학술논문

Diagnosis and Treatment of Water-Contaminated Severe Legionella Pneumonia with Digestive Symptoms as the First Symptom: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
Document Type
article
Author
Source
Infection and Drug Resistance, Vol Volume 16, Pp 323-328 (2023)
Subject
legionella pneumonia
mechanical ventilation
digestive symptoms
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Language
English
ISSN
1178-6973
Abstract
Fang-fang Fan, Xiao Yu, Zi-wei Shuai, Xiao-yun Hu, Min Pang, Yi-wei Shi NHC Key Laboratory of Pneumoconiosis, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Min Pang; Yi-wei Shi, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, No. 85, Jiefang South Road, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030001, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-18734890328, Email pangmin2009@126.com; chinasyw225@163.comIntroduction: Although Legionella is not the most common pathogen of community-acquired pneumonia, the epidemiological distribution of pneumonia pathogens has changed in recent years, with a gradual increase in some rare pathogens. For example, pneumonia that occurs after water source contamination is mostly caused by Legionella infection. This paper reports the diagnosis and treatment process of a patient after Legionella infection, who had misdiagnosis at the beginning, rapidly progressed to severe disease and combined with fungal infection. This article focuses on the timely and effective treatment of rapidly progressing Legionella pneumonia, in anticipation of a better understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.Case Presentation: Here, we report a case of legionella infection with the nausea, vomiting as the first symptoms accompanied by weakness, chills, dizziness, abdominal discomfort in a 75-year-old female. The patient had a history of type 2 diabetes for 30 years, diabetic peripheral neuropathy for more than 20 years, arterial hypertension for 10 years, bone hyperplasia for more than 5 years, resection of right-sided thyroid cystadenoma in 1990. The patient had firstly been diagnosed with cholecystitis and gallbladder neck stones, diet abstinence, metronidazole, cefoperazone sulbactam, and rehydration were given. The patient responded poorly to these empiric treatments. The patient was given moxifloxacin in combination with azithromycin after the onset of respiratory symptoms, but the condition continued to deteriorate, and tigecycline was subsequently added. After the mechanical ventilation and the treatment plan adjusting, she improved significantly.Conclusion: Immunocompromised patient combined with underlying diseases are more susceptible to infection in an environment contaminated with Legionella, and the rapid onset and atypical respiratory symptoms make it easy to misdiagnose the disease, thus delaying treatment and leading to further deterioration. Timely diagnosis, early mechanical ventilation and rational drug administration were fundamental to treat Legionella pneumonia.Keywords: Legionella pneumonia, mechanical ventilation, digestive symptoms