Overwhelming respiratory failure associated with Legionella pneumophila

Four patients were admitted to the medical intensive care unit at King Khalid University Hospital [KKUH] with overwhelming respiratory failure. Extensive investigations revealed serological evidence of Legionella infection. Three patients required intubation and mechanical ventilation. All patients received erythromycin; rifampin was added to two patients. Two patients survived and two patients died. We report, for the first time in Saudi Arabia, four cases of Legionella pneumophila with severe respiratory failure

Severe adriamycin cardiotoxicity at cumulative dose below 500 Mg/M2: case report and review of the literature

Adriamycin [doxorubicin hydrochloride], an anthracycline antibiotic originally isolated from the fungus Streptomyces peucetius, is an effective antineoplastic agent against many human neoplasms including leukemias, lymphomas, and many solid tumors such as soft-tissue sarcomas. The most serious and total dose-limiting toxicity of Adriamycin is a well-described cardiomyopathy which is thought to be secondary to myocardial damage produced by oxygen-free radical production generated by the drug. The incidence of Adriamycin-induced cardiac toxicity [AICT] is directly related to the cumulative dose of the drug and is rare at cumulative doses below 550 mg/m[2] of body surface area. In this report we describe a patient who developed severe Adriamycin-induced cardiomyopathy at a cumulative dose of less than 500 mg/m[2]. The possible role of other chemotherapeutic agents which the patient was also receiving is also discussed