ABSTRACT
El empiema subdural es una patología rara que ocurre secundaria a otra infección en el complejo craneofacial; puede ser por una otitis media o por sinusitis en la mayoría de los casos. Por esto, normalmente, los gérmenes asociados con esta patología son los mismos encontrados en el oído medio y en los senos paranasales. A veces, un microrganismo raro causa el absceso, caso de este paciente, quien ingresó al hospital con dolor ocular y rápidamente progresó a un déficit neurológico causado por la bacteria Aggregatibacter aphrophilus. El caso tuvo una rápida intervención de todos los servicios involucrados. Neurocirugía drenó el empiema mediante trepano; posteriormente, el paciente requirió ventriculostomía y craniectomía descompresiva. El objetivo de esta revisión de la literatura es determinar qué dice la evidencia acerca del drenaje de empiemas mediante trepano o el uso temprano de craniectomía en este tipo de pacientes.
The subdural empyema is a rare pathology that normally occurs secondary' to another infection in the skull-facial complex, could be medial otitis or sinusitis in most of the cases, that's why the germs associated with this pathology' are normally the same found in the middle ear and paranasal sinuses. Eventually a rare microorganism causes an abscess, this is the case of this patient, who arrived to the hospital with ocular pain and rapidly progress with neurological déficit cause by' a bacteria called Aggregatibacter aphrophilus. The case had a fast intervention of all the Services involved, neurosurgery made an empyema drainage by burr hole, after that the patient required ventriculostomy and finally decompressive craniectomy. The objective of this review of the literature is to determine what does the evidence say about the empyema drainage by' burr hole or the early use of craniectomy in this kind of patients.
Subject(s)
Empyema, Subdural/diagnosis , CraniotomyABSTRACT
Nowadays, infective endocarditis remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and there are concerns related to the increased number of infections associated with virulent agents and medical procedures. We present a case of a homeless man with unknown medical history, admitted for lumbar pain who became confused, hypotensive and tachy cardic, evolving to severe sepsis. His initial investigation was also suggestive of acute myocardial infarction but the transthoracic echocardiogram revealed massive aortic valve vegetation with perivalvular abscess leading to severe aortic regurgitation. The patient died with the final diagnosis of infective endocarditis. Later on the blood cultures was identified Aggregatibacter aphrophilus, an HACEK group agent. This case confirms that, albeit the general favorable outcomes, there are cases of serious infections, especially if the diagnosis and treatment were late.
Hoy día, la endocarditis infecciosa continúa siendo una causa importante de mor-bimortalidad en todo el mundo y es preocupante el aumento del número de infecciones asociadas con agentes virulentos y procedimientos médicos. Presentamos el caso de un indigente con antecedentes médicos desconocidos, ingresado por dolor lumbar, que comenzó a sentirse confuso, hipotenso y taquicárdico. Poco después de su ingreso su estado evolucionó a septicemia grave. Los resultados de las pruebas iniciales también eran indicativos de infarto agudo de miocardio, pero el ecocardiograma transtorácico reveló una vegetación masiva en la válvula aórtica con absceso perivalvular condicionando regurgitación aórtica grave. El paciente murió, con el diagnóstico definitivo de endocarditis infecciosa. Más tarde, en los hemocultivos se identificó Aggregatibacter aphrophilus, un microorganismo del grupo HACEK. Este caso confirma que, a pesar de los resultados favorables en general, hay casos de infecciones graves, sobre todo si el diagnóstico y el tratamiento fueron tardíos.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Aortic Valve , Endocarditis, Bacterial , Aggregatibacter aphrophilus , Bacterial Infections , Virulence , SepsisABSTRACT
HACEK is a rare cause of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). We describe 42-year-old male patient who presented with Aggregatibacter aphrophilus PVE and cerebral infarct. A. aphrophilus was isolated from his blood cultures as the sole pathogen, which was confirmed by subsequent 16S rRNA sequencing. He was treated with valve replacement surgery and an 8 week course of pathogen-directed antibiotic therapy and followed for 20 months without recurrence.
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Male , Aggregatibacter aphrophilus , Endocarditis , Heart Valve Prosthesis , RecurrenceABSTRACT
Aggregatibacter aphrophilus, a normal component of oral cavity flora, mostly causes infective endocarditis and only rarely causes spondylitis; no spondylitis cases have been previously reported in Korea. We report a case of pyogenic spondylitis due to A. aphrophilus without endocarditis. A 64-year-old man was admitted for back pain lasting 3 weeks. There was severe tenderness on lumbar spines but no fever. Laboratory evaluation showed leukocytosis and elevated C-reactive protein. Blood cultures were negative. Magnetic resonance imaging showed psoas abscess and vertebral inflammation. Pus was obtained by computerized tomography-guided aspiration from the psoas abscess and inoculated into blood culture bottles. After 5 days of incubation, growth was detected: the isolate was a Gram-negative short rod bacteria identified as A. aphrophilus by the automated system; this was confirmed by 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. There was no evidence of endocarditis in echocardiography and retinal examination. Back pain persisted despite 8 weeks of antibiotic treatment, so vertebral corpectomy was performed. A. aphrophilus, a rare cause of pyogenic spondylitis, can induce spondylitis without endocarditis. If a patient with pyogenic spondylitis shows negative routine bacterial cultures, fastidious organisms such as A. aphrophilus should be suspected and the blood culture bottles could be used.
Subject(s)
Humans , Middle Aged , Aggregatibacter aphrophilus , Back Pain , Bacteria , C-Reactive Protein , Echocardiography , Endocarditis , Fever , Inflammation , Korea , Leukocytosis , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Mouth , Psoas Abscess , Retinaldehyde , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S , Spine , Spondylitis , SuppurationABSTRACT
Aggregatibacter aphrophilus is a facultatively anaerobic gram-negative coccobacillus or bacillus that grows with no dependence on X factor and variable requirement for V factor. The organism is normal flora in the human oral cavity and upper respiratory tract and, rarely, causes invasive infections such as bacteremia, endocarditis, brain abscess, or osteomyelitis. We report a case of septic peripheral embolism in left leg from A. aphrophilus endocarditis. A 49-year-old man with known hypertension presented with acute muscle pain in the left leg. On physical examination, a regular heartbeat with a pansystolic murmur was heard. There were decreased pulses in the left popliteal and dorsalis pedis arteries and coldness of the left foot, although sensory and motor functions were intact. Angiography revealed an embolus in a branch of the left femoral artery. He underwent emergency embolectomy, and gram-negative bacilli grew in the embolus cultures. The same microorganism was isolated in two pairs of blood culturs and subsequently identified as A. aphrophilus. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed mitral regurgitation and multiple vegetations on the mitral valve. The patient was treated with a third-generation cephalosporin for 4 weeks and mitral valve replacement in view of the diagnosis of infective endocarditis and septic peripheral embolism.