Native-valve endocarditis caused by Achromobacter xylosoxidans: a case report and review of literature

Achromobacter xylosoxidans is a Gram-negative aerobic bacterium first described by Yabuuchi and Ohyama in 1971. A. xylosoxidans is frequently found in aquatic environments. Abdominal, urinary tract, ocular, pneumonia, meningitis, and osteomyelitis are the most common infections. Infective endocarditis is rare. As far as we know, until now, only 19 cases have been described, including this current report. We report the case of community-acquired native valve endocarditis caused by A. xylosoxidans in an elderly patient without a concomitant diagnosis of a malignancy or any known immunodeficiency. The patient presented with a 2-month history of fever, weight loss, and progressive dyspnea. On physical examination, mitral and aortic murmurs were present, along with Janeway’s lesions, and a positive blood culture for A. xylosoxidans. The transesophageal echocardiogram showed vegetation in the aortic valve, which was consistent with the diagnosis of infective endocarditi

Native-valve endocarditis caused by Achromobacter xylosoxidans: a case report and review of literature

Achromobacter xylosoxidans is a Gram-negative aerobic bacterium first described by Yabuuchi and Ohyama in 1971. A. xylosoxidans is frequently found in aquatic environments. Abdominal, urinary tract, ocular, pneumonia, meningitis, and osteomyelitis are the most common infections. Infective endocarditis is rare. As far as we know, until now, only 19 cases have been described, including this current report. We report the case of community-acquired native valve endocarditis caused by A. xylosoxidans in an elderly patient without a concomitant diagnosis of a malignancy or any known immunodeficiency. The patient presented with a 2-month history of fever, weight loss, and progressive dyspnea. On physical examination, mitral and aortic murmurs were present, along with Janeway’s lesions, and a positive blood culture for A. xylosoxidans. The transesophageal echocardiogram showed vegetation in the aortic valve, which was consistent with the diagnosis of infective endocarditi

Severe cognitive dysfunction and shrinking lung syndrome in systemic lupus erythematous

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that can affect any organ or system. Neuropsychiatric and pulmonary involvement can occur in 40 and 50% of patients respectively, and may occur in several different clinical forms. While the main neuropsychiatric manifestations are represented by cognitive impairment, organic cerebral syndromes, delirium, psychosis, seizures, and peripheral neuropathies, the main forms of pulmonary involvement are pleurisy with or without pleural effusion, pneumonitis, interstitial disease, pulmonary hypertension, and alveolar hemorrhage. The authors report the case of a 49-year-old woman whose first manifestation of SLE was represented by two rare manifestations: rapidly progressive cognitive impairment, which was associated with respiratory failure caused by the shrinking lung syndrome. The authors call attention to the under-diagnosis of lupus pulmonary complications and its association with severe cognitive impairment that often necessitates aggressive treatment

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma presenting in the leukemic phase

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common non-Hodgkin lymphoma comprising a heterogeneous group of disorders with variable histological and clinical behavior. Although other lymphomas may present in the leukemic phase more frequently, this appearance is unusually observed among DLBCL cases. Diagnosing lymphoma is not always easy, and the patient’s clinical status quite often may hamper invasive procedures for diagnosis pushing the clinician to look for alternatives to reach the nearest possible accurate diagnosis. The authors report the case of a middle-aged man who presented the history of malaise, weight loss, and low-grade fever. The peripheral blood count showed leukocytosis with the presence of blasts and thrombocytopenia. The cytological morphology and immunophenotyping of the peripheral blood and bone marrow aspirate, as well as the bone marrow biopsy accompanied by a thorough immunohistochemical analysis, rendered the diagnosis of DLBCL in the leukemic phase. The patient was prescribed R-CHOP with a favorable outcome. Intra-abdominal lymph node biopsy was avoided because of the patient’s critical medical condition. The authors highlight this rare form of presentation of DLBCL as well as the combination of peripheral blood, bone marrow aspirate, and bone marrow biopsy for reaching the diagnosis in cases were a lymph node sample is unavailable for the diagnostic work-u

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma presenting in the leukemic phase

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common non-Hodgkin lymphoma comprising a heterogeneous group of disorders with variable histological and clinical behavior. Although other lymphomas may present in the leukemic phase more frequently, this appearance is unusually observed among DLBCL cases. Diagnosing lymphoma is not always easy, and the patient’s clinical status quite often may hamper invasive procedures for diagnosis pushing the clinician to look for alternatives to reach the nearest possible accurate diagnosis. The authors report the case of a middle-aged man who presented the history of malaise, weight loss, and low-grade fever. The peripheral blood count showed leukocytosis with the presence of blasts and thrombocytopenia. The cytological morphology and immunophenotyping of the peripheral blood and bone marrow aspirate, as well as the bone marrow biopsy accompanied by a thorough immunohistochemical analysis, rendered the diagnosis of DLBCL in the leukemic phase. The patient was prescribed R-CHOP with a favorable outcome. Intra-abdominal lymph node biopsy was avoided because of the patient’s critical medical condition. The authors highlight this rare form of presentation of DLBCL as well as the combination of peripheral blood, bone marrow aspirate, and bone marrow biopsy for reaching the diagnosis in cases were a lymph node sample is unavailable for the diagnostic work-u

Associação entre evolução da função cognitiva e mortalidade após a alta hospitalar em pacientes idosos com insuficiência cardíaca avançada

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a associação entre a evolução do desempenho cognitivo e o prognóstico de idosos após compensação de insuficiência cardíaca avançada. MÉTODOS: Selecionados, consecutivamente, 31 pacientes internados com insuficiência cardíaca classe IV da New York Heart Association, com idade > 64 anos (68 ±7) e fração de ejeção < 0,45 (0,38 ± 0,06). Submetidos a testes cognitivos (digit span, digit symbol, letter cancellation, trail making A e B) e teste de caminhada de 6min, 4 dias antes da alta (T1) e 6 semanas após (T2), cujos desempenhos foram comparados pelo teste T. O valor prognóstico dos escores dos testes cognitivos foram analisados pela regressão logística e o valor de maior acurácia dos testes associado com o prognóstico determinado pela ROC curve. RESULTADOS: Após 24,7 meses, 17 (55%) pacientes faleceram. Os desempenhos ao teste de caminhada e maioria dos testes cognitivos melhoraram entre T1 e T2. O escore do digit span entre os sobreviventes variou de 3,9 para 5,2 (p=0,003), permanecendo inalterado entre os que faleceram (4,1para 3,9; p=0,496). Melhora < 0,75 pontos no escore foi associada à mortalidade (risco relativo de 8,1; p=0,011). CONCLUSÃO: Em idosos, após a compensação de insuficiência cardíaca avançada, a ausência de melhora evolutiva do desempenho cognitivo foi associada a pior prognóstico