Depletion of swabs and viral transport medium during epidemics may prompt the use of unvalidated alternatives. Swabs collected and transported dry or in saline were compared to commercially available swab/medium combinations for PCR detection of influenza, enterovirus, herpes simplex virus, and adenovirus. Each was detected at an ambient temperature (22°C) and 4°C for 7 days. Detection of influ...

Although a large proportion of anterior uveitis is noninfectious, viruses are regarded as an important cause infectious uveitis. Herpes common causes hypertensive PCR analysis aqueous sample collected at the slit lamp under aseptic conditions for viral DNA commonly used technique to confirm diagnosis during acute phase. Anterior may be shortened by prompt use therapeutic doses antiviral therapy...

BACKGROUND An uncommon case of stromal keratitis and anterior uveitis due to herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is reported. CASE The patient was a 3-year-old boy admitted for conjunctival injection of the right eye of unknown cause, accompanied by corneal opacity and anterior uveitis. OBSERVATIONS High titers of antibodies against HSV and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) were found in blood sampl...

PURPOSE To report a case of atypical herpes simplex keratitis initially diagnosed as bacterial keratitis, in a contact lens wearer. RESULTS Case report of an 18-year-old woman using contact lenses who presented with pain, redness and gradual decrease in vision in the right eye. Examination revealed a paracentral large stromal infiltrate with a central 2-mm perforation. Corneal and conjunctiva...

Acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis (AHLE) is a more severe form of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) characterized by a fulminant clinical course and the presence of hemorrhagic necrosis of the white matter. We report the case of a 57-year-old woman who developed delirium following a respiratory infection. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain disclosed signal abnormalities in the ...

Intrauterine viral infection commonly presents as nonimmune hydrops fetalis or intrauterine growth restriction. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and parvovirus are commonly recognized causes of fetal infection using serology and cultures. We used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to evaluate the frequency of fetal viral infection and the associated clinical course and outcome. Specimens (amniotic fluid,...

In order to evaluate the LightCycler-based PCR (LC-PCR) as a diagnostic assay technique, a classical pp65 antigenemia assay and the commercially available COBAS Amplicor CMV Monitor (CACM) assay were compared to the LC-PCR assay for the detection and quantitation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) load in 404 parallel specimens of peripheral blood from 66 patients after solid organ transplantation. A goo...

Background The diagnosis of viral myocarditis remains difficult and generally depends on clinical and histological criteria. Viral cultures and serology are often unrewarding, with low yields. The purpose of this study was to analyze the usefulness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the rapid diagnosis of acute myocarditis in children. Methods and Results PCR was used to analyze 38 myocardia...

DIEM: drug-induced erythema multiforme EM: erythema multiforme HAEM: herpes-associated erythema multiforme HSV: herpes simplex virus PCR: polymerase chain reaction INTRODUCTION Adalimumab is a recombinant human IgG1 monoclonal antibody specific for human tumor necrosis factor. We report a case of recurrent erythema multiforme (EM) recalcitrant to previous therapy that showed complete response t...

SUMMARY Q-Gene is an application for the processing of quantitative real-time RT-PCR data. It offers the user the possibility to freely choose between two principally different procedures to calculate normalized gene expressions as either means of Normalized Expressions or Mean Normalized Expressions. In this contribution it will be shown that the calculation of Mean Normalized Expressions has ...