Current experimental evidence favours the use of prophylactic antibiotics in severe acute pancreatitis. The results of contemporary randomized clinical trials restricted to patients with prognostically severe acute pancreatitis have demonstrated improvement in outcome associated with antibiotic treatment.

Aim-To investigate the ability of Streptococcus bovis to colonise colorectal cancers. Patients-19 patients with colorectal cancer and 23 controls without malignancy. Setting-University teaching hospital. Methods-Prospective study comparing unselected patients with known colorectal cancer with age and sex matched controls. Carcinoma tissue from patients with colorectal cancer and normal colonic mucosa, stool, and blood from both patients and control subjects were cultured. Results-In contrast to published data, the faecal carriage rate was similar in cancer (11%) and control groups (13%). Conclusions-Faecal colonisation by Str bovis in colorectal cancer patients is lower than previously reported and does not diVer significantly from controls. (J Clin Pathol 1998;51:473-474)

A prospective study was established to determine whether, using suitable transport media, bacteria could be isolated from the lesions of mammary duct ectasia. The results indicate that both aerobic and anaerobic organisms are present in a high proportion of patients with nipple discharge associated with this condition and in all patients who develop peri-areolar sepsis (abscess and mammillary fistulae) as part of the syndrome. The lesions of duct ectasia are therefore not sterile and the possibility exists that bacteria have a role in the aetiology and pathogenesis of this condition.

Significant bacteriuria (viable count greater than or equal to 10(5)/ml) was found on single testing in 10% of 400 consecutive diabetic women aged 15-65 yr routinely attending a diabetic clinic. Twenty patients with and 21 without significant bacteriuria were then randomly selected for measurement of cardiovascular autonomic reflexes, bladder ultrasound, and mictiography. There were no significant differences between these two groups in age, duration and type of diabetes, glycosylated hemoglobin, blood urea, and creatinine. Abnormalities of cardiovascular autonomic function were more common in the bacteriuric group (P less than .01). Although the bacteriuric group voided a smaller volume of urine, none had evidence of increased residual bladder volume of urine on ultrasound. Diabetic women with cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy appear to be at increased risk of developing bacteriuria. However, age is probably the most important factor influencing the prevalence of bacteriuria in diabetic and in nondiabetic women.

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