First U.S. report of subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by Veronaea botryosa in a heart transplant recipient and review of the literature.

Veronaea botryosa is a rare agent of human phaeohyphomycosis. We describe the first case of subcutaneous disease occurring in the United States, alert clinicians to the second report of a transplant-associated mycosis in a heart transplant recipient, extend the previously defined area of endemicity, and review the literature.

Scopulariopsis endocarditis associated with Duran ring valvuloplasty.

Fungal endocarditis is rare and is usually caused by Aspergillus and Candida species. We present a patient with endocarditis caused by Scopulariopsis brevicaulis. The patient had a history of mitral valve disease and, 1 year earlier, had undergone valvuloplasty with the placement of a prosthetic Duran ring in the mitral valve position. S. brevicaulis was cultured from samples of a large vegetation on the mitral valve apparatus. The mitral valve was replaced with a St. Jude mechanical prosthesis. The patient was treated with amphotericin B but was later switched to oral itraconazole when antibiotic tests indicated susceptibility to that agent. We believe this is the 1st reported case of endocarditis caused by Scopulariopsis.

Molecular fingerprinting of Legionella species by repetitive element PCR.

Repetitive element PCR (rep-PCR) uses outward-facing primers to amplify multiple segments of DNA located between conserved repeated sequences interspersed along the bacterial chromosome. Polymorphisms of rep-PCR amplification products can serve as strain-specific molecular fingerprints. Primers directed at the repetitive extragenic palindromic element were used to characterize isolates of Legionella pneumophila and other Legionella species. Substantial variation was seen among the rep-PCR fingerprints of different Legionella species and serogroups. More limited, but distinct, polymorphisms of the rep-PCR fingerprint were evident among epidemiologically unrelated isolates of L. pneumophila serogroup 1. Previously characterized Legionella isolates from nosocomial outbreaks were correctly clustered by this method. These results suggest the presence of repetitive extragenic palindromic-like elements within the genomes of members of the family Legionellaceae that can be used to discriminate between strains within a serogroup of L. pneumophila and between different Legionella species. rep-PCR appears to be a useful technique for the molecular fingerprinting of Legionella species.

Pulmonary malacoplakia associated with Rhodococcus equi infection in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Pulmonary malacoplakia associated with Rhodococcus equi, an opportunistic Gram-positive coccobacillus, is unusual. Although this patient is the ninth reported to have pulmonary malacoplakia, he is only the third patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome who has been reported to have pulmonary malacoplakia associated with R equi infection. The patient was a 49-year-old man infected with the human immunodeficiency virus who on initial examination was found to have cavitary pneumonia in the right upper lobe of the lung. Histologic examination of an open-lung biopsy specimen revealed sheets of foamy intraalveolar macrophages that contained coccobacillary organisms and some "targetlike" cytoplasmic inclusions. Electron-microscopic studies showed Michaelis-Gutmann bodies, some of which contained residual bacterial fragments. Cultures of the lung tissue, urine, and blood yielded growth of Gram-positive coccobacilli subsequently identified as R equi. In immunocompromised patients, the possibility of malacoplakia should be considered in the differential diagnosis of diffuse pulmonary infiltrate composed of foamy intraalveolar macrophages.

Dermatologic manifestations of infectious diseases in cardiac transplant patients.

Infection remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in cardiac transplant patients. Skin infections are not uncommon in these patients. Although usually caused by secondary dissemination after initial infection of another organ system, some skin infections may be primary infections, such as bacterial infections caused by the use of intravenous catheters or fungal infections in severely immunosuppressed patients. Nevertheless, the presence of skin lesions in a transplant patient may indicate infection in a primary site or another deep-seated focus of infection.

Loa loa infection as a cause of migratory angioedema: report of three cases from the Texas Medical Center.

Loa loa is a filarial parasite that is endemic in West and Central Africa. Expatriates infected with L. loa commonly develop characteristic migratory angioedema called Calabar swellings. We describe three patients who presented with classical Calabar swellings for whom the diagnosis of loiasis was delayed. Unusual features that were present included a leukocytoclastic vasculitis seen on skin biopsy (case 1), a relatively short exposure to an area of endemicity (cases 1 and 3), and a normal eosinophil count on initial evaluation (cases 2 and 3). We discuss the characteristic clinical manifestations of, pathological findings of, and therapy for loiasis. With the increased frequency of international travel, L. loa infection must be considered in the differential diagnosis for patients with migratory angioedema, urticarial vasculitis, or eosinophilia.

Life-threatening Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Bacterial infections are a well-described complication of AIDS. However, relatively few reports have described infections due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa in adults who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Seven cases of serious P. aeruginosa infection in HIV-infected patients occurred during 12 months in two hospitals in Houston, often in the absence of other host factors that are generally thought to predispose to this condition. One patient had no prior illness or antibody test results that were suggestive of HIV infection; for two other patients who were known to have antibody to HIV, an AIDS-defining diagnosis had never been made. Three patients had pneumonia (two with bacteremia and one with empyema), one had malignant otitis externa, and three had bacteremia that either resulted from or caused secondarily a soft-tissue focus of infection. Two patients died, and two others experienced one or more relapses after an initial course of treatment. Compromised host defense mechanisms, including loss of mucosal integrity, defects in humoral and cellular immunities, and qualitative or quantitative leukocyte abnormalities, may predispose HIV-infected patients to P. aeruginosa infections.

Focal hepatic tuberculosis in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Patients infected with HIV are known to have unusual manifestations of a variety of infections. We have described the third reported case of a patient with AIDS having an apparent pyogenic liver abscess subsequently diagnosed as focal hepatic tuberculosis. This case emphasizes the need for aggressive diagnostic procedures for evaluation of focal liver abnormalities in these patients.

Influence of underlying disease process on the utility of cellulitis needle aspirates.

A prospective microbiological evaluation of 87 patients with acute cellulitis was performed. Adult patients with cellulitis with diabetes mellitus or malignant disorders had a greater frequency of positive cultures. Qualitative leukocyte disorders associated with these underlying disease states was hypothesized as a contributing factor to this higher yield.

Aortogastric fistula from hiatal hernia ulcer. A cause of massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

An 83-year-old woman with no history of vascular surgery presented with a fatal upper gastrointestinal bleed from an aortogastric fistula secondary to a penetrating gastric ulcer. The fistula was between the thoracic aorta and the gastric ulcer in a hiatus hernia. On autopsy, a discrete 1-cm ulcer had perforated into the otherwise normal thoracic aorta. Aortogastric fistula involving the thoracic aorta and a gastric ulcer is rare in the absence of vascular graft surgery or aneurysm. We review the pertinent literature.