A Periorbital Abscess with Combined Retinal Artery Occlusion and Retinal Vein Occlusion: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND Periorbital abscesses are uncommon complications of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis; with the evolution of diagnostic and therapeutic methods, it is rare that the patient progresses to irreversible blindness. Central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) and central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) rarely occur simultaneously and the factors that influence this occurrence are not well understood. CASE REPORT This is a case report of an immunocompetent healthy adolescent girl, who developed irreversible blindness caused by a periorbital abscess secondary to acute bacterial rhinosinusitis due to CRAO and CRVO. Despite 6 days of clinical treatment, including intravenous antibiotics (vancomycin-associated piperacillin with tazobactam), she had a large periorbital abscess and could not open her left eye. Therefore, she was transferred to a tertiary hospital; 1 day after her admission, she underwent surgical treatment to drain the abscess through external and endoscopic access. In addition, she received broad-spectrum antibiotics (meropenem with vancomycin) for 3 weeks. She was no longer able to perceive light with the left eye, despite her clinical improvement. This case report discusses the factors that could have contributed to this poor outcome, despite clinical and surgical treatment. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that there are several mechanisms that can lead to the loss of vision and when the indicated surgical intervention is delayed, it can increase the risk of visual sequelae.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus coinfection in a tertiary care hospital in Midwestern Brazil.

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) increases the risk of tuberculosis (TB), and HIV TB coinfection is associated with higher mortality. This study aimed to characterize patients coinfected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and HIV in a reference centre for cases involving complications or drug resistance in TB. This retrospective cohort study was conducted at a Hospital for Tropical Diseases in the state of Goiás, Midwestern Brazil. Patients' medical records were reviewed between January 2008 and December 2009. Sixty-one cases of TB/HIV coinfection were evaluated, and 54 HIV-seronegative TB cases were selected as controls. The prevalence of TB HIV coinfected patients in 2008/2009 was 23%. Coinfection was more prevalent in men (75.4%), with a mean age of 37.1 years. Pulmonary disease (50.8%) was the most frequent clinical form of TB in coinfected patients, followed by disseminated disease (32.8%). Anaemia, malnutrition and low levels of CD4 T lymphocytes were found in about 80% of coinfected patients. Bilateral pulmonary infiltrates were the most common radiographic finding in coinfected patients (51.8%), and pulmonary cavitation was the rarest event (5.4%). The mortality rate was 2.8 times higher in the TB HIV coinfected group (39.3%) than in TB patients without HIV (18.5%). Actions targeting the TB HIV-coinfected population, based on national and international recommendations, are necessary to improve prognosis and outcomes in TB and HIV infection in the institution.