Pyocystis and prostate abscess in a hemodialysis patient in the emergency department

Single-dose intravesical amikacin instillation for pyocystis in a patient with autonomic dysreflexia: A case report

CONTEXT

Pyocystis is an infection of the epithelium of the bladder and a frequent complication of anuria. Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) at the sixth thoracic vertebra (T6) or higher are at a greater risk for autonomic dysreflexia (AD), which can be induced by infections such as pyocystis. Cases of pyocystis treatment with aminoglycoside instillations have been reported in the literature.

FINDINGS

We describe the case of a 59-year-old male with T1 American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) grade A complete paraplegia, status post bilateral nephrectomy with recurrent episodes of AD suspected to be caused by pyocystis related to anuria. A bladder specimen culture grew Escherichia coli susceptible to amikacin with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ≤ 8 mg/L. In the setting of anuria and with concern that intravenous antibiotics would not adequately reach the site of infection, we chose to treat the patient with a single-dose intravesical instillation of amikacin 25 mg/100 mL left to dwell for approximately 2 h. A repeat bladder culture showed no colonies. The patient remained stable with no episodes of AD and no signs or symptoms of infection one month following treatment.

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this case report is to add to the current literature on intravesical aminoglycoside instillations for pyocystis to aid clinicians in treating future cases, as well as to highlight pyocystis as a potential cause of AD in SCI patients with anuria.

Management of Chronic Kidney Disease Patients in the Intensive Care Unit: Mixing Acute and Chronic Illness

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at high risk for developing critical illness and for admission to intensive care units (ICU). 'Critically ill CKD patients' frequently develop an acute worsening of renal function (i.e. acute-on-chronic, AoC) that contributes to long-term kidney dysfunction, potentially leading to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). An integrated multidisciplinary effort is thus necessary to adequately manage the multi-organ damage of those kidney patients and contemporaneously reduce the progression of kidney dysfunction when they are critically ill. The aim of this review is to describe (1) the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the development of AoC kidney dysfunction and its role in the progression toward ESKD; (2) the most common clinical presentations of critical illness among CKD/ESKD patients; and (3) the continuum of care for CKD/ESKD patients from maintenance hemodialysis/peritoneal dialysis to acute renal replacement therapy performed in ICU and, vice-versa, for AoC patients who develop ESKD.

Unusual organism causing pyocystis in an immunosuppressed haemodialysis patient

A 68-year-old man with end-stage renal disease and a history of orthotopic cardiac transplantation on chronic immune suppression therapy presented to the emergency department with fever and purulent urethral discharge. He was diagnosed with pyocystis (bladder abscess). Culture of the urethral discharge showedTrueperella bernardiae The patient improved after 3 days of bladder irrigation with normal saline and gentamicin. This case demonstrates that bladder abscess is a potential source of infection in an oliguric patient. This is the first report to describe the opportunistic pathogen,T. bernardiae, as the causative agent in pyocystis.