Open forum infectious diseases
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Open Forum Infect Dis · Sep 2014
Isolated facial vein thrombophlebitis: a variant of lemierre syndrome.
Lemierre syndrome is a rare complication of acute tonsillitis. It is caused by the anaerobic bacterium Fusobacterium necrophorum and is characterized by bacteremia and septic thrombosis of the internal jugular vein. ⋯ We discuss a case of Lemierre syndrome in a 35-year-old woman with isolated thrombophlebitis of the facial vein and fusobacteria growth in blood culture. This case emphasizes the need for awareness of the condition.
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Open Forum Infect Dis · Sep 2014
Staphylococcus aureus Infections After Elective Cardiothoracic Surgery: Observations From an International Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial of an Investigational S aureus Vaccine.
An unmet need to prevent Staphylococcus aureus (SA) infections after cardiothoracic surgery persists despite current practices. Cost-effective implementation of preventive strategies requires contemporary knowledge about modifiable risk factors. ⋯ In this large international cohort of patients undergoing cardiac surgery and observed prospectively, invasive postoperative SA infections occurred in 1% of adult patients despite modern perioperative management. The attributable mortality rates were 3% for MSSA and 13% for MRSA infections. Preoperative nasal colonization with SA increased the risk of postoperative infection threefold. The utility of strategies to reduce this incidence warrants continued investigation.
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Open Forum Infect Dis · Sep 2014
Sensitivity and specificity of procalcitonin in predicting bacterial infections in patients with renal impairment.
It is unclear whether procalcitonin is an accurate predictor of bacterial infections in patients with renal impairment, although it is used as a biomarker for early diagnosis of sepsis. We determined the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, accuracy and best predictive value of procalcitonin for predicting bacterial infection in adult patients with severe renal impairment. ⋯ Procalcitonin is not a reliably sensitive or specific predictor of bacterial infection in patients with renal impairment when using a single threshold. Perhaps two thresholds should be employed, where below the lower threshold (i.e. 0.5 ng/mL) bacterial infection is unlikely with a sensitivity of 0.80, and above the higher threshold (i.e. 3.2 ng/mL) bacterial infection is very likely with a specificity of 0.75.