Successfully non-surgical management of flail chest as first manifestation of multiple myeloma: A case report.

Background: Multiple myeloma is a malignant neoplasm of the bone marrow characterized by neoplastic proliferation of monoclonal plasma cells with a high relationship with destructive bone disease. We present a case of a patient diagnosed with multiple myeloma and sternal fracture in association with multiple bilateral rib fractures and thoracic kyphosis, who developed a severe acute respiratory failure, thus complicating the initial presentation of multiple myeloma. We discuss the therapeutic implications of this uncommon presentation.

Risk factors for candidaemia in critically ill patients: a prospective surveillance study.

Candidaemia is frequently a life-threatening complication in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). To assess the risk factors for candidaemia in critically ill patients with prolonged ICU stay, a total of 1765 adult patients admitted for at least 7 days to 73 medical-surgical ICUs of 70 tertiary care hospitals in Spain participated in a prospective cohort study. Candidaemia was defined as recovery of Candida spp.

A bedside scoring system ("Candida score") for early antifungal treatment in nonneutropenic critically ill patients with Candida colonization.

Objective: To obtain a score for deciding early antifungal treatment when candidal infection is suspected in nonneutropenic critically ill patients.

Design: Analysis of data collected from the database of the EPCAN project, an ongoing prospective, cohort, observational, multicenter surveillance study of fungal infection and colonization in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Setting: Seventy-three medical-surgical ICUs of 70 teaching hospitals in Spain.

Isolation of Aspergillus spp. from the respiratory tract in critically ill patients: risk factors, clinical presentation and outcome.

Introduction: Our aims were to assess risk factors, clinical features, management and outcomes in critically ill patients in whom Aspergillus spp. were isolated from respiratory secretions, using a database from a study designed to assess fungal infections.

Methods: A multicentre prospective study was conducted over a 9-month period in 73 intensive care units (ICUs) and included patients with an ICU stay longer than 7 days.

Candiduria in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care medical units.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of candiduria in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care medical units (ICUs), to identify risk factors for candiduria and to assess the frequency distribution of different Candidaspp.

Subjects And Methods: This was a prospective cohort observational and multicenter study. A total of 1,765 patients older than 18 years of age who were admitted for at least 7 days to 73 medical-surgical ICUs of 70 Spanish hospitals were included in the study.

Spontaneous Listeria monocytogenes peritonitis: a population-based study of 13 cases collected in Spain.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the incidence, demographic data, clinical features, and outcome of peritoneal infections due to Listeria monocytogenes in individuals with cirrhosis.

Methods: During a 10-yr study period, 153 cases of invasive listeriosis were recorded in a prospective population-based surveillance project carried out in Barcelona, Spain.

Results: Thirteen cases were of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis by L.