title: Legionella longbeachae pneumonia in a patient splenectomized for hairy-cell leukemia.
abstract: A 63-year-old man was admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit for pneumonia. Fifteen years earlier, hairy cell leukemia had been diagnosed and the patient underwent splenectomy. A clinical suspicion of legionellosis, later confirmed by both serology and isolation of the microorganism, prompted initiation of high dose erythromycin intravenously. The patient steadily deteriorated and passed away eight days later. This is the first reported case of hairy cell leukemia in which the diagnosis of Legionella longbeachae sero-group 1 infection was based on both serology and isolation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Pulmunology and Hematology, Meir hospital, Kfar-Saba, Israel.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wiler
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Manor
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kazak
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Boldur
mesh_terms: D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D007875:Legionella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007876:Legionellosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D007943:Leukemia, Hairy Cell / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000150:complications; D013156:Splenectomy; D013997:Time Factors