title: An ironic case of liver infections: Yersinia enterocolitis in the setting of thalassemia.
abstract: A 49 years old Vietnamese male with a history of thalassemia, presented with gastrointestinal symptoms and signs of hemolysis. He was diagnosed with yersinia enterocolitis. Yersinia is a gram-negative rod that most frequently occurs in children especially during the winter months. In the current case, the bone marrow biopsy showed hemophagocytosis along with positive cultures for Yersinia. The microorganism likely triggered hemophagocytosis. This syndrome, also known as, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, is defined by fever for more than 7 d, cytopenia of two or more cell lines, hemophagocytosis, hepatitis, serum ferritin greater than 500, jaundice, lymphadenopathy, and hepatosplenomegaly. This disorder can be either familial or secondary to a strong immunologic activation. Both have an overwhelming activation of T-cells and macrophages.
authors.affiliation: Nathan Selsky, George Y Wu, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030, United States.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Selsky
authors.forename: Faripour
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Forouhar
authors.forename: George Y
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology; D001706:Biopsy; D001856:Bone Marrow Examination; D006461:Hemolysis; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology; D051359:Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D015009:Yersinia Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica / Q000472:pathogenicity*
keywords: Bone marrow; Enterocolitis; Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis; Liver biopsy; Thalassemia; Yersinia