Impact of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) on Serum Concentrations of Cefepime.

ECMO is becoming widely used as a life-saving measure for critically ill patients. However, there is limited data on pharmacokinetics and the dosing of beta-lactam antibiotics in ECMO. In this study, we evaluated the serum concentrations of cefepime in patients on ECMO to determine the impact of ECMO circuitry and to guide therapeutic dosing.

Pneumonia in Patients Treated for Solid Organ Malignancy.

is a fungal pathogen that can present as an opportunistic cause of pneumonia and can occur in individuals with various causes of immunosuppression, including malignancy and treatments for malignancy that confer increased risk. Although the guidelines for use of prophylaxis in certain populations are clear, the rapid development of novel cancer therapies elicits the need to accurately assess the degree of immunosuppression conferred by these regimens and to determine if patients receiving these therapies warrant prophylaxis. We present 2 cases of pneumonia in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast treated with a dose-dense chemotherapy regimen consisting of doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel.

Multifocal Brain Abscesses Due to Streptococcus intermedius.

Brain abscess is a life-threatening illness that occurs when an intracerebral infection leads to cerebritis and subsequent pus formation within a well-vascularized capsule. While streptococci (aerobic, anaerobic, and microaerophilic) are the most common bacteria isolated, its presentation as multifocal brain abscesses is rarely described. In this report, we describe a 43-year-old male patient who presented to the emergency department due to progressive lethargy and low-grade fever of seven days worsening.