Gunn Jimenez (yakfriday68)

BACKGROUND Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) and sterile pyuria (SP) are complexities of UTI whose prevalence are not known in the northern sector of Ghana. Our aim was to determine the occurrence of sterile pyuria and asymptomatic bacteriuria among pregnant women accessing antenatal care at a secondary and tertiary care hospitals in Tamale, northern Ghana. METHODS A cross sectional study was conducted by screening 530 pregnant women with no signs of acute urinary tract infection attending antenatal clinic for a period of 6 months. Midstream urine was collected for microscopy, quantitative urine culture and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Data analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. RESULTS Asymptomatic bacteriuria was respectively 20 and 35.5% at Tamale Central and Tamale Teaching Hospital out of the 390 and 90 women screened. Sterile pyuria was found among 66% of the 50 women presenting at Tamale Central Hospital. More than 64% of isolates recovered from ASB patients were S. aureus and coagulase negative Staph. (CoNS). selleck inhibitor Escherichia coli was the dominant species among members of the enterobacteriaceae isolated. Highest susceptibility was recorded against gentamicin and amikacin while most resistance was to Ampicillin, cotrimoxazole, chloramphenicol and nitrofurantoin. Resistance to imipenem and vancomycin were 28.8 and 52%, with strains showing multiple drug resistance of between 81 and 92%. CONCLUSION The prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria is appreciably higher (20-35.5%) than documented rates in the southern sector of the country. The presence of sterile pyuria which may be an indication of asymptomatic renal impairment and most often overlooked in antenatal management is 66%. Empirical treatment of UTIs at the Tamale Central and Teaching Hospital without confirmation of susceptibility may result in treatment failure. It is necessary to screen and treat pregnant women for ASB and SP due to the complications associated with these conditions.BACKGROUND Patients with metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC) are commonly treated with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib, which blocks signalling from vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) - and platelet-derived growth factor-receptors, inhibiting development of new blood vessels. There are currently no predictive markers available to select patients who will gain from this treatment. Epidermal growth factor, latrophilin and seven transmembrane domain-containing protein 1 (ELTD1) is up-regulated in tumor endothelial cells in many types of cancer and may be a putative predictive biomarker due to its association with ongoing angiogenesis. METHODS ELTD1, CD34 and VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) expressions were analysed in tumor vessels of renal cancer tissues from 139 patients with mRCC using immunohistochemistry. Ninety-nine patients were treated with sunitinib as the first or second-line therapy. Early toxicity, leading to the termination of the treatment, eliminated 22 patients from the analyses. The remaining (n = 77) patients were included in the current study. In an additional analysis, 53 sorafenib treated patients were evaluated. RESULTS Patients with high ELTD1 expression in the tumor vasculature experienced a significantly better progression free survival (PFS) with sunitinib treatment as compared to patients with low ELTD1 expression (8 versus 5.5 months, respectively). The expression level of CD34 and VEGFR2 showed no correlation to sunitinib response. In sorafenib treated patients, no association with ELTD1 expression and PFS/OS was found. CONCLUSIONS Our results identify tumor vessel ELTD1 expression as a positive predictive marker for sunitinib-treatment in patients suffering from mRCC. The negative results in the sorafenib treated group supports ELTD1 being a pure predictive and not a prognostic marker for sunitinib therapy.BACKGROUND Traditional massage seems to be safe but not entirely risk free, th