Primary Pancreatic Candidiasis Mimicking Pancreatic Cancer in an Immunocompetent Patient.

Pancreatic candidiasis can develop in patients with acute pancreatitis, compromised immune responses, or iatrogenic intervention. This paper reports a case of pancreatic candidiasis presenting as a solid pancreatic mass in a patient without the risk factors. A previously healthy 37-year-old man visited the emergency department with left flank pain. Abdominal CT revealed a 5 cm, irregular heterogeneous enhancing mass accompanied by a left adrenal mass. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography and endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) could not discriminate pancreatic cancer from infectious disease. A laparoscopic exploration was performed for an accurate diagnosis. After distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy and left adrenalectomy, pancreatic candidiasis and adrenal cortical adenoma were diagnosed based on the pathology findings. His condition improved after the treatment with fluconazole. This paper reports a case of primary pancreatic candidiasis mimicking pancreatic cancer in an immunocompetent patient with a review of the relevant literature.

Invasive Candida albicans fungal infection requiring explantation of a noncrosslinked porcine derived biologic mesh: a rare but catastrophic complication in abdominal wall reconstruction.

SUMMARY: Biologic mesh is preferred over synthetic mesh for complex and contaminated abdominal wall repairs; however, there are very little data on the risks and complications associated with its use. We report the case of a 67-year-old man with failed synthetic mesh repair for recurrent ventral hernia, who subsequently required an abdominal wall reconstruction (AWR), including the intraperitoneal sublay of noncrosslinked biologic mesh. His postoperative course was complicated with catastrophic sepsis and sustained hemodynamic instability, responding only to mesh explantation. The biologic mesh was subsequently noted to be histologically infected with invasive Candida albicans. Although noncrosslinked biologic mesh is a valuable adjunct to AWR, it is not infection-resistant. Although it is rare, infection of any foreign tissue, including biologic mesh, can occur in the setting of complex ventral abdominal wall repairs. Clinicians should be watchful for such infections in complex repairs as they may require biologic mesh explantation for clinical recovery.

Fungal endocarditis after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR): Case report and review of literature.

The reported number of transcatheter aortic valve replacement-associated infective endocarditis (TAVR-IE) cases has been increasing worldwide, but information about the incidence and clinical features of fungal TAVR-IE is quite limited. We present a patient who acquired TAVR-IE caused by Candida parapsilosis four month after TAVR, who was successfully treated redo-aortic valve replacement and prolonged antifungal therapy.

When and how to operate on spondylodiscitis: a report of 13 patients.

PURPOSE: Conflicting reports exist regarding the surgical indications, timing, approach, staged or not operation, and spinal instrumentation for patients with spondylodiscitis. Therefore, we performed this study to evaluate the outcome of a series of patients with spondylodiscitis aiming to answer when and how to operate on these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied the files of 153 patients with spondylodiscitis treated at our institution from 2002 to 2012. The approach included MR imaging of the infected spine, isolation of the pathogen with blood cultures and/or biopsy, and further conservative or surgical treatment. The mean follow-up was 6 years (range 1-13 years). We evaluated the indications, timing (when), and methods (how) for surgical treatment, and the clinical outcome of these patients. RESULTS: Orthopedic surgical treatment was necessary for 13 of the 153 patients (8.5 %). These were patients with low access to healthcare systems because of low socioeconomic status, third-country migrants, prisoners or intravenous drug use, patients in whom a bacterial isolate documentation was necessary, and patients with previous spinal operations. The most common pathogen was Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The surgical indications included deterioration of the neurological status (11 patients), need for bacterial isolate (10 patients), septicemia due to no response to antibiotics (five patients), and/or spinal instability (three patients). An anterior vertebral approach was more commonly used. Nine of the 13 patients had spinal instrumentation in the same setting. Improvement or recovery of the neurological status was observed postoperatively in all patients with preoperative neurological deficits. Postoperatively, two patients deceased from pulmonary infection and septicemia, and heart infarction. At the last follow-up, patients who were alive were asymptomatic; ten patients were neurologically intact, and one patient experienced paraparesis. Imaging showed spinal fusion, without evidence of recurrent spondylodiscitis. Complications related to the spinal instrumentation were not observed in the respective patients. CONCLUSIONS: Conservative treatment is the standard for spondylodiscitis. Physicians should be alert for Mycobacterium tuberculosis spondylitis because of the low access to healthcare systems of patients with low social and economic status. Surgical indications include obtaining tissue sample for diagnosis, occurrence or progression of neurological symptoms, failure of conservative treatment, large anterior abscesses, and very extensive disease. Thorough debridement of infected tissue and spinal stability is paramount. The anterior approach provides direct access and improved exposure to the most commonly affected part of the spine. Spinal instrumentation is generally recommended for optimum spinal stability and fusion, without any implant-related complications.

Association of cytokine gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to invasive candidiasis.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of cytokine genes in the susceptibility to Candida infection. A total of 275 consecutive patients diagnosed with Candida infection were selected between May 2010 and May 2011, along with 305 uninfected controls. Genotyping of the IL-1ß gene polymorphisms (IL1ß) rs1143634, IL1ßrs16944, IL8 rs4073, IL10 rs1800872, and IL10 rs1800896 was carried out using a 384-well plate format on the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. Patients with invasive Candida infections were more likely to have had an immunocompromised state, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, solid organ transplant, solid tumor, chemotherapy within the past three months, neutropenia, surgery within the past 30 days, acute renal failure, liver failure, and/or median baseline serum creatinine. Conditional logistic regression analyses found that individuals with the rs1800896 GG genotype were associated with a higher risk of invasive Candida infections than those carrying the AA genotype (odds ratio = 0.61, 95% confidence interval = 0.37-0.94). From the results of this case-control study, we suggest that the cytokine IL-10 gene rs1800896 polymorphism might play a role in the etiology of invasive Candida infections.

[Candida peritonitis: Prevalence and risk factors]. / Candidiasis peritoneal: prevalencia y factores de riesgo.

BACKGROUND: A peritoneal fluid with a positive culture for Candida in patients with associated clinical symptoms enables peritoneal candidiasis (PC) to be diagnosed. This etiology is related to a poor prognosis, thus, it is important to know all the risk factors and to start early an empirical treatment. The risk factors associated with this kind of peritonitis are to receive prolonged antibiotic treatment, nosocomial infection, female gender, involvement of the upper gastro-intestinal (UGI) tract, and the ocurrence of an intraoperative cardiovascular failure (CVF). AIMS: The principal aim was to determine the prevalence of PC in our hospital, and the secondary aims to determine the associated risk factors. METHODS: We obtained samples from 74 patients diagnosed with peritonitis, consecutively from 2007 to 2010. Cultures were performed with the free peritoneal fluid aspirated during surgery. RESULTS: The prevalence of PC obtained in our hospital was 17.6%, from which 46.15% corresponded to Candida albicans. The involvement of the UGI tract and the onset of CVF can be considered risk factors for the development of this pathology. Age, gender, nosocomial infection and previous antibiotic treatment were not related to this pathology. CONCLUSIONS: Our prevalence of PC is 17.6%. The risk factors that could predispose are the involvement of the UGI tract as the cause of peritonitis, and CVF during surgical procedure.