1/283. Lymphocytic colitis: a clue to an infectious trigger. We present a 19-year-old patient who was admitted for evaluation of prolonged watery diarrhea. Previous study showed one stool culture positive for campylobacter jejuni, which was treated with appropriate antibiotics with no response. She underwent colonoscopy with multiple biopsies, which led to a diagnosis of lymphocytic colitis. We believe that the patient's disease was due to the infectious process, which triggered an autoimmune response and caused the lymphocytic colitis. ( info) |
2/283. Pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis caused by campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus. A case report. STUDY DESIGN: Clinical observation of a patient. OBJECTIVES: To present the clinical features of an unusual infection of the spine caused by campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus and to suggest treatment. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: This is only the second reported case of pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis caused by campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus. methods: A 66-year-old man had pain of the left lower extremity. Radiologic examination revealed an epidural mass associated with destruction of the L5-S1 vertebral bodies. RESULTS: biopsy of the epidural mass was performed, and culture yielded campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus. After intravenous antibiotics, oral doxycycline and erythromycin were given for 5 months. At 9 months after antibiotic treatment was completed, the patient's condition was stable. CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged oral administration of doxycycline and erythromycin was curative in this patient. ( info) |
3/283. vibrio fetus endocarditis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus. vibrio fetus endocarditis occurred in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus receiving azathoprin and prednisone. blood cultures required 14 days to become positive. The fastidious growth requirement of this organism is reviewed because lack of appreciation of these may result in failure to make the diagnosis. This is the first reported case of vibrio fetus endocarditis occurring in the setting of a connective tissue disorder and immunosuppressive therapy. ( info) |
| Two fatal cases of campylobacter jejuni septicaemia in patients with AIDS were characterised by severe hiv-related immunodeficiency, negative stool cultures and presentation during hospitalisation, developing a clinical picture of fulminant septic shock despite therapy with appropriate antibiotics. Campylobacter spp. are important opportunist pathogens in hiv disease and may cause a septicaemic illness in the absence of enteric disease. ( info) |
| Two patients with beta thalassemia who had undergone splenectomy for hypersplenism were admitted to the hospital with high fever and lobar pneumonia. Neither patient had gastrointestinal symptoms. Campylobacter bacteremia was diagnosed in both patients. campylobacter jejuni was identified in the first patient and campylobacter fetus in the second. Both patients were treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics and recovered fully. ( info) |
| meningitis caused by campylobacter jejuni is rare, we describe a case following neurosurgery for intra-cranial haematoma in a chronic alcoholic patient. Conventional culture of CSF and blood was supplemented by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of campylobacter jejuni. ( info) |
| campylobacter coli was isolated from a patient with severe, axonal type guillain-barre syndrome (GBS). The patient's serum was tested by ELISA for glycolipid antibodies and showed a high titer of IgG antibodies to asialo-GM1 (GA1) and GD3. campylobacter coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was extracted and analyzed by ELISA, immunoblot binding and blocking studies, and found to avidly bind cholera toxin and peanut agglutinin. The LPS from the patient's isolate also induced anti-GA1 antibodies in a rat model. These findings suggest that the LPS from this bacterial isolate contains a ganglioside-like epitope, which most likely resembles GA1. Thus, it appears that ganglioside cross-reactivity is not unique to campylobacter jejuni and seems to occur in all bacterial isolates from GBS cases so far analyzed. ( info) |
| We describe a patient with guillain-barre syndrome (GBS) following Campylobacter jejuni enteritis, accompanied with severe cramping pain and a marked increase in serum creatine kinase (CK) levels. Both conditions became evident three weeks after the onset of GBS and continued for longer than one month. In this patient, it is possible that rapid extensive denervation due to severe axonal degeneration of motor nerve terminals might have caused hyperexcitability in regional muscles, leading to recurrent muscle cramps and persistent release of muscular CK. ( info) |
| Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy is being increasingly used in a wide range of neurological conditions. However, treatment is expensive and side effects may be severe. A patient with miller fisher syndrome who developed cortical blindness as a consequence of occipital infarction precipitated by IVIg is reported on. ( info) |
| The development of toxic megacolon as a sequel of infectious colitis is rare. We have observed the very rare case of a campylobacter jejuni-induced toxic megacolon. A 28-year-old man was admitted with severe enterocolitis and appearance of blood in stools. He had been treated with loperamide without success. Two days after admission stool cultures revealed campylobacter jejuni and then an oral antibiotic therapy was started. On the fifth day clinical performance deteriorated again with development of toxic megacolon and consecutive subtotal colectomy. Rectoscopy before discharge after 13 days showed a normal mucosa. The unusual course with first improvement and then rapid deterioration despite adequate therapy was observed in 4 other cases, which may also be a hint of ensuing megacolon. Even in usually harmless enterocolitis like campylobacter infection, predisposing factors such as loperamide are known to precipitate toxic megacolon and should be considered in clinical practice. ( info) |