Bacterial endocarditis in a child with haemophilia B: risks of central venous catheters.

The use of central venous catheters may be complicated by thrombosis and infection. We report a case of a needle-phobic 5-year-old boy with factor IX deficiency, in whom a portacath was inserted owing to poor compliance with prophylactic treatment. Within a week, he developed a Staphylococcus aureus line infection that was treated with a 2-week course of intravenous antibiotics. One month later he presented with nonspecific symptoms and blood cultures again grew S. aureus. An echocardiogram revealed a large vegetation adherent to the tricuspid valve, confirming the diagnosis of bacterial endocarditis. His clinical course was further complicated by the development of pulmonary emboli. Medical treatment with intravenous antibiotics led to a successful resolution of the endocarditis and pulmonary emboli with a favourable long-term outcome.

Phycomycotic gastritis in buffalo calves (Bubalis bubalis).

Mycotic gastritis, primarily caused by Rhizopus sp. was seen in six buffalo calves (7-13 days old) at postmortem examination. The predominant lesions were numerous raised ulcers in which were hyphae of Rhizopus. In three calves, Candida organisms were also present superficially in the ulcers. Other changes in the mucosa were severe congestion, haemorrhage, thrombosis, necrosis, and infiltration by lymphocytes and neutrophils. Both Rhizopus and Candida were highly pathogenic to rabbits when inoculated intravenously. The disease could not be reproduced experimentally by feeding of Rhizopus orally to rabbits and calves.