Severe adverse events during medical and surgical treatment of hip and knee prosthetic joint infections.

Introduction: The management of prosthetic joint infection requires a complex treatment procedure and can be associated with complications. However, the occurrence of severe adverse events during this intervention has been poorly evaluated.

Patients And Methods: A 5-year multicentric retrospective study including patients from 3 hospitals in the South-Western France referral center for complex bone and joint infections (Crioac GSO) and treated for hip or knee prosthetic joint infection with 1 or 2-stage implant exchanges.

Added value of [F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography for the diagnosis of post-operative instrumented spine infection.

Purpose: Post-operative instrumented spine infection (PISI) is an infrequent complication. Diagnosis of spinal implant infection can be difficult, especially in case of chronic infection.

Methods: This retrospective study attempts to evaluate the diagnostic performance of [F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in PISI.

Antibiotic-loaded Porous Alumina Ceramic for One-stage Surgery for Chronic Osteomyelitis.

The classic treatment of chronic osteomyelitis is usually a two-stage surgery combined with systemic antibiotic therapy for several months. We report the case of a patient presenting a chronic osteomyelitis caused by methicillin-resistant who was treated with a one-stage surgery using an antibiotic-loaded ceramic. We used a porous alumina ceramic loaded with gentamicin to reconstruct the bone removed during débridement and to avoid its colonization.

Spectrum of advice and curbside consultations of infectious diseases specialists.

Objectives: Curbside consultation (CC) of infectious diseases specialists for advice is very frequent but the corresponding workload has rarely been assessed. This activity is mostly oral (phone or direct contact) and poorly quantifiable because it is not charged. We had for aim to evaluate this activity in a French teaching hospital.

Campylobacter fetus infections.

Background: Campylobacter fetus infections usually occur in immunodepressed patients or patients presenting with diabetes mellitus or cancer. They rarely cause diarrhea but frequently cause bacteremia or vascular diseases. The therapeutic management is not well codified and fluoroquinolone resistance is continuously increasing.

[Historic malignant tumour: 27 observations].

Background: When used in the French medical literature to describe a pathological state, the word "historic" normally refers to tumours of startling appearance because of their size. It is difficult to understand how a patient can allow such tumours to continue to grow. We attempt to define this concept.

[Photodynamic therapy for the treatment of extramammary Paget's disease].

Background: The usual treatment for extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) is surgery, but this approach may have grave functional and physical consequences, as well as high recurrence rates. Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) offers an optional approach for EMPD; it has a high complete response rate and there is no dose restriction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PDT in the treatment of EMPD.

[Dermohypodermitis on the face revealing TIBOLA].

Tick-borne lymphadenopathy (TIBOLA) is an emerging rickettsiosis in Europe, transmitted by the Dermacentor tick. This syndrome is defined as the association of an inoculation eschar on the scalp that may be surrounded by an erythema scalp, fever, and painful cervical lymphadenopathy in colder months. Children and women are at higher risk for TIBOLA.

Intrathecal synthesis of specific antibodies as a marker of herpes simplex encephalitis in patients with negative PCR.

Background: PCR in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has become the sole method used for the diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE). Nevertheless, PCR results may sometimes be false negative, and in this situation other techniques may be useful.

Methods: 3 patients hospitalised for meningoencephalitis with fever showed a negative result for herpes simplex virus (HSV) PCR in their CSF.

High prevalence and risk factors of thromboembolism in stage IV melanoma.

Background: Patients with cancer are at a high risk of thromboembolism (TE), which contributes to morbidity and mortality. Several case reports of thromboembolic events have been reported in patients with melanoma in the literature.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in stage IV melanoma and determine risk factors, outcomes associated with the development of VTE and the number of haemorrhagic complications in patients under anti-coagulant treatment.

Blue light is phototoxic for B16F10 murine melanoma and bovine endothelial cell lines by direct cytocidal effect.

Unlabelled: The large number of studies devoted to the effect of ultraviolet light on biological systems, contrasts with the lack of experimental data concerning the direct effects of visible light. It has been shown that blue light inhibited the growth of B16F10 melanoma cell lines and reduced the percentage of S phase cells. Yet these effects are poorly understood.

[Community-acquired meningitis due to methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus].

Unlabelled: Meningitis due to Staphylococcus aureus is infrequent. MRSA is mainly found after neurosurgery, but MSSA may be involved in community-acquired meningitis. However, this kind of infection is not widely reported, despite its severity.

[One year follow-up of patients with bullous pemphigoid].

Background: Since high doses of superpotent topical corticosteroids (CS) have been shown to improve the survival of bullous pemphigoid (BP) patients and to be more effective than oral CS, few studies have described the long-term course of the disease of these patients. We report the course of BP in the Limoges region of France based on patients diagnosed successively between 2002 and 2004.

Patients And Methods: This was a retrospective, single-centre study of 54 BP patients diagnosed with BP, conducted by the Department of Dermatology of the Limoges University Hospital over a 3-year period.

[The value of photodynamic therapy in the treatment of Bowen's disease].

Background: While the standard treatments for Bowen's disease (BD) (surgery, cryotherapy and antimitotic agents) are efficient, they are associated with extensive scarring. In this paper we confirm that photodynamic therapy using topical aminolevulinic acid provides effective treatment for this disease.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-two patients with a total of 38 cases of BD were included in this retrospective single-centre study between 2001 and 2006.

[Ulcerated nodular lesions on extremities of patient undergoing treatment for glioblastoma on French Caribbean island of Martinique].

Phaeohyphomycosis comprises a disparate group of cutaneous and systemic mycotic infections caused by dematiaceous fungi. The Exophiala genus includes more than 20 species. The purpose of this report is to describe a case of phaeohyphomycosis due to Exophiala spinifera in a patient under treatment for cerebral glioblastoma on the French Caribbean island of Martinique.

[Calciphylaxis treated by cinacalcet: a medical alternative to parathyroidectomy].

Calciphylaxis is a rare necrotizing calcifying arteriolopathy, with a poor prognosis, for which there is currently no effective treatment. One of the major challenges of the therapy is normalizing the calcium-phosphate balance. Therefore, cinacalcet, which inhibit the production of parathormone by negative feedback, was considered a treatment option to control the evolution of calciphylaxis in a dialysed patient suffering from cholangiocarcinoma.

[Verrucous carcinoma of the lower limbs].

Background: Verrucous carcinoma is a rare, low-grade, slow-growing, well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma affecting the skin (particularly on the foot) and mucosa. The diagnosis is often delayed. We report a study of twelve cases of verrucous carcinoma of the lower limbs.

[One episode of meningoencephalitis, three diagnoses].

Meningo-encephalitis is a set of threatening diseases. The treatment needs to be started quickly for pathogens such as herpes simplex virus type 1 or Listeria monocytogenes. Apart from these classical etiologies, many other diseases may induce meningo-encephalitis.

[Disseminated aspergillosis after intra-articular corticosteroid infiltrations].

Bone and joint infections due to Aspergillus are rare and occur more commonly in immunosuppressed patients. We report the case of an 84-year-old woman who developed septic arthritis caused by Aspergillus fumigatus after corticosteroid infiltration. This patient had presented with arthritis of the left knee for several months but no microorganism had been found despite numerous arthrocenteses.