2 GP I antibodies were searched using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) assay. Clinical manifestations of APS were observed in 34 of the 152 patients (22.3%) with SLE and no patient with infectious disease had such manifestations. Antibodies to cardiolipin in moderate or high levels and anti-β2 GP I were detected in 55 of 152 (36.1%) and 36 of 152 (23.6%) patients with SLE, respectively, and in 2 of 30 (6.6%) and 16 of 30 (53.3%) patients with Kala-azar, in 9 of 39 (23%) and 6 of 34 (17.6%) patients with leptospirosis, and 14 of 74 (18.9%) and 8 of 70 (11.4%) cases of syphilis, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and likelihood ratio (LR) of the anti-β2 GP I test for the identification of the clinical manifestation of APS were, respectively, 29% [95% confidence interval (CI)=24%–34%], 78% (95% CI=73–83%), 15% (95% CI=11–19%), 89% (95%CI=85–93%) and 1.38. Regarding the aCL assay, the figure was 29% (95% CI=24–34%), 76% (95% CI=71–81%), 14% (95% CI=10–18%), 89% (95% CI=86–92%) and 1.26. As the validity and performance of the anti-β2 GP I assay were similar to the aCL in demonstrating the presence of clinical phenomena associated with APS and due to the difficulties in performing as well as the lack of standardisation of the anti-β2 GP I test, we suggest that the test for aCL should continue to be the first one performed when the presence of APS is suspected.

Aumento da freqüência de resistência à norfloxacina e ciprofloxacina em bactérias isoladas em uroculturas

OBJECTIVE: To assess time trends in the frequency of norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin resistance of bacteria isolated from urine culture. METHODS: Results of all urine cultures with a bacterial growth of at least 105 colony-forming units per milliter, performed at the Renal Service of the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil, from 1983 to 1994 were analyzed. The bacteria considered for this analysis were those most often isolated: Escherichia coli (n=668), Klebsiella spp. (n=286), Staphylococcus spp. (n=186), Proteus spp. (n=135) and Enterobacter spp. (n=129). RESULTS: The frequencies of norfloxacin resistance for the periods 1983-1986, 1987-1990 and 1991-1994 were 3.2%, 5.9% and 9.1%, respectively (p-value<0.05). The most pronounced increases in the frequencies of norfloxacin-resistance were observed for Klebsiella spp. and Enterobacter spp. The frequency of ciprofloxacin resistance was 7.4% in the period 1985-1989 and 16.5% in the period 1990-1994 (p-value<0.05). This time trend in ciprofloxacin resistance was more striking for Enterobacter spp. and Staphylococcus spp. CONCLUSION: The results show a gradual increase in the frequency of norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin resistance of the bacteria most commonly isolated from urine cultures. The influence of previous treatment with quinolones and characteristics of the infecting bacteria on these findings are important questions to to be addressed in future investigations.