R. H. J. Van Oers

Corynebacterium CDC group JK (Corynebacterium jeikeium) sepsis in haematological patients : a report of three cases and a systematic literature review

We describe 3 patients with Corynebacterium jeikeium sepsis in neutropenic phase during treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia. Fever was the first symptom. All had a central venous catheter which was removed. Two patients developed subcutaneous nodules containing pus when the neutrophil count recovered; 1 had intracutaneous and pulmonary lesions. They were treated with vancomycin and recovered when the neutrophil count started to rise. A review of 80 neutropenic patients with C. jeikeium sepsis reported in the literature, together with our 3 cases indicates that risk factors for infection are the presence of a central venous catheter, being an adult male or postmenopausal female, profound and prolonged neutropenia and exposure to multiple antibiotics. Skin lesions are reported in 48% and pulmonary lesions in 36% of the patients. The overall mortality is 34% but in patients with recovery of the bone marrow only 5%. Therefore haematopoietic growth factors should be considered in neutropenic patients with C. jeikeium infection.

Incidence and clinical epidemiology of streptococcal septicemia during treatment of acute myeloid leukemia

The incidence and outcome of streptococcal septicemia was analyzed in 76 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed and relapsed acute myeloid leukemia. They received 215 courses of remission induction or intensive consolidation treatment. There were 31 different episodes of streptococcal septicemia in 27 patients, making these microorganisms the most frequently encountered bacteria in blood cultures. This high incidence coincided with the introduction of selective intestinal decontamination. In 24 episodes (20 patients) there was a fast recovery, but 7 patients developed pulmonary symptoms resulting in death due to respiratory failure in 5 of them. The infections all occurred in the phase of maximum bone marrow suppression 1-3 weeks after the start of the chemotherapy. Streptococcal septicemia was not limited to patients treated with cytosine arabinoside but also occurred in patients treated with other regimens of intensive chemotherapy. In 28 episodes there were no focal signs of infection, but in half there were symptoms of treatment induced gastrointestinal toxicity. The streptococci probably invade through oral and gastrointestinal mucosa damaged by the chemotherapy. Selective decontamination may play a promoting role.