Pseudomonas luteola cutaneous abscess and bacteraemia in a previously healthy man.

Pseudomonas luteola is uncommonly implicated in clinical infections, but it constitutes a significant nosocomial pathogen causing mainly infections associated with foreign material. This report describes an unusual case of a Pseudomonas luteola strain that infected and caused cutaneous abscess and bacteraemia in a previously healthy man.

Adiponectin and breast cancer risk.

Adiponectin, an adipocyte-secreted hormone, is closely and inversely associated with insulin resistance and was recently found to be inversely and independently associated with endometrial cancer. Because insulin resistance in the setting of obesity has also been associated with the development of breast cancer, we have hypothesized that decreased adiponectin levels might underlie the association between breast cancer and obesity/insulin resistance. We evaluated the association of adiponectin with the occurrence of breast cancer in a case-control study comprising 174 women with newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed breast cancer and 167 controls. We found an inverse, fairly strong, and statistically significant association of serum adiponectin with breast cancer (odds ratio, 0.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.71-0.99). Importantly, despite a fairly robust inverse association of adiponectin with breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women (odds ratio, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.67-1.00), no such significant association between adiponectin and breast cancer was found among premenopausal women. The observed associations were independent of possible effects of major components of the IGF system, leptin, body mass index, sociodemographic variables, and known risk factors for breast cancer. Future studies are needed to prove causality and provide further insights into both the mechanisms underlying the actions of this hormone and its potential role in breast cancer.

Leptospirosis presenting as acute pancreatitis and cholecystitis.

We report a rare case of a 21-year-old man with leptospirosis mimicking acute pancreatitis and cholecystitis. This case report aims at pointing out the need of taking into consideration the possibility of leptospirosis in patients with an influenza-like syndrome, headache accompanied by acute abdominal pain and a suspicious exposure in order to prevent unnecessary surgical interventions.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia: a serious and rare complication in patients suffering from burns.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is rarely implicated in clinical infections but it constitutes a significant nosocomial pathogen, especially in immunocompromised patients. This report describes the first case of a generalised infection caused by S. maltophilia that included bacteremia, wound and respiratory tract infection in a patient suffering from burns. Given the emergence of S. maltophilia nosocomial infections, especially in patients with burns, isolation of the bacterium from blood cultures should prompt the commencement of adequate antibiotic treatment.

Fusobacterium necrophorum septicemia following Epstein-Barr virus infectious mononucleosis.

We report herein a case of a 20-year-old previously healthy man who presented, 25 days after the onset of clinically and serologically confirmed Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infectious mononucleosis, Fusobacterium necrophorum septicemia. The diagnosis of postanginal septicemia was confirmed by repeated demonstration of fusiform, obligate anaerobic, Gram-negative bacilli in anaerobic blood cultures, identified as F. necrophorum 15 days after admission. This case report aims at underlining the need of taking into consideration the possibility of severe Fusobacterium septicemia in previously healthy patients following EBV infectious mononucleosis in order to prevent increased mortality and morbidity.