Faculty Bibliography

Background/UNASSIGNED:Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare condition associated with viral infections including HIV. Cases have been reported mainly in advanced HIV/AIDS. This is a rare case that reports HLH associated with human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8) associated multicentric Castleman disease in a stable HIV patient. Case Presentation/UNASSIGNED:A 70-year-old Asian male patient with history of stable HIV on medications with CD 4 cell count above 200 presented with cough and fever and was initially treated for pneumonia as an outpatient. Persisting symptoms prompted presentation to the hospital. The patient was found to have anemia which persisted despite repeated transfusion of packed red cells. A bone marrow biopsy to investigate anemia revealed hemophagocytosis. A CT scan revealed multiple enlarged lymph nodes and hepatosplenomegaly. An excisional lymph node biopsy revealed HHV-8 associated multicentric Castleman disease. The patient deteriorated despite initiation of treatment. Conclusion/UNASSIGNED:HLH can occur at any stage of HIV, rapid diagnosis to identify possible underlying reactive infectious etiology and prompt initiation of treatment is crucial to survival.

OBJECTIVE:The clinical effectiveness of tigecycline depends on appropriate use, and PK/PD (pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic) parameters related to dose and dosing interval. METHODS:In our 600-bed university-affiliated teaching hospital, we conducted a tigecycline efficacy review over a three-month period in 34 evaluable patients. Parameters assessed included clinical response, cure or treatment failure, once daily as q12h dosing, maintenance dosing, high dose vs. standard loading regimens, adverse effects, and the effect of infectious disease consultation on outcomes. RESULTS:colitis. Adverse effects were infrequent and limited to mild nausea/vomiting. Once daily HDT was highly effective, and the few treatment failures were related to suboptimal/split dosing regimens. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Once daily HDT was highly effective when used to treat susceptible pathogens and when optimally dosed, i.e., 200-400 mg (IV) loading dose ×1, followed by a once daily maintenance dose of 100-200 mg (IV) q24h.

We present a case of severe adenoviral pneumonia in a 20-year-old immunocompetent host with persistently high fevers. The patient was needlessly given multiple empiric antibiotics for non-existent bacterial co-infection. This case has important antibiotic stewardship lessons for practitioners in approaching fevers in the ICU.

This is a case report of an adult who presented with apparent culture negative endocarditis (CNE) thought to be marantic endocarditis due to a B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder. This was a most perplexing case and was eventually diagnosed as subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE) due to a rare slow growing organism. Against the diagnosis of SBE was the lack of fever, hepatomegaly, peripheral manifestations and microscopic hematuria. Also, against a diagnosis of SBE was another explanation for the patient's abnormal findings, e.g., elevated ferritin levels, elevated α1/α2 globulins on SPEP, an elevated alkaline phosphatase, flow cytometry showing B-lymphocytes expressing CD5, and a bone lesion in the right iliac. Findings compatible with both SBE and marantic endocarditis due to a B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder included an elevated ESR, and splenomegaly. Blood cultures eventually became positive during hospitalization. We report a case of native aortic valve (AV) subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE) due to Aerococcus christensenii mimicking marantic endocarditis due to a B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of native AV SBE due to A. christensenii presenting as marantic endocarditis.

We report an unusual case of Lemierre's syndrome due to a rare species of Fusobacterium, that is, Fusobacterium nucleatum preceded by Mycoplasma pneumoniae pharyngitis and followed later by Epstein-Barr virus infectious mononucleosis.