Wolkow N, Jakobiec FA, Stagner AM, Cunnane ME, Piantadosi AL, Basgoz N, Lefebvre D.
Chronic orbital and calvarial fungal infection with Apophysomyces variabilis in an immunocompetent patient. Surv Ophthalmol 2017;62(1):70-82.
AbstractApophysomyces is a rare fungal organism causing rhino-orbito-cerebral mycotic infections with high morbidity and mortality, typically in immunocompetent individuals. Several cases of Apophysomyces elegans orbital disease have been reported. Herein, we report a case of Apophysomyces variabilis infection involving the orbit, sinuses, and calvarium in an immunocompetent 74-year-old woman, with a review of the literature. Unlike prior cases of A. elegans classic rhino-orbito-cerebral infection, our case included diffuse calvarial lytic lesions and overlying soft tissue nodules, but without parenchymal intracranial involvement. There was radiographic and clinical evidence of infarction of the orbital contents and cavernous sinus thrombosis. Anastomoses between the superior orbital (ophthalmic) vein and diploic veins of the calvarium are believed to be primarily responsible for the unusual mode of spread on the extradural surface of the brain. Although the patient stabilized without definitive surgical intervention, her disease slowly and intermittently progressed for over a year after presentation, requiring multiple courses of antifungal treatment.
Woods SE, Lieberman MT, Lebreton F, Trowel E, de la Fuente-Núñez C, Dzink-Fox J, Gilmore MS, Fox JG.
Characterization of Multi-Drug Resistant Enterococcus faecalis Isolated from Cephalic Recording Chambers in Research Macaques (Macaca spp.). PLoS One 2017;12(1):e0169293.
AbstractNonhuman primates are commonly used for cognitive neuroscience research and often surgically implanted with cephalic recording chambers for electrophysiological recording. Aerobic bacterial cultures from 25 macaques identified 72 bacterial isolates, including 15 Enterococcus faecalis isolates. The E. faecalis isolates displayed multi-drug resistant phenotypes, with resistance to ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, bacitracin, and erythromycin, as well as high-level aminoglycoside resistance. Multi-locus sequence typing showed that most belonged to two E. faecalis sequence types (ST): ST 4 and ST 55. The genomes of three representative isolates were sequenced to identify genes encoding antimicrobial resistances and other traits. Antimicrobial resistance genes identified included aac(6')-aph(2"), aph(3')-III, str, ant(6)-Ia, tetM, tetS, tetL, ermB, bcrABR, cat, and dfrG, and polymorphisms in parC (S80I) and gyrA (S83I) were observed. These isolates also harbored virulence factors including the cytolysin toxin genes in ST 4 isolates, as well as multiple biofilm-associated genes (esp, agg, ace, SrtA, gelE, ebpABC), hyaluronidases (hylA, hylB), and other survival genes (ElrA, tpx). Crystal violet biofilm assays confirmed that ST 4 isolates produced more biofilm than ST 55 isolates. The abundance of antimicrobial resistance and virulence factor genes in the ST 4 isolates likely relates to the loss of CRISPR-cas. This macaque colony represents a unique model for studying E. faecalis infection associated with indwelling devices, and provides an opportunity to understand the basis of persistence of this pathogen in a healthcare setting.
Wu D, Qian T, Nakao T, Xu J, Liu Z, Sun X, Chu Y, Hong J.
Medically uncontrolled conjunctival pyogenic granulomas: correlation between clinical characteristics and histological findings. Oncotarget 2017;8(2):2020-2024.
AbstractBACKGROUND: Conjunctival pyogenic granulomas are commonly seen after ocular surgeries or at an ocular wound site. The aim of this study is to describe a novel histological classification for medically uncontrolled conjunctival pyogenic granulomas (MUCPG), and to explore whether the diversity in clinical features correlates to different histological subtypes of MUCPG. METHODS: This is an observational cross-section case series. We reviewed 46 consecutive patients with conjunctival pyogenic granulomas who did not respond to topical corticosteroids and underwent surgical excision from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2015. Clinical features and histological findings were presented and analyzed. RESULTS: Ocular surgery, accidental injury, and chalazion were the main predisposing causes of MUCPG. The lesions tended to occur unilaterally on the bulbar conjunctiva. Forty patients (87%) presented an enrichment of inflammatory cells and proliferated capillaries in their pathological sections (inflammatory pattern). Six patients (13%) showed relatively few inflammatory cells and capillaries within fibrous stroma (fibrous pattern). Patients with the inflammatory pattern were older (p = 0.025) and tended to be located in bulbar conjunctiva (p = 0.002). The predisposing causes were also different between two histological subtypes (p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: We found the correlation between clinical presentation and histological subtypes in patients with MUCPG, indicating this disease may need a new classification scheme.