Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure Secondary to Zika Virus Infection.

An 80-year-old man experienced general weakness, myalgias, arthralgias, fever, chills, and diarrhea for one week. He had hypotension and tachycardia. He also had leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia, increased creatinine levels, elevated liver enzymes, elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels, and metabolic acidosis with hypoxemia, for which he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). His chest x-ray showed decreased lung volumes. Ceftriaxone and levofloxacin were empirically started to cover leptospirosis and community acquired pneumonia, respectively. The patient continued with clinical deterioration and the antibiotic therapy was changed to linezolid, cefepime, and doxycycline. He required endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation support due to progressive hypoxemic respiratory failure. A bronchoscopy showed no evidence of bacterial infectious process. The patient developed clinical improvement with successful extubation afterwards (4 days after initial intubation). He was later discharged home with physical therapies. A serum specimen was tested with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique, producing a positive result only for Zika virus. Confirmatory molecular diagnostic testing was performed at the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

A VERY RARE NEOPLASM IN AN IMMUNOCOMPETENT PATIENT.

Kaposi's sarcoma is a rare malignancy requiring infection with human Herpes virus for development. We report a case of a 76-year-old immunocompetent male with recurrent leg cellulitis. The cellulitis eventually developed into a non-healing ulcer and a palpable nodule consistent with nodular Kaposi's sarcoma.

An Unexpected Cause of Sepsis: Keep Pursuing the Source of Infection.

An 86-year-old man was found with altered mental status, fever and aphasia. His physical exam revealed nuchal rigidity but no other meningeal signs. Because the patient's mental status was declining, he was intubated and placed in mechanical ventilation. His head CT scan was unremarkable, without evidence of mass effect. A lumbar puncture yielded cerebrospinal fluid that was remarkable for the presence of gram-positive cocci in pairs. His blood cultures showed gram-negative bacilli. Given the presence of these organisms, a polymicrobial infection was suspected. An abdomino pelvic CT scan showed a multi-septated abscess within the right hepatic lobe. CT-guided percutaneous drainage was performed and a specimen for culture obtained, which grew Klebsiella pneumoniae. After receiving intravenous antibiotics and supportive care, the patient showed clinical improvement. In this patient, there was a central nervous system infection secondary to bacteremia in the setting of an intrabdominal infection. The inquiring clinician should take note that whenever a polymicrobial infection is evidenced, more than one site of infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis.

Misleading Diagnosis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Clinical Concern.

Diagnosis of Sjogren syndrome should be based on consideration of the clinical presentation, a pulmonary function test, blood and rheumatology laboratory findings, radiographic imaging patterns, and biopsy results.

Flexible Bronchoscopic Removal of 3 Foreign Objects.

Consider flexible bronchoscopy as an option to retrieve aspirated foreign bodies in the airway.