Hemorrhagic pulmonary leptospirosis: three cases from the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico / Leptospirose hemorrágica pulmonar: três casos na península de Yucatán, México

Three leptospirosis cases with lung involvement are reported from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. All three patients were admitted to the intensive care unit due to acute respiratory failure. Treatment with antibiotics resulted in favorable evolution despite the negative prognosis. Leptospirosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of patients with fever and lung involvement.

Analisamos três casos de leptospirose com envolvimento pulmonar na Península Yucatán, México. Os três pacientes com seqüelas pulmonares entraram na unidade de cuidados intensivos devido à insuficiência respiratória grave. Todos os casos evoluíram favoravelmente ao tratamento com antibióticos, apesar do prognóstico negativo. Leptospirose deve ser incluída no diagnóstico diferencial de pacientes com febre e comprometimento pulmonar.

Dístrés respiratorio debido a hemorragia pulmonar por leptospirosis / [Respiratory distress due to pulmonary hemorrhage in leptospirosis]

Two patients who lived in Buenos Aires suburbs died from leptospirosis in July 2000 and March 2001. They developed a nonspecific febrile illness followed by hemorrhagic pneumonia and respiratory distress in absence of typical manifestations such as jaundice, nephropathy, thrombocitopenia or hemorrhages in other organs. In the house and surroundings of one patient rodents were captured and three strains of leptospira, serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae were isolated. Laboratory guinea pigs were inoculated and they were sacrificed as soon as respiratory symptoms appeared. Necropsy showed primary lung injury, which was similar to the histopathological lesions found in one of the patients. Neither jaundice, nor renal damage was found. Pericardiac hemorrhages were considered as a possible cause of cardiopulmonary collapse. This clinical form has not been reported previously in this region, where conditions are indeed suitable for the human illness to appear.

Haemorrhagic pneumonitis: A rare presentation of leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis is an uncommon zoonosis. As a systemic disease, it presents itself by multisystem involvement. Pulmonary involvement with leptospirosis often is manifested by respiratory symptoms; but pneumonia commonly is not a prominent clinical manifestation of the illness. We report a case of leptospiral pneumonia in which pulmonary manifestations were primary clinical features of the illness. The prompt resolution of chest x-ray on institution of treatment is noteworthy.

The hemorrhagic syndrome of leptospirosis: an experimental study in guinea pigs

The hemorrhagic syndrome of leptospirosis was studied in guinea pigs. The study correlates hematological, histopathological and immunohistochemical alterations in sixty animals inoculated by the intraperitoneal route with lml of the culture of virulent strain of Leptospira interrogans serovar copenhageni. Leptospirae antigens were detected by immunoperoxidase, chiefly in liver, kidney and heart muscle capillaries. Possible pathogenic mechanisms responsible for hemorrhagic syndrome are discussed with emphasis on toxic and anoxic attacks causing damage to endothelia, platelet depletion and alterations to hemostasia rates: prothrombin time [PT], partial thromboplastin time [PT] and Fibrinogen concentrations. The clinical-laboratory picture is compatible with the histopathological observation of disseminated intravascular coagulation [DIC] in most of the guinea pigs from day 4 of infection.