Dysphagia after Stroke: An Unmet Antibiotic Stewardship Opportunity.

The goal of antibiotic stewardship is to improve antibiotic use, often by reducing unnecessary treatment. Bedside dysphagia screening tools help identify patients at high risk of aspiration following stroke. Presence of dysphagia does not indicate a need for antibiotic treatment. Therefore, this retrospective, cohort study was developed to evaluate the association of dysphagia and antibiotic prescribing following stroke. There were 117 patients included. Patients were placed into 2 cohorts based on the results of the dysphagia screening, with 55 patients positive for dysphagia and 62 patients negative for dysphagia. Patients with dysphagia tended to be older, had higher National Institutes of Health stroke scores, and lower renal function. Patients with dysphagia were prescribed more empiric antibiotics than those without dysphagia (18.2% vs. 3.2%, p = 0.01). This resulted in 53 antibiotic days of therapy in the dysphagia cohort compared to 19 antibiotic days of therapy in the no dysphagia cohort (p = 0.1). No patients later developed pneumonia and only one patient was started antibiotics after 48 h. Two cases of Clostridioides difficile were reported. Both patients were in the dysphagia cohort and received antibiotics. Multivariable logistic regression demonstrated that positive chest x-ray findings and failed dysphagia screen were independent conditions associated with initiating antibiotics. These findings indicate that antibiotic use was higher in patients following stroke with a positive dysphagia screen. Close monitoring of stroke patients, particularly when positive for dysphagia, might be an under-recognized antibiotic stewardship opportunity.

Baseline Knowledge Attitudes Satisfaction and Aspirations With Advance Care Planning: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Studies have consistently demonstrated low rates of adoption of Advance Care Planning in the community. METHODS: We studied Medicare enrollees age 65 and over and non-Medicare patients using a cross-sectional survey undertaken in February and March 2019 using questionnaires completed by out-patients attending a teaching hospital clinic in East Tennessee USA. We evaluated patient knowledge, attitudes, satisfaction and aspirations towards Advance Care Planning. RESULTS: 141 properly completed questionnaires were used. All Medicare enrollees were aware of Advanced Care Planning compared to 43% in the non-Medicare group. 70% of the Medicare enrollees and 94% of non-Medicare group were not ready to complete a written Advanced Care Plan. Of the respondents, 46% had appointed spouses, 24% adult children, 11% siblings, 10% parents, 3.6% friends and 1.2% aunts as their surrogate medical decision makers. 41% agreed that they were satisfied with their current advance care planning arrangements. This research identified that individual's knowledge, attitudes and aspirations influenced the adoption of Advance Care. CONCLUSIONS: Patients have adopted the Advance Care Plan concept but have modified it to reduce their concerns by using family and loved ones to convey their wishes instead of filling the required legal documents. Clinicians could improve this informal system and increase the observability of the treatment choices including the use of video and web-based tools.

Peritoneal blastomycosis: a hidden mystery unfolds itself.

Blastomycosis is a disease caused by the fungus Blastomyces dermatitidis. Pulmonary blastomycosis is the most common form of blastomycosis. Disseminated blastomycosis is the fulminant form of the disease, with rare reports of peritoneal cavity involvement. We report a case of extensive form of the disease presenting initially as abdominal pain and mimicking peritoneal carcinomatosis.

Case report and literature review: HHV-6-associated meningoencephalitis in an immunocompetent adult.

Human herpesvirus type 6 (HHV-6) has been well described as an agent of meningoencephalitis in post-haematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients, but is a rare cause of meningoencephalitis in immunocompetent adults. We report an immunocompetent adult with HHV-6-associated meningoencephalitis. The patient was an elderly diabetic man who presented with fever and confusion, with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis. HHV-6 DNA was amplified from CSF by polymerase chain reaction. In our review of the medical literature we examine clinical presentations, laboratory findings, neuroimaging studies, treatments and clinical outcomes in immunocompetent patients with HHV-6 meningoencephalitis.

Prosthetic joint infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis: an unusual case report with literature review.

Prosthetic joint infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis usually involves the hips or knees and can result from either local reactivation, or less often from hematogenous spread. Predisposing conditions include rheumatoid arthritis, chronic steroid use and pulmonary diseases. The most common symptom at presentation is pain, and the most common physical finding is joint swelling and/or a draining sinus tract. The sedimentation rate is helpful when elevated but is nonspecific, and initial skin testing is only helpful when positive. The diagnosis depends on culture and histologic examination of tissue. Removal of the joint combined with oral antituberculous treatment is necessary when the infection is discovered greater than six weeks post joint replacement. Early diagnosis leads to decreased morbidity. Tuberculous infection of prosthetic joints is a rare disease and its diagnosis depends on a high degree of clinical suspicion.

Multiple brain abscesses caused by Cladophialophora bantianum: a challenging case.

Cladophialophora bantianum, a dematiaceous fungus with dark pigmented hyphae, is a rare cause of central nervous system (CNS) infection. This aggressive mold has a high mortality rate, primarily related to its poor response to currently available antifungal therapy. In this article, we report a 74-year-old immunocompromised man who presented with left-sided weakness, sensory deficit, and an abnormal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, which showed multiple ring-enhancing cerebral lesions. The largest lesion measured 4.6 x 3.9 centimeters and was located within the parietal region. He underwent a stereotactic needle biopsy, revealing a pigmented fungus which subsequently grew Cladophialophora bantiana. The patient failed initial monotherapy with liposomal amphotericin B. Later in the patient's hospital course, Flucytosine and voriconazole were added but there was no significant change in the size of the lesions on a repeat brain MRI performed one month into therapy. Surgical resection of the largest lesion was performed. Nevertheless, he continued to deteriorate and therapy was withheld per family request.

Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia as a manifestation of AIDS: case report and literature review.

Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) is a disease of the small airways characterized by intraluminal polyps of myxoid connective tissue. Although various infectious and non-infectious agents have been implicated as possible precipitants of BOOP, the concomitant occurrence of BOOP with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has rarely been described. We describe a unique case in which BOOP was a presenting feature in a patient with newly diagnosed AIDS, and we review the literature of BOOP occurring in the setting of HIV infection.

Syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone and nonpalpable purpura in a woman with Strongyloides stercoralis hyperinfection.

Strongyloidiasis stercoralis hyperinfection presenting as vasculitic-like skin lesions is rare. An autoinfection cycle allows intestinal strongyloidiasis, usually a benign infection, to persist for many decades. We report a woman with disseminated S stercoralis infection presenting as nonpalpable purpuric skin rash and syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). Upon admission, she was treated with corticosteroids for her vasculitic skin lesions, which then worsened her status. When the diagnosis was recognized, steroids were stopped, thiabendazole treatment was instituted, and she gradually recovered. Serious or fatal infection can occur in patients with strongyloidiasis who were treated with immunosuppressive drugs. Stool specimen screening and/or serological tests for S stercoralis infection in patients who require immunosuppressive therapy helps to prevent complications before embarking on such treatment. Unexplained hyponatremia, severe hypoalbuminemia without proteinuria, and unusual skin rashes, especially over the lower aspect of the abdomen and upper aspects of the thighs, in persons living in areas endemic to S stercoralis should raise suspicion of S stercoralis infection.