Imaging paracoccidioidomycosis: A pictorial review from head to toe.

Paracoccidioidomycosis is an infectious disease characterized primarily by pulmonary involvement and potential dissemination to other organs, mainly mucosa and skin; however, it can affect any organ in the body. Although difficult to diagnose purely based on imaging, imaging is important for diagnosis, follow-up, and assessment of disease-related complications. We provide a comprehensive review of the most notable imaging findings of paracoccidioidomycosis.

Sporotrichal Tenosynovitis Diagnosed Helpfully by Musculoskeletal Ultrasonography.

A 72-year-old man presented with persistent oligoarthritis and positive results for rheumatoid factor and was suspected of having rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the musculoskeletal ultrasonography (MSUS) findings were not consistent with those of typical RA. He had undergone surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome, which allowed both histopathological and microbiological examinations to be performed. A synovial tissue culture was positive for Sporothrix schenckii, and he was diagnosed with sporotrichal tenosynovitis. He received anti-fungal therapy, and the sporotrichal tenosynovitis resolved. This case suggests that MSUS is a useful modality, and sporotrichal tenosynovitis, though rare, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of RA.

A Retrospective Analysis of Bacteriological Studies of Surgical Site Infections in a Monoprofile, Multidepartmental Orthopedic Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Despite improvements in surgical techniques, aseptics and prevention of infections, hospital surgical site infections (SSI) still remain one of the main reasons for failure in therapeutic musculoskeletal surgery. This study aimed to conduct a retrospective analysis of microbiological examinations and determine pathogen sensitivity to antibiotics as the basis for selecting methods for preventing and treating complicating infections. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study is a retrospective analysis of bacteriological tests performed in the departments of the Public Clinical Hospital of the Medical Centre of Postgraduate Education in Otwock. Importantly, our monoprofile hospital specialising in musculoskeletal pathology is a reference centre, admitting patients from the entire country. Often these are patients transferred from Intensive Care Units at other hospitals with internally infected local emergencies (infections with local, complex, multidrug resistant bacterial flora). Bacteriological mapping of the hospital covered the period from 2009 to 2013 to indicate so called "strategic departments" demonstrating the most complex multidrug-resistant bacterial flora. Surgical site infections were managed by surgery with targeted antibiotic therapy. RESULTS: Analysis of patients' profiles revealed that SSIs detected across hospital departments in SPSK CMKP in Otwock mostly came from other medical centers where patients were initially hospitalized. The Osteomyelitis Department and the Department of Pelvic Pathology and Traumatology were identified as "strategic departments". CONCLUSIONS: 1. The analysis indicated that methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) was the most common pathogen responsible for complicating infections in our hospital. 2. The percentage of bacterial resistance to methicillin signifi -cantly increased in patients with multi-organ injuries who had previously been hospitalized at other centres. 3. Credible prevention and diagnosis of inflammatory risk factors in the preoperative period was of key importance in reducing the percentage of complicating infections.

Evaluation of two types of swabs for sampling allograft musculoskeletal tissue.

BACKGROUND: Allograft musculoskeletal tissue is commonly sampled by a swab for bioburden screening. To determine if bioburden recovery could be improved at the pre-analytical stage, two swab systems were evaluated: the Amies gel swab and the ESwab. METHODS: In vitro studies were performed to determine the recovery of each swab system with <100 colony-forming unit of challenge organisms using inoculated swabs and by sampling inoculated femoral heads. The standard culture protocol used in this laboratory was also evaluated after sampling of inoculated femoral heads. A prospective study was performed with both swab systems used in parallel to sample cadaveric allograft musculoskeletal tissue. RESULTS: The challenge organisms could be recovered from the in vitro inoculated studies. The standard culture protocol in this laboratory recovered all challenge organisms from both swab systems. One hundred and six paired Amies and ESwabs were collected from eight cadaveric donors with skin commensals the predominant isolates. CONCLUSIONS: The sampling of an inoculated femoral head was included to reflect routine swab sampling practice as was the inclusion of the standard method used in this laboratory. This appears to be the first study to compare Amies gel swabs with ESwabs to sample allograft femoral heads and in a prospective study with cadaveric allograft musculoskeletal tissue. Other comparative studies of swab systems have used a much higher inoculum to mimic an infection; however, sepsis is an exclusion criterion for allograft donors. It was found that the Amies gel swab and ESwab are both suitable sampling devices for bioburden testing of allograft musculoskeletal tissue.

Swab or biopsy samples for bioburden testing of allograft musculoskeletal tissue?

Swab and biopsy samples of allograft musculoskeletal tissue are most commonly collected by tissue banks for bacterial and fungal bioburden testing. An in vitro study was performed using the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards standard 'Quality control of microbiological transport systems' (2003) to validate and evaluate the recovery of six challenge organisms from swab and biopsy samples of allograft musculoskeletal tissue. On average, 8.4 to >100 and 7.2 to >100 % of the inoculum was recovered from swab and biopsy samples respectively. A retrospective review of donor episodes was also performed, consisting of paired swab and biopsy samples received in this laboratory during the period 2001-2012. Samples of allograft femoral heads were collected from living donors during hip operations. From the 3,859 donor episodes received, 21 paired swab and biopsy samples each recovered an isolate, 247 swab samples only and 79 biopsy samples only were culture positive. Low numbers of challenge organisms were recovered from inoculated swab and biopsy samples in the in vitro study and validated their use for bioburden testing of allograft musculoskeletal tissue. Skin commensals were the most common group of organisms isolated during a 12-year retrospective review of paired swab and biopsy samples from living donor allograft femoral heads. Paired swab and biopsy samples are a suitable representative sample of allograft musculoskeletal tissue for bioburden testing.

Fungal culture of musculoskeletal tissue: what's the point?

There have not been any studies that review the prevalence of fungal isolates using selective media from samples of banked musculoskeletal tissue retrieved from living and cadaveric donors. A total of 2,036 swab and 2,621 biopsy samples of musculoskeletal tissue from tissue banks were received from the 1st August 2008 till 31st December 2010. Routine culture for fungi using selective media with a prolonged incubation period failed to demonstrate a greater prevalence of fungal isolates than by using non-selective culture media alone. Using selective culture fungi were recovered from only two Sabouraud agar plates (0.1%) but not from non-selective media. During the same period fungi were isolated from three graft samples cultured in non-selective broth media only (0.1%). There was no correlation of fungal isolates from selective or non-selective media inoculated at the same time nor from multiple graft samples collected from the same donor supporting the possibility of an exogenous source for fungal isolates rather than an endogenous source.

Mycobacterial infection of the musculoskeletal tissues: the use of pathological specimens for identification of causative species by PCR-direct sequencing of 16S rDNA.

Mycobacterial infection of musculoskeletal tissue is a rare disease that may cause destruction of the tissues. Both Mycobacterium tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria affect the tissues. Although surgical debridement and antibiotic therapy are required for the treatment, it is necessary to identify the causative species before selecting the antibiotics. However, it is difficult to identify the species in clinical samples from musculoskeletal tissue. In the current study, using pathological specimens, the causative species was identified by PCR amplification and direct sequencing of mycobacterial 16S rDNA containing a hypervariable region. Twelve cases of chronic granulomatous inflammation of musculoskeletal tissues were used for the study. DNA was extracted from paraffin sections, and mycobacterial 16S rDNA was amplified by PCR. The amplicons were obtained in 5 of 12 cases (41%), even in specimens in which the microorganism was only scarcely detected by using special stains. Direct sequencing of the amplified products presented high homology with M. tuberculosis in four cases and M. avium in one. Therefore, PCR-direct sequencing of 16S rDNA containing hypervariable region using pathological specimens is useful for the diagnosis and identification of causative species in mycobacterial infection of musculoskeletal tissues.

Incidence of clostridial contamination in donors' musculoskeletal tissue.

Reports of infection by Clostridium sordellii associated with allograft transplantation have generated considerable interest. We report our experience in recognising clostridial contamination in cadaver donors of musculoskeletal tissue. Tissues obtained from 795 consecutive donors were excised using standard surgical techniques. Samples of blood and bone marrow were also obtained. Donors with clostridia recovered from any site were matched with the preceding donor without clostridia as a procedural and environmental control. The histories of the donors were analysed to determine which variables had a relationship to contamination by running a contingency table and chi-squared test on the variables against the event of a donor being contaminated. Sixty-four donors (8.1%) had clostridia, most commonly C. sordellii. Clostridia were grown from the blood, marrow and tissue samples of 52, 37 and 30 donors, respectively. In eight cases, they were cultured from the tissue samples alone. There was no significant difference in age or gender between the contaminated donors and the control group. Open wounds were more common in control than in contaminated subjects, but only death by drowning in the contaminated group was statistically significant (p = 0.02). The time between death and the excision of tissue which was contaminated (16 hrs 10 mins) compared with control (11 hrs 10 mins) donors was also significant (p < 10(-6)). We conclude that there is clostridial contamination in a significant number of tissue donors, particularly with increasing time between death and tissue excision. Among the most commonly encountered species is C. sordellii. Multiple microbiological cultures, including blood, are necessary in order to identify clostridial contamination.