Biomedical subjects

Cathy A Petti

Publications and source records attributed to Cathy A Petti.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

Acute terminal ileitis associated with pneumococcal bacteremia: case report and review of pneumococcal gastrointestinal diseases.

In this report, we describe a patient with acute terminal ileitis due to Streptococcus pneumoniae, review 3 previously reported cases of isolated enteritis due to S. pneumoniae, and summarize the English-language literature on primary and secondary pneumococcal gastrointestinal diseases. Various theories have been advanced to explain the pathogenesis of this rare and potentially life-threatening form of pneumococcal infection, but the mechanism by which S. pneumoniae causes gastrointestinal disease is still unknown.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2002

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and endocarditis.

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of bacteremia and endocarditis. Over the past several years, the frequency of S. aureus bacteremia (SAB) has increased dramatically. This increasing frequency, coupled with increasing rates of antibiotic resistance, has renewed interest in this serious, common infection. S. aureus is a unique pathogen because of its virulent properties, its protean manifestations, and its ability to cause endocarditis on architecturally normal cardiac valves. Although the possibility of underlying endocarditis arises in virtually every patient with SAB, only a minority of bacteremic patients will actually have cardiac involvement. Distinguishing patients with S. aureus infective endocarditis (IE) from those with uncomplicated SAB is essential, but often difficult. In this review, the authors summarize recent changes in the epidemiology of SAB and IE, discuss the challenges in distinguishing SAB from IE, and discuss current trends in the management of patients with SAB and IE.

Bacteremia↗

PubMed2001

Postoperative bacteremia secondary to surgical site infection.

We evaluated all surgical site infections (SSI) and postoperative bacteremias secondary to SSI as part of an ongoing active surgical surveillance program at a community hospital. Among 40,191 surgical procedures, we identified 515 patients with SSI and 47 with postoperative bacteremia secondary to SSI. Four variables were examined as potential predictors for developing postoperative bacteremia secondary to an SSI: National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance risk index, abdominal surgery, surgical procedures with an implantable device, and the presence of Staphylococcus aureus in wounds. Of these 4 variables, only one, S. aureus isolated from a wound culture, was associated with an increased risk of developing postoperative bacteremia secondary to SSI. Patients with S. aureus isolated in either pure or mixed culture from SSI were more than twice as likely to have postoperative bacteremia secondary to SSI than were those without S. aureus wound infection.

Bacteremia↗