Infected femoral pseudoaneurysms in intravenous drug abusers: a decade of experience from a Singapore tertiary centre

INTRODUCTION@#A pseudoaneurysm (or false aneurysm) is a haematoma that communicates with an artery through a disruption in the arterial wall. The femoral artery is the most common injection site among drug users, and infected femoral pseudoaneurysms are the most common vascular complications.@*METHODS@#A retrospective review of medical records of intravenous drug abusers (IVDAs) who presented with infected femoral pseudoaneurysms from January 2006 to December 2016 was carried out. Patients who had pseudoaneurysms due to other aetiologies or trauma were excluded.@*RESULTS@#A total of 27 patients with infected femoral pseudoaneurysms were identified. The majority were male (92.6%) and of Malay ethnicity (55.6%). Median age was 50 (range 31-62) years. Commonly abused drugs were buprenorphine (or Subutex; 59.3%) and midazolam (or Dormicum; 51.9%). Groin pain and swelling (100.0%), fever (66.7%) and presence of a pulsatile mass (51.9%) were the most common presenting symptoms. Diagnosis was confirmed via computed tomography angiography in all patients. 25 patients underwent upfront arterial ligation with debridement, among whom three patients required concurrent surgical revascularisation. Only two patients underwent ultrasonography-guided thrombin injection - one eventually required surgery and the other was lost to follow-up. Postoperative complications included wound infection (42.3%), bleeding (11.5%) and necrotising fasciitis eventually resulting in limb loss (3.8%). There were no associated mortalities.@*CONCLUSION@#Infected pseudoaneurysms in IVDAs pose a unique challenge to vascular surgeons. We found that simple ligation and debridement was a safe and effective option for such patients.

Clinical analysis of 166 cases of bacterial/fungal bloodstream infection in AIDS patients / 中国感染与化疗杂志

Objective To compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of bacterial and fungal bloodstream infections in the patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Methods The clinical data of AIDS patients complicated with bacterial or fungal bloodstream infection treated in Chongqing Public Health Medical Center from January 2016 to June 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. The two groups of patients were compared in terms of clinical symptoms, laboratory tests and outcomes. Results Significantly more patients in bacterial group (AIDS complicated with bacterial bloodstream infection) were associated with intravenous drug abuse than that in fungal group (AIDS complicated with fungal bloodstream infection) (P＜0.05). The average age of patients was older in bacterial group than in fungal group. The incidence of nausea, vomiting and skin rash in fungal group was significantly higher than that in bacterial group (P＜0.05). CD4+T cells in fungal group decreased more significantly than that in bacterial group. No significant difference was found between the two groups in sex ratio, routine blood tests, biochemical assays, and mortality. Conclusions Fungi are the main pathogen of AIDS-associated bloodstream infections. Contrast to the bacterial bloodstream infections in AIDS patients, fungal bloodstream infection is more frequently found in younger patients, and associated with higher incidence of nausea, vomiting, typical skin rash, and more remarkable decrease of CD4+T cells. Bacterial bloodstream infection is more prevalent than fungal bloodstream infection in intravenous drug abusers. No significant difference is found in the mortality between the AIDS patients complicated with bacterial bloodstream infection and those complicated with fungal bloodstream infection.

Surgical Management of Vascular Complications in Intravenous Drug Abusers: Experience at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Bangladesh.

Background: Intravenous drug abuse (IVDA) is a global health care problem that has tremendous socio-economic implications. Vascular complications following IVDA are not uncommon and may have serious consequences. At the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Dhaka, Bangladesh, there has been a steady increase in the number of cases with vascular complications of IVDA in the recent years. Objectives: The present study was undertaken to evaluate our surgical strategy for the management of various vascular complications following IVDA. Materials and Methods: Over the last 5 years, a total of 45 patients presented at the NICVD with various complications of IVDA. Thirty seven patients presented at the emergency department with bleeding from ruptured aneurysm or with impending aneurysm rupture. The remaining 8 patients presented at the vascular outpatient with deep venous thrombosis, superficial thrombophlebitis and chronic venous insufficiency. After resuscitation when necessary, excision of aneurysm was done either with simple ligation of the artery (Group A) or with restoration of arterial continuity (Group B). Outcome in the two groups were compared against the following parameters; acute limb ischemia, chronic limb ischemia, wound infection and lymphorrhoea. Results: There was no in-hospital mortality in this series. Both ligation and restoration of arterial continuity following aneurysmectomy were effective in treating the bleeding aneurysm. However, statistically significant differences were seen between the two groups in terms of acute and chronic limb ischemia. Restoration of arterial continuity was more effective in preventing acute and chronic limb ischemia. Conclusions: In Bangladesh, the incidence of IVDA with vascular complications is increasing at an alarming rate. In patients presenting with arterial pseudoaneurysms, surgical management should be aimed at restoration of arterial continuity whenever feasible.

A Case of HIV Infection by Intravenous Drug Abuse / 감염과화학요법

Intravenous (IV) drug abuse is one of important transmission modes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. IV drug abuse in HIV epidemics is frequent in western countries. In Korea, however, no case has been definitely identified although possibility of such infection route does exist considering rising number of IV drug use (IDU). Recently, we have experienced a case of HIV infection by IDU. We herein offer the case with review of literature.

A Case of HIV Infection by Intravenous Drug Abuse / 감염과화학요법

Intravenous (IV) drug abuse is one of important transmission modes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. IV drug abuse in HIV epidemics is frequent in western countries. In Korea, however, no case has been definitely identified although possibility of such infection route does exist considering rising number of IV drug use (IDU). Recently, we have experienced a case of HIV infection by IDU. We herein offer the case with review of literature.