title: Fatal hemorrhagic pneumonia caused by Stenotrophomanas maltophilia in a patient with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
abstract: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is increasingly emerging as a multiresistant pathogen in the hospital environment. In immunosuppressed patients, this bacterium may cause severe infections associated with sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction. We report on a 57-year-old woman treated with intensive chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma who developed severe neutropenia, hemorrhagic pneumonia, and acute respiratory failure, which led to her death within 36 h of onset of pneumonia. Postmortem examination revealed bilateral extensive intraalveolar hemorrhage associated with severe infection by the gram-negative bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. In vitro susceptibility testing showed resistance to carbapenem, cephalosporines and aminoglycosides, but sensitivity to minocycline, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (cotrimoxazole). Early diagnosis and adequate antibiotic treatment were difficult, as the clinical course was rapid and fulminant, and this bacterium is resistant to multiple antibiotics. To improve prognosis in such cases, it will be necessary to develop an effective prophylactic strategy for high-risk patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Nephrology, and Rheumatology, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Hondo, Akita, Akita 010-8543, Japan. naotot@doc.med.akita-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshioka
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kameoka
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tagawa
authors.forename: Naohito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujishima
authors.forename: Hirobumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saitoh
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirokawa
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Enomoto
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sawada
mesh_terms: D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000382:microbiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D020615:Stenotrophomonas maltophilia / Q000302:isolation & purification*