Showing papers by "Rambam Health Care Campus published in 1973"

Cutaneous hyperreactivity in Behcet's disease

Abstract: Ten patients with active Behcet’s disease were studied to evaluate whether the cutaneous response to intracutaneous injection of autologous plasma differs from those known to occur in the disease following needle prick and injection of normal saline (pathergy). No specific response to plasma was noticed. 8 of the 10 patients tested reacted positively to all 3 stimuli, and the remaining 2 developed no reaction to any of them. The reaction to plasma in a given patient was clinically identical to those produced by normal saline and needle prick. The only histological difference noticed was the prevalence of acute inflammation and perivascular granulocytic infiltrate at the sites of plasma. None of the reactions revealed thrombosis or necrosis of the blood vessels, and those minor vascular affections noticed seem to be secondary to the inflammatory process.

The Nitroblue ..Tetrazolium Test in the Investigation of 'Febrile Patients *

Abstract: SUMMARY The nitroblue-tetrazolium (NBn test was performed on 71 hospitalized febrile patients and compared with 66 afebrile control patients. A level of 17% NBT-positive poly­ morphonuclear cells per 100 leucocytes or higher, was selected to indicate the presence of bacterial infection. In 20 subjects with proved, but untreated, bacterial in­ fection, all but 2 had elevated NBT levels. Nine patients with bacterial infections, who had received prior anti­ biotic or steroid therapy, had NBT values within the normal range. A false-positive reaction was observed in 24% of febr:!e subjects who were diagnosed as suffering from non-bacterial infection. In spite of the high false­ positive incidence, the NBT test is still of clinical use, provided that the subjects are carefully selected.