HIV adult with fever and shortness of breath: Influenza B misdiagnosed as Pneumocystis (carinii) jiroveci pneumonia (PCP).

Clinical correlation is essential in assessing the relevance of the patient's history and physical findings in making a clinical presumptive diagnosis. False diagnostic associations may result in misdiagnosis. We present a case of an elderly female with HIV on HAART who presented with shortness of breath assumed to have Pneumocystis (carinii) jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) even though she had a clinical diagnosis of influenza B. She was thought to have PCP only because she had HIV. Tests for PCP were negative including BAL staining. Influenza B present in her respiratory secretions by PCR and was also cultured from BAL fluid. Diagnostic associations are helpful in suggesting diagnostic possibilities but must be supported by clinical correlation of characteristic clinical features.

A rare case of influenza A in a hospitalized adult presenting with encephalitis and a seizure.

Influenza A in hospitalized adults uncommonly may present with neurologic manifestations, e.g., encephalitis. Encephalitis is the most common influenza related neurologic complication in adults, However, seizures in hospitalized adults due to influenza are extremely rare. This is a case of a 58 year old female hospitalized for influenza A. On admission, she was confused and obtunded. Her EEG showed diffuse global slowing indicative of encephalitis. On hospital day (HD) #2, she had a seizure. She had no history of a seizure disorder, and was not febrile at the time of the seizure. While seizures are not uncommon in children (febrile seizures) with influenza B, but in adults with influenza A, only a few cases of seizures have been reported. This case was most interesting in having both encephalitis and seizure complicating influenza A. If present, neuropsychiatric manifestations may be due to ostelamivir, but encephalitis and seizures are not among the neurologic adverse effects of ostelamivir. In adults hospitalized with influenza A, clinicians should be alert to the possibility of neurologic complications.

Intracranial complications of acute bacterial endocarditis.

BACKGROUND: Infectious endocarditis (IE) clinically manifests as either subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE) or acute bacterial endocarditis (ABE). Neurologic manifestations are markedly different for these two entities. ABE is caused by invasive, highly virulent pathogens (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus), whereas SBE is attributed to relatively avirulent, non-invasive organisms (e.g., viridans streptococci). METHODS: Here, we reviewed the clinical and radiographic presentations of a patient with cranial complications attributed to ABE. Such patients typically develop central nervous system (CNS) septic emboli resulting in stroke (with/without intracranial hemorrhage (ICH)) and/or mycotic aneurysms resulting in ICH bleeds. RESULTS: With ABE, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) seeding may result in acute bacterial meningitis (ABM), documented by positive Gram stain and/or culture for S. aureus, decreased glucose, highly elevated lactose acid levels, or ICH. Alternatively, in SBE, the CSF profile reflects an aseptic (viral) meningitis (i.e., Gram stain and culture negative, a normal glucose, and lymphocytic pleocytosis), while septic microemboli to the vasa vasorum contribute to an inflammatory reaction in the adventitia/muscle layer that weakens the vessel wall and results in mycotic aneurysms that may leak but often do not rupture causing ICH. CONCLUSION: Here, we reviewed the literature for intracranial pathology accompanying ABE versus SBE. ABE typically results in acute ischemia, septic emboli, stroke/hemorrhagic infarcts, or ICH. SBE more classically produces septic microemboli and mycotic aneurysms that may leak, but rarely producing ICH. We also presented a patient with ABE attributed to S. aureus whose septic emboli/stroke was accompanied by a mycotic aneurysm; the ruptured resulting in a large right occipital ICH.

Fever of unknown origin (FUO): CMV infectious mononucleosis or lymphoma?

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) refers to fevers of > 101 °F that persist for > 3 weeks and remain undiagnosed after a focused inpatient or outpatient workup. FUO may be due to infectious, malignant/neoplastic, rheumatic/inflammatory, or miscellaneous disorders. The FUO category determines the focus of the diagnostic workup. In the case presented of an FUO in a young woman, there were clinical findings of both CMV infectious mononucleosis or a lymphoma, e.g., highly elevated ESR, elevated ferritin levels, and elevated ACE level, ß-2 microglobulins. The indium scan showed intense splenic uptake. Lymph node biopsy, PET scan, and flow cytometry were negative for lymphoma. CMV infectious mononucleosis was the diagnosis, and she made a slow recovery.