An outbreak of Paragonimus westermani infection among Cambodian technical intern trainees in Japan, exhibiting various extrapulmonary lesions.

We encountered an outbreak of paragonimiasis among Cambodian technical intern trainees (TITs) at a food-processing factory in Fukuoka, Japan. The patients were 20-28 years old, seven females and two males, who had been in Japan for one to four years. All of them had consumed raw or undercooked Japanese mitten crab they purchased at a local grocery store near their training place. CT images showed multiple lesions not only in the lungs but in the extrapulmonary organs as well, such as subcutaneous tissues, abdominal muscles, and mesentery, in most of the patients. Their medical records indicated that all of them acquired infection in Japan, not in Cambodia. Diagnosis was made serologically and the patients were treated with praziquantel successfully. Foreign workers and TITs are increasing in Japan so rapidly, that food borne-infections, including paragonimiasis, should be considered in people from developing countries who have exotic dietary habits.

[A case of cancer of the pancreatic tail with disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow].

Disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow derived from solid cancer has a very poor prognosis, with disseminated intravascular coagulation(DIC). A 72-year-old man was admitted to our hospital after detection of a tumor in the pancreatic tail by CT imaging. Several images revealed that he suffered from cancer of the tail of the pancreas with multiple liver and bone metastases. Endoscopic ultra-sonography-guided fine needle aspiration detected adenocarcinoma cells from the tumor of the pancreatic tail. We also performed bone marrow aspiration, which confirmed adenocarcinoma cells in the bone marrow. We started to administer 1,000 mg/m2 of gemcitabine weekly. Laboratory data revealed that thrombocytopenia had occurred, and it developed into DIC after the first the administration of gemcitabine. In spite of the DIC state with thrombocytopenia, we were able to provide anticancer treatment using combination gemcitabine and S-1. He recovered from his DIC state, and the primary tumor was shrunk with a decrease of tumor markers after 2 courses of combination chemotherapy. Chemotherapy might be required for disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow in order to promote tumor shrinkage and to prolonged expected survival, even if DIC was developed.

Endophthalmitis with Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess.

Endogenous endophthalmitis is a rare, but devastating complication of septicemia. The prognosis of maintaining visual acuity in patients with septic endophthalmitis is poor in spite of an early diagnosis and the timely start of conventional therapeutic procedures because the intravitreous drug concentration remains low after the systemic administration of antibiotics due to the blood-ocular barrier. We treated an elderly female patient with endogenous endophthalmitis complicated with disseminated intravascular coagulation associated with a Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess. Endophthalmitis developed rapidly and we thus had to perform an enucleation of both eyeballs even though we made an early diagnosis and performed liver abscess drainage as well as the prompt systemic and subconjunctival administration of antibiotics. Our experience in treating this case emphasizes the need to perform the timely intravitreous infusion of antibiotics with a support therapy consisting of the systemic and subconjunctival administration of antibiotics for endogenous endophthalmitis associated with a Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess.