[Post-traumatic mucormycosis due to Lichtheimia corymbifera: three case reports]. / Mucormycoses post-traumatiques à Lichtheimia corymbifera: à propos de 3 cas.

We report 3 cases of post-traumatic cutaneous mucormycosis caused by Lichtheimia corymbifera, two of them occurring after a farm working accident. Management of post-traumatic mucormycoses consists of a wide excision of the infected tissue, combined with immediate antifungal therapy. Liposomal amphotericin B is the recommended first line treatment. Few studies have evaluated the efficacy of posaconazole. All 3 patients received a surgical debridement and liposomal amphotericin B, which was followed by posaconazole in 2 cases. The duration of the antifungal treatment is not yet well defined. All three patients received a treatment of five weeks with a favorable outcome.

Evaluation of the fungitest kit by using strains from human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients: study of azole drug susceptibility.

One hundred eighteen Candida clinical isolates from human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients were tested for their susceptibilities to fluconazole and itraconazole by Fungitest and the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards MIC method. Fungitest results depended on both yeast species and antifungal agents. This test is able to detect sensitive strains (97% agreement with results of the MIC method in tests with fluconazole and 84% agreement in tests with itraconazole) but has a poor capacity to detect resistant strains (26% agreement in tests with fluconazole and 5% agreement in tests with itraconazole).

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in immunodeficient subjects by gene amplification: influence of therapeutics.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology was used to detect Toxoplasma gondii DNA in 253 immunodeficient subjects, 179 of whom were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The incidence of toxoplasmosis was 12.3% (22/179) in the HIV-infected subjects and 2.7% (2/74) in the remainder. The sensitivity of the PCR during episodes of toxoplasmosis in HIV-infected subjects not on antiparasitic treatment was 86.6% on peripheral blood and 60% on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), but was only 25% and 16.7%, respectively, in subjects receiving specific treatment or prophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii. Among the HIV-seronegative population, six patients undergoing anticancer chemotherapy were PCR positive on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid but did not develop pulmonary toxoplasmosis, suggesting transient carriage.

[Animal bites. Epidemiology and infection risks]. / Morsures d'animaux. Epidémiologie et risques infectieux.

A review of 5,116 cases of animal bites (587 of which were studied prospectively) has shed some light on their epidemiological aspects and on the risk of infection they carry. It has also led to a more objective assessment of the real effect of the therapeutic and prophylactic measures usually applied in such cases. The most frequent wounds are those of the hands and face, the former rising an infectious problem, the latter a predominantly cosmetic problem. The overall risk of infection is 30 per cent, but it is increased, notably as regards pasteurellosis, in the case of cat bite. Precise and simple rules concerning the prevention of this risk cannot easily be given, but it seems that the systematic antibiotic treatment initially prescribed has not clearly proved effective. Similarly, early sutures do not significantly increase the risk of infection.

[Cerebral abscess and Osler-Rendu disease. Apropos of 4 cases]. / Abcès cérébraux et maladie de Rendu Osler. A propos de 4 cas.

The authors report 4 cases of cerebral abscesses (C.A.) complicating Rendu Osler disease (hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia: H.H.T.). These cases and 43 others comparable found in literature enable to assess C.A. complicates H.H.T. by the way of pulmonary arteriovenous fistulas (P.A.V.F.). C.A. appears during known H.H.T. in only a quarter of cases; in all other cases C.A. reveals the disease. When the etiological search for metastatic C.A. fails to find any classical cause: O.R.L., stomatologic, cardiac, it seems important to suspect H.H.T., and research P.A.V.F. by chest X ray and pulmonary angiography. Preventive treatment consists in excluding pulmonary fistulas without waiting neurological complications of known H.H.T.