Seven patients with diabetes mellitus were hospitalized and their blood sugar concentrations regulated as a result of fasting blood sugar, sugar around meals, urinary sugar, and hemoglobin AIC assays. Erythrocyte half-life as measured by 51 Cr increased in all patients from a mean of 27 days to 31 days, while hemoglobin AIC levels decreased from a mean of 10.1% to 5.6%. Leukocyte adherence increased in all patients from a mean of 28% to 51%. Most striking were the changes observed in platelet function in response to epinephrine. The length of the secondary lag phase of platelet aggregation, after a stimulus with final concentration of 70 muM of epinephrine, increased from a mean of 19 seconds to 65 seconds. Studies in additional patients confirmed an inverse correlation between hemoglobin AIC concentration and the secondary lag phase (r = 0.87, P less than 0.001). These studies found that certain secondary sequelas of diabetes can be corrected by strict carbohydrate control and confirmed that hemoglobin AIC assays provide a useful means of showing the degree of control of glucose metabolism in diabetic patients.

Three patients with Staphylococcus epidermis meningitis associated with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt devices were treated with a combination of intravenous vancomycin and oral rifampin. Two of the isolates were methicillin-resistant. All patients had a favorable clinical response. Time-kill curves showed that the addition of rifampin to vancomycin resulted in enhanced bactericidal activity against all isolates when compared to either antibiotic alone. This finding suggests that the combination of oral rifampin and intravenous vancomycin may be useful in the treatment of methicillin-resistant and recalcitrant methicillin-sensitive S. epidermis meningitis associated with CSF shunts. In vitro susceptibility testing should be performed.

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