Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0023241 (Legionella)
 6,990 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The chest radiographs of 24 patients with documented Legionnaires' disease were evaluated. Twenty-two of the 24 patients had positive findings for the disease initially. There was unilateral involvement in 68% and the most common lung shadows were poorly marginated round opacities (46%), diffuse patchy (25%) and peripheral opacities (21%). At peak, 70% of patients had a lobar shadow. Pleural effusions were present in 39% of cases but could be explained by underlying congestive heart failure or renal failure in 7 of the 9. Although the findings are not specific, the radiologist should consider this diagnosis in a patient with compatible clinical history, a pneumonia of obscure etiology, and these radiographic manifestations.
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PMID:The chest radiograph in legionnaires' disease. 66 40

Legionellosis is an important cause of severe pneumonia in the community. Inadequate therapy will lead to respiratory distress syndrome, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and finally fatal multiple organ failure. We encountered a rare case in which early manifestation included septic shock and DIC complicated by acute myocardial infarction (AMI) suspected to be derived from Legionnaires' disease. A 54-year-old healthy female complained of lumbago, high fever and dry cough 10 days after visiting a hot spring spa. She was emmergently admitted due to shock. Physical examination demonstrated hypotension, high fever, course creakle in the right lower lung. Hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy and eruption were not found. WBC count was 34600/microliters with nuclear shift. CRP elevated. FDP, D dimer and TAT also elevated CPK elevated with dominance of the MB isozyme. Chest roentogenography revealed congestive heart failure, pleural effusion and obscure pneumonic shadow and EKG showed ST segment elevation in leads I, II, III, aVF, V4, V5, and V6. The patient was diagnosed as having septic shock, DIC and AMI. She was treated with gabexate mesilate, high dose methyl prednisolone and dopamine hydrochloride as well as piperacillin, meropenem, isepamycin and fluconzaole. Despite intensive care, the blood pressure fell again and pneumonia had progressed on the 8th hospital day. These antibiotics appeared to be ineffective. Erythromycin was then administered and a dramatic effect. was obtained as the patient recovered. Serum titer of Legionella pneumophila (serogroup 1) rose to 128-fold 2 weeks after the onset. Other serum titers such as Chlamydia psittaci, Rickettsia, Mycoplasma were all negative. Cultures obtained from the sputum, throat swab, urine and blood did not yield any microorganisms. Although the diagnosis could not be confirmed because the titer did not elevate over 256-fold of 4-fold within 2 weeks after the onset, Legionella infection was highly suspected from the clinical features. This is a rare case in which septic shock and DIC with AMI preceded pulmonary symptoms in a non-immunocompromised patient.
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PMID:[Early manifestation of septic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation complicated by acute myocardial infarction in a patient suspected of having Legionnaires' disease]. 958 3

Chlamydia pneumoniae has been implicated as a cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in several studies. However, there has been no comprehensive study of the role of Chlamydia species (C. pneumoniae, C. psittaci (avian and feline strains) and C. pecorum) as a cause of CAP. The aim of the present study was to determine the role of C. pneumoniae, C. psittaci and C. pecorum as causes of CAP. A prospective cohort observational study of CAP was conducted at 15 teaching centres in eight Canadian provinces between January 1996-October 1997. Acute (n=539) and convalescent (n=272) serum samples were obtained for determination of antibody titres to C. pneumoniae, C. psittaci, C. pecorum, C. trachomatis, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Legionella pneumophila serogroups I-VI, Streptococcus pneumoniae and various respiratory viruses. Twelve of 539 (2.2%) patients had acute C. pneumoniae pneumonia and an additional 32 (5.9%) had possible acute infection. C. pneumoniae was the sole pathogen in 16 of 42 (38.1%) of these patients. The most common copathogens were S. pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus and influenza virus type A. C. pneumoniae pneumonia patients were older and more likely to show congestive heart failure compared to bacteraemic S. pneumoniae patients. The latter had a lower mean diastolic blood pressure, a higher white blood cell count and a lower arterial carbon dioxide tension. Two patients had antibody titres suggestive of recent infection with the feline strain of C. psittaci. Although numerically Chlamydia pneumoniae is an important cause of community-acquired pneumonia, no distinctive clinical features associated with this pathogen were detected in the present study. Feline Chlamydia psittaci may cause a few cases of community-acquired pneumonia. Avian Chlamydia psittaci should be considered only if there is a compatible epidemiological history.
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PMID:Chlamydia species as a cause of community-acquired pneumonia in Canada. 1276 13

In 1997, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published revised case definitions for legionellosis which eliminated the previously used category of "probable case" based on a single indirect fluorescence antibody (IFA) titer. This study evaluated the influence of revision on the case rates of legionellosis in Taiwan. From 1988 to 2002, 4615 patients with pneumonia were tested for legionellosis in our hospital. The testing methods included IFA assay for serum specimens and direct fluorescence antibody (DFA) assay for sputum specimens. Using the revised criteria, Legionnaires' disease (LD) was diagnosed by DFA in 27 cases and by IFA in 11 cases. The most common underlying conditions were cigarette smoking (44.7%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (28.9%) and corticosteroid use (26.3%). The clinical features were nonspecific, including fever (73.7%), dyspnea (63.2%), cough (63.2%) and leukocytosis (63.2%). The overall mortality rate was 18.4%, and the directly LD-attributable mortality rate was 10.5%. Nasogastric tube insertion, endotracheal intubation, congestive heart failure before the onset of LD, inappropriate antimicrobial therapy, respiratory failure and absence of fever during the LD course were significantly associated with LD-attributable mortality. Older age (>70 years) was not associated with higher mortality (p=0.053). Using the revised diagnostic criteria in our series, the positive rate of case identification by IFA was 0.26%, while use of the previous case definitions resulted in a positive rate of 7.6% (including probable and definitive cases). Recognition that the original CDC criteria of IFA titer >1:256 or elevation of IFA titer <4-fold in paired sera could not adequately define an LD etiology has led to a dramatic lowering of case rates among studies after the criteria revision in Taiwan and elsewhere. Assays that are faster, more sensitive and less technician dependent are needed to diagnosis this disease.
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PMID:Impact of the 1997 revised Centers for Disease Control criteria on case rates of legionellosis in Taiwan: review of 38 cases at a teaching hospital, 1998-2002. 1598 72

We herein describe the successful treatment of a patient with possible Legionella pneumophila serogroup 6 infection complicated by pneumonia and myocarditis. A 32-year-old man presented with a five-day history of cough, dyspnea and chest pain. Chest radiography revealed patchy opacities in both lungs suggestive of bilateral pneumonia, and a urinary antigen test for Legionella pneumophila was positive. After admission, the patient developed congestive heart failure due to pathologically confirmed myocarditis. He was successfully treated with minocycline, macrolide, steroids and noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (NPPV). He eventually recovered with a normalized cardiac function. L. pneumophila serogroup 6 was isolated from the bathwater in the patient's home.
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PMID:Severe Legionnaires' disease with pneumonia and biopsy-confirmed myocarditis most likely caused by Legionella pneumophila serogroup 6. 2315 35