[Two cases of Paragonimiasis westermani in a Chinese family diagnosed with the Ouchterlony double diffusion method].

We report two cases of Paragonimus westermani infection in a Chinese family in Japan. A 41-year-old husband and his 40-year-old wife were infected with P. westermani after consuming a homemade Chinese traditional "Drunken Crab." They were a family with two children who had lived in Japan for 19 years. The crabs were Eriocheir japonica sent from the Kyusyu area that they had pickled at home with soy sauce and Chinese liquor for 5 days. Their children did not eat any of the crabs. One month after consuming the crabs, the husband came to our outpatient clinic with fever and chest pain and his wife also presented with a persistent cough. Both patients had a high peripheral blood eosinophil count (husband:18,900/µL, wife:10,600/µL) with pulmonary effusion, nodular shadow, and pneumothorax in chest X-ray findings. Paragonimiasis was suspected from the episode of consuming the crabs. No parasite eggs were seen in their sputum and stool samples. A multiple-dot ELISA was performed with the sera to screen for parasitic infections, but the result was only weakly positive for P. westermani antigen in the husband and a slightly positive reaction in the wife. The diagnosis of P. westermani was achieved with the double diffusion Ouchterlony method using P. westermani antigen and P. miyazakii antigen. Praziquantel administration for three days improved the symptoms in both patients. The Ouchterlony method proved useful in diagnosing paragonimiasis in these cases.

Frequent premature ventricular contractions induced by fluconazole: A case report.

Introduction: Fluconazole is commonly used to treat and prevent fungal infections caused by Candida and Cryptococcus species. Although there have been reports of fatal arrhythmias induced by fluconazole, such as torsades de pointes, there have been minimal reports of mild, non-fatal arrhythmias associated with it, which may have been overlooked in clinical practice. We encountered a case of frequent premature ventricular contractions induced by fluconazole during the treatment of HIV-related pulmonary cryptococcosis. Herein, we report a case of frequent premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) induced by fluconazole, along with a literature review. Case presentation: A 47-year-old man diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus-related pulmonary cryptococcosis experienced an irregular heartbeat during antifungal therapy with fluconazole at 400 mg once daily. A 12-lead electrocardiogram was conducted, which displayed frequent unifocal PVCs originating in the right ventricular outflow tract without QT prolongation. After reducing the dose of fluconazole to 200 mg once daily, the patient's symptoms slightly improved, and PVC frequency decreased on a 12-lead ECG; however, PVCs did not disappear. After discontinuing fluconazole, the symptoms improved, and a follow-up 12-lead electrocardiogram showed no PVCs. Conclusions: We encountered the case of frequent PVCs induced by fluconazole during the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus-related pulmonary cryptococcosis. Furthermore, it was suggested that the PVC frequency was dose-dependent for fluconazole. Careful follow-up for new-onset arrhythmias and ECG evaluations are essential before and after fluconazole administration.

[A case of small cell lung cancer with dermatomyositis that deteriorated with leukocytopenia due to chemotherapy].

A 64-year-old woman presented skin lesions on her face, upper extremities and finger erythema (heliotropism and Gottron's sign). She had weakness in her lower extremities. She was given a diagnosis of dermatomyositis (DM), because the serum examination showed that a myositis-specific antibody was positive whereas Jo-1 antibody was negative. The findings of chest X-ray and computed tomography showed that she had limited small cell lung cancer, but no interstitial pneumonia. She was treated with standard chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin and etoposide with accelerated hyperfractionation radiotherapy. She showed partial response to the treatment, whereas the skin lesions and muscle weakness deteriorated accompanied with bone marrow suppression due to chemotherapy. Skin and muscle biopsy were performed and pathological findings showed typical perivasculitis infiltrated with lymphocytes in muscle and skin. With the recovery of bone marrow suppression and partial response due to chemotherapy, the skin lesions improved and creatine kinase became normalized. She was given a diagnosis of paraneoplastic DM. Since severe leukocytopenia paralleled the deterioration of DM, the decrease of peripheral white blood cell counts, especially regulatory T cell counts, may be associated with DM activity.

Predictive factors for metastatic infection in patients with bacteremia caused by methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus.

BACKGROUND: Metastatic infections such as infective endocarditis and psoas abscess are serious complications of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia because failure to identify these infections may result in bacteremia relapse or poor prognosis. In the present study, we determined the predictive factors for metastatic infection due to methicillin-sensitive S. aureus bacteremia. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted among patients with methicillin-sensitive S. aureus bacteremia at the Jikei University Hospital between January 2008 and December 2012. Factors analyzed included the underlying disease, initial antimicrobial treatment and primary site of infection. RESULTS: During the 5-year study period, 73 patients met the inclusion criteria and were assessed. The most common primary site of bacteremia was catheter-related bloodstream infection (25/73 [34.2%]). Metastatic infection occurred in 14 of 73 patients (19.2%) (infective endocarditis [3], septic pulmonary abscess [3], spondylitis [4], psoas abscess [4], epidural abscess [3] and septic arthritis [1]). Six patients had multiple metastatic infections. Multivariate analysis revealed that the predictive factors associated with the development of metastatic infection were a delay in appropriate antimicrobial treatment of >48 hours, persistent fever for >72 hours after starting antibiotic treatment and lowest C-reactive protein levels of >3 mg/dL during 2 weeks after the onset of bacteremia. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that additional diagnostic tests should be conducted to identify metastatic infection, particularly in patients with delayed antimicrobial treatment, persistent fever and persistently high C-reactive protein levels.

An HIV patient with hepatic flare after the initiation of HBV-active antiretroviral therapy.

A 39-year-old man presented a CD4 T cell count of 78/µL and HIV-RNA at 6.6 × 10(5) copies/mL at his first medical examination. After the 58th day, we initiated HBV-active antiretroviral therapy. Three months after the start of antiretroviral therapy, he was diagnosed with hepatic flare on the basis of elevated AST and ALT levels without detecting HBV-DNA. Although after continuing the medication his AST and ALT levels increased to 700 IU/L and 1,400 IU/L, respectively, he showed improvement following a natural course and was discharged from hospital after the 169th day. This is a case of hepatic flare likely caused by immune reconstitution associated with resolved HBV infection.