Search

Streptococcus agalactiae, or group B streptococcus (GBS), has been traditionally considered an infrequent etiologic agent of disease in adults except for urinary tract infection in pregnant women. Attention has recently been drawn to other adult infections caused by GBS such as skin and soft tissue infections, bacteremias, pneumonia, meningitis, endocarditis, peritonitis, and bone and joint infections. We present two adult patients with GBS spondylodiscitis and review 30 cases of GBS spinal infection previously reported in the literature. This series clearly illustrates that GBS has recently been recognized as an emerging cause of vertebral infections in adults, particularly in those with chronic underlying diseases, although it can also affect immunocompetent patients without debilitating conditions. Although uncommon, GBS should be considered in the differential diagnosis of infective spondylodiscitis in nonpregnant adults, whatever the patient’s immunological status. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective. – To examine the clinical spectrum of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and temporal arteritis (TA) and their relationship over a period of 15 years in an area of north-eastern Spain.Methods. – We undertook a descriptive study of an unselected population of 163 patients with PMR and/or TA diagnosed from 1985 to 1999.Results. – Of the 163 patients included, 90 had isolated PMR, 41 had PMR associated with TA, and 32 had isolated TA. The clinical spectrum of both conditions in our area was similar to that reported in other populations, including a marked female predominance. However, in our series, no patient developed permanent blindness or other major ischemic complications. PMR was observed in 56% of patients with TA. Conversely, 7% of patients originally suffering from PMR without clinical evidence of arteritis at presentation developed later symptoms of TA, and there were no predictive features for this. Interestingly, none of these patients suffered visual loss or other ischemic complications. The low risk of major complications in these cases does not support the need for systematic arterial biopsy in all patients with symptoms of PMR alone. On comparing patients with isolated TA with patients with PMR associated with TA, no differences were observed, thus discarding the possibility that the second constitutes a distinct and independent subgroup of TA. In contrast, when comparing patients with isolated PMR with patients with PMR associated with TA, we found significant differences between both the groups, with greater abnormality of clinical and laboratory markers of inflammation in patients with PMR associated with TA. These differences seem to reflect a greater degree of systemic inflammation linked to the presence of TA.Conclusion. – In our area, TA appears nowadays as a benign disease which infrequently presents blindness or other major complications. Our experience confirms that even after a good clinical response with normalization of a high ESR in PMR, the patient is at risk for clinical development of TA. Finally, our study also shows that isolated TA and PMR associated with TA seem to be the same condition, different from isolated PMR. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]