BACKGROUND Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) generally presents with a single or several localised cutaneous ulcers without involvement of mucous membranes. Ulcerated lesions are susceptible to secondary contamination that may slow the healing process.OBJECTIVE This study verified the influence of non-parasitic wound infection on wound closure (epithelialisation) and total healing.METHODS Twenty-five patients with a confirmed diagnosis of CL and ulcerated lesions underwent biopsy of ulcer borders. One direct microbial parameter (germ identification in cultures) and four indirect clinical parameters (secretion, pain, burning sensation, pruritus) were analysed. FINDINGS Biopsies of ten lesions showed secondary infection by one or two microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pyogenes and Candida parapsilosis). “Secretion” and “burning sensation” influenced epithelialisation time but not total healing time. Positive detection of germs in the ulcer border and “pain” and “pruritus” revealed no influence on wound closure.CONCLUSIONS Our borderline proof of clinical CL ulcer infection inhibiting CL wound healing supports the need to follow antimicrobial stewardship in CL ulcer management, which was recently proposed for all chronic wounds.

Lipoblastoma and lipoblastomatosis are rare benign soft-tissue tumoral lesions resembling fetal adipose tissue. A total of 16 cases of lipoblastoma of the neck were reported in the literature, and only 3 were described in the posterior side of the neck. Hibernoma is a rare benign adipose tumor composed of brown fat cells and only about ten cases occurring in the cervical area have been reported. We reported two rare cases of adipose tissue tumors. The first case was a male infant aged 12 months who had a cervical mass on the posterior side of the neck. He underwent a complete resection of the lesion and the pathologic study revealed lipoblastomatosis. The second case was a 36-year-old man with an anterior cervical mass, which moved with swallowing. A resection was made and the histological analysis showed hibernoma.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the accuracy of the amplified Mycobacterium tuberculosis direct (AMTD) test with reference methods for the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis in HIV-infected patients. METHODS: This was a study of diagnostic accuracy comparing AMTD test results with those obtained by culture on Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) medium and by the BACTEC Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube 960 (BACTEC MGIT 960) system in respiratory samples analyzed at the Bioassay and Bacteriology Laboratory of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation Evandro Chagas Clinical Research Institute in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. RESULTS: We analyzed respiratory samples collected from 118 patients, of whom 88 (74.4%) were male. The mean age was 36.6 ± 10.6 years. Using the AMTD test, the BACTEC MGIT 960 system, and LJ culture, we identified M. tuberculosis complex in 31.0%, 29.7%, and 27.1% of the samples, respectively. In comparison with LJ culture, the AMTD test had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 87.5%, 89.4%, 75.7%, and 95.0%, respectively, for LJ culture, whereas, in comparison with the BACTEC MGIT 960 system, it showed values of 88.6%, 92.4%, 83.8%, and 94.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The AMTD test showed good sensitivity and specificity in the population studied, enabling the laboratory detection of M. tuberculosis complex in paucibacillary respiratory specimens.

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