| A 47-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of severe low back pain. A computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a left sided psoas muscle abscess. On the first hospital day, US-guided drainage was performed. streptococcus pneumoniae was isolated from the pus. Thereafter, the open drainage of the abscess and antibiotic treatment were given with subsequent clinical improvement. Only 10 cases of pneumococcal psoas abscess have been previously reported in the world literature. ( info) |
2/445. Pneumococcal arthritis. Twelve patients with pneumococcal arthritis are described. Seven of the 12 patients had underlying diseases which predisposed them to pneumococcal infections; five were alcoholics and two had hypogammaglobulinemia. Five patients had pre-existing joint disease prior to the onset of septic arthritis. Seven patients had co-existent pneumococcal infection, including meningitis and/or endocarditis in five. The other five patients had pneumococcal arthritis without evidence of other foci of pneumococcal infection. With penicillin therapy and drainage of the purulent joint fluid (by needle aspiration in four and surgical drainage in seven), the function of the involved joint returned to normal or to the previous baseline level in all but one patient. ( info) |
3/445. Pneumococcal polyarticular septic arthritis in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most commonly reported host-related risk factor for septic arthritis. This risk is highest in severe, seropositive, long-standing (mean, 10 years) rheumatoid arthritis responsible for extraarticular symptoms and treated with systemic glucocorticoids. The clinical presentation of the joint infection is often atypical, leading to diagnostic wanderings. In 25% of cases, the infection is polyarticular, with 3.5 involved joints on average. staphylococcus aureus is the most common causative organism. streptococcus pneumoniae causes 5% of all cases of septic arthritis and is more often responsible for polyarticular infections than other organisms. Polyarticular septic arthritis carries a poor prognosis, with a mortality rate of 50% in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Despite its low incidence, polyarticular septic arthritis should be routinely considered in the differential diagnosis of rheumatoid flares. We report a case of pneumococcal septic arthritis involving five joints in a patient with known rheumatoid arthritis. Three other cases with involvement of more than four joints have been published. ( info) |
| In this paper we report a 48-year-old man with septic arthritis of the wrist and ankle due to streptococcus pneumoniae. No known predisposing factor was found. Only about 300 cases of pneumococcal arthritis have been reported in the literature since 1888 and less than 10% of these affect the wrist. The management of bacterial arthritis is reviewed. ( info) |
| Bacterial pneumonia, specifically pneumococcal infection, is a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (hiv). It causes morbidity directly and possibly progression of hiv infection. The clinical presentation and response to therapy are usually similar to that of patients without hiv infection, although radiographic presentations may be atypical. There is a higher incidence of invasive disease and extrapulmonary disease, and mortality may be increased in hiv-infected patients. hiv infection impairs the host response to pneumococcus in a variety of ways. Colonization with streptococcus pneumoniae may be prolonged for reasons that are incompletely understood. Concern about the rising prevalence of resistant pneumococcal strains is increasing, but the clinical relevance is uncertain. At least 90% of the strains that cause invasive disease are present in the 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine. The response to vaccination declines as immunodeficiency progresses; however, the potential benefit to responders is great and the risk is minimal. Therefore, this vaccine is recommended for all hiv-infected persons. ( info) |
| Pneumococcal endocarditis most often presents as an ulcerative endocarditis causing rapid destruction of the normal aortic valve, leading to aortic insufficiency and acute heart failure. alcoholism is the most frequent underlying medical condition. This case illustrates that pneumococcal endocarditis can reoccur and is able to attack healthy, as well as previously damaged, heart valves. It also illustrates that vaccination of certain groups should be considered. The importance of repeated heart stethoscopy in patients with pneumococcaemia is emphasized. ( info) |
| We present a case of vertebral osteomyelitis with an adjacent abdominal aortic mycotic aneurysm caused by a highly penicillin-resistant streptococcus pneumoniae strain. The occurrence of all three phenomena in a single patient has not been previously described. This presentation offers the opportunity to reflect on the increasing incidence of S. pneumoniae as a resistant pathogen, the treatment of highly penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae, and the etiologic agents of both vertebral osteomyelitis and mycotic aneurysm. ( info) |
| We describe a patient with streptococcus pneumoniae sinusitis associated with a severe sepsis syndrome and desquamative rash whose clinical illness strongly resembled toxic-shock syndrome. Assay of convalescent serum for antibodies to toxic-shock syndrome toxin 1 was negative. This case suggests the possibility of an additional bacterial pathogen associated with toxic-shock syndrome. ( info) |
9/445. Frequency of very late fatal sepsis after splenectomy for hereditary spherocytosis: impact of insufficient antibody response to pneumococcal infection. Very late sepsis in splenectomized patients with hereditary spherocytosis has been seen rarely up to now; the frequency and the immunodeficiency causing it are largely unknown. Within the past 7 years we have learned of four cases of sepsis or meningitis (three fatal) in adult patients with hereditary spherocytosis who had been splenectomized years earlier. The estimated frequency of very late postsplenectomy infections is 0.69 cases of sepsis or meningitis in 1000 patient-years (0.46 deaths in 1000 patient-years). Pneumococci were proven in two patients. The surviving patient showed low antibody titers against pneumococcal serotypes even after pneumococcal meningitis and subsequent vaccination. There have been several reports of an insufficient response to pneumococcal vaccination in patients with severe infections. We recommend determination of pneumococcal antibody titers after immunization in every splenectomized patient: Nonresponders to vaccination may be at high risk for overwhelming postsplenectomy infection. Our data demonstrate that there is a lifelong risk for severe postsplenectomy infections and therefore the lasting need for immediate antibiotic therapy in any case with sudden onset of high fever. ( info) |
10/445. Pneumococcal abscess manifesting as an anterior mediastinal mass and fatal hemoptysis. An elderly man had several weeks of night sweats, weight loss, and an anterior mediastinal mass on chest radiography. Computed tomographic-guided needle aspiration was nondiagnostic. Shortly after the patient's admission, three sets of blood cultures yielded streptococcus pneumoniae. Despite systemic antimicrobials, the patient had an episode of acute hemoptysis and died. autopsy showed an anterior mediastinal abscess with pneumonic involvement of the left lung. There was histologic evidence of necrotizing pneumonia and parenchymal hemorrhage, which likely resulted in fatal hemoptysis. ( info) |