title: Ecthyma gangrenosum: report of clinical, histopathologic, and bacteriologic aspects of eight cases.
abstract: The records of eight patients with ecthyma gangrenosum who were treated at the Mayo Clinic between 1970 and 1982 were reviewed. All patients had hematologic disease and had received immunosuppressive drugs. Patients with neutropenia that did not resolve by the end of a course of appropriate antibiotic treatment usually died. Solitary lesions of ecthyma gangrenosum were associated with a better prognosis than were multiple lesions. The typical skin findings of ecthyma gangrenosum usually occurred early and were often incorrectly diagnosed, resulting in time lost during which antibiotic therapy could have been instituted. For patients with ecthyma gangrenosum, a systematic procedure is important to establish the diagnosis early, so that appropriate systemic antibiotic therapy can be initiated.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004473:Ecthyma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005734:Gangrene; D006801:Humans; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000472:pathogenicity; D018805:Sepsis / Q000473:pathology; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents