“
“SETTING: A teaching hospital in the Republic

of Korea, 2003-2009.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of previous tuberculosis (TB) treatment history on sputum smear and culture conversion.

DESIGN: Adriamycin DNA Damage inhibitor Data, including sputum acid-fast bacilli (AFB) results at baseline and at weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24, were collected from patients with AFB sputum smear-positive and culture-confirmed pulmonary TB. Patients with multidrug-resistant TB or those with poor adherence were excluded. AFB conversion was compared between patients with a previous history of anti-tuberculosis treatment and those without.

RESULTS: The median age of the 208 patients was 49.0 years; 58.3% were male, while 43 (20.7%) had a history of previous anti-tuberculosis treatment. Patients with a history of previous treatment had significantly lower sputum smear-negative conversion at 2 weeks of treatment compared with patients without (70.0% vs. 44.8%, P = 0.005). Selleck CA4P However, the two groups did not differ in culture conversion and in smear conversion at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks of anti-tuberculosis treatment.

CONCLUSION: Patients with a history of previous anti-tuberculosis treatment are more likely to have positive sputum AFB smear

at 2 weeks of treatment. However, sputum culture conversion is not affected by previous treatment history.”
“Background: Worsening renal function (WRF) is an ominous complication in patients with acute heart failure syndrome (AHFS). Few data are available with regard to the clinical implications of transient versus persistent WRF in this setting.

Methods and Results: We studied 467 patients with AHFS and creatinine measurements at baseline and on days 2, 5, 14, and 30. WRF (>= 0.5 mg/dL increase in serum creatinine above baseline at any time MDV3100 in vivo point) was defined as persistent when serum creatinine remained

mg/dL above baseline throughout day 30, and transient when creatinine levels subsequently decreased to <0.5 mg/dL above baseline. WRF occurred in 115 patients, and was transient in 39 patients (33.9%). The 6-month mortality rates were 17.3%, 20.5%, and 46.1% in patients without WRF, transient WRF, and persistent WRF, respectively. In a multivariable Cox model, compared with patients with stable renal function, the adjusted hazard ratio for mortality was 0.8 (95% CI 0.4-1.7; P = .58) in patients with transient WRF and 3.2 (95% CI 2.1-5.0; P < .0001) in patients with persistent WRF.

Conclusion: Transient WRF is frequent among patients with AHFS. Whereas persistent WRF portends increased mortality, transient WRF appears to be associated with a better outcome as compared with persistent renal failure. (I Cardiac Fail 2010:16:541-547)”
“SETTING: Santiago, Chile, has a mean annual tuberculosis (TB) rate of 13 per 100000 population; however, TB incidence in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected individuals is at least 20 times higher.