Failure of feeding: Dementia; however, there is insufficient evidence to suggest that enteral tube feeding is beneficial in patients with advanced dementia [6] . There is presently no evidence to suggest long-term survival rates improve in patients with advanced dementia who undergo PEG placement for dysphagia [7] . Cystic fibrosis: PEG feeding is safe, efficacious and acceptable in children an...

BACKGROUND Few data are available regarding pneumococcal peritonitis. We studied the clinical characteristics of intra-abdominal infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and its prognosis in relation to antibiotic resistance. METHODS We reviewed all cases of culture-proved pneumococcal peritonitis. Patients with liver cirrhosis and primary pneumococcal peritonitis were compared with pati...

BACKGROUND Peritonitis is the most serious complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD). We previously showed that high levels of interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-18 in PD effluents (PDE) during the early phase of peritonitis correlated with a predominant Type 1 immune response and a favorable outcome in PD-related peritonitis. To further clarify the longitudinal changes of peritoneal immunity during PD-...

We read with interest the article by Xie and colleagues reporting the impact of invasive fungal infection (IFI) on outcomes [1]. In a cohort of 318 intensive care unit patients with severe sepsis they found 90 patients with IFI (28.3%). Ninety-three per cent of the IFIs were caused by Candida species, 3% by Aspergillus species and 4% were unclassified. Predominant sites of infection were the lu...

Invasive fungal infections have increased throughout the world. Many of these infections occur in patients with multiple comorbidities who are receiving medications with the potential for interactions with antifungal therapy that could lead to renal and hepatic dysfunction. The second marketed echinocandin, micafungin, was approved in 2005 for the treatment of esophageal candidiasis and prophyl...

Sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (SEP) is a rare but serious complication in patients with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), and is characterized by a progressive, intra-abdominal, inflammatory process resulting in the formation of sheets of new fibrous tissue, which cover, bind, and constrict the viscera, thereby compromising the motility of the bowel. No satisfactory estim...

BACKGROUND There has not been a comprehensive, multi-centre study of streptococcal peritonitis in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) to date. METHODS The predictors, treatment and clinical outcomes of streptococcal peritonitis were examined by binary logistic regression and multilevel, multivariate poisson regression in all Australian PD patients involving 66 centres between 2003 and 2006. ...

INTRODUCTION Peritonitis remains the major complication in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD), peritonitis rates vary in the literature, reflecting differences between countries, study design and populations. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine the rates of peritonitis episodes per year at risk (ep./yr), ep./yr by causative microorganism and median of peritonitis in patients on peritone...

INTRODUCTION Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) peritonitis may develop after endoscopic procedures, and the benefit of prophylactic antibiotics is unclear. In the present study, we investigated whether prophylactic antibiotics reduce the incidence of peritonitis in these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS We retrospectively reviewed all endoscopic procedures, including esophagogast...

BACKGROUND A multicenter, multi-country randomized controlled trial (the balANZ study) recently reported that peritonitis rates significantly improved with the use of neutral-pH peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions low in glucose degradation products ("biocompatible") compared with standard solutions. The present paper reports a secondary outcome analysis of the balANZ trial with respect to perit...