title: Legionellosis and lung abscesses: contribution of legionella quantitative real-time PCR to an adapted followup.
abstract: We report a case of severe Legionnaires' disease (LD) complicated by a lung abscess in an immunocompetent patient who required ECMO therapy and thoracic surgery. The results of repeated Legionella quantitative real-time PCR performed on both sera and respiratory samples correlated with the LD severity and the poor clinical outcome. Moreover, the PCR allowed for the detection of Legionella DNA in the lung abscess specimen, which was negative when cultured for Legionella. This case report provides a logical basis for further investigations to examine whether the Legionella quantitative PCR could improve the assessment of LD severity and constitute a prognostic marker.
authors.affiliation: CIRI, International Center for Infectiology Research, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France ; Inserm, U1111, Lyon, France ; Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Lyon, France ; Université Lyon 1, Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, Lyon, France ; CNRS, UMR5308, Lyon, France ; Hospices Civils de Lyon, Groupement Hospitalier Est, Legionella National Reference Center, East Biology & Pathology Center, 59 Boulevard Pinel, 69677 Bron, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Descours
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tellini
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Flamens
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Philit
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Celard
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Etienne
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lina
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jarraud