Candida albicans spondylodiscitis following an abdominal stab wound: forensic considerations.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_2AB05B3CDF1E
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Publication sub-type
Case report (case report): feedback on an observation with a short commentary.
Collection
Publications
Title
Candida albicans spondylodiscitis following an abdominal stab wound: forensic considerations.
Journal
Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
Author(s)
Savall F., Dedouit F., Telmon N., Rougé D.
ISSN
1878-7487 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
1752-928X
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2014
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
23
Pages
1-3
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Case Reports ; Journal ArticlePublication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Candida albicans spondylodiscitis is a fungal infection of the spine which is still unusual in spite of the increasing frequency of predisposing factors. A 22-year-old man received an abdominal stab wound during a physical assault. Initial medical care included surgery, prolonged use of indwelling vascular catheters with administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics, and hospitalization in intensive care. Two months after the event, the victim experienced back pain in the right lumbar region and septic spondylodiscitis secondary to C. albicans was diagnosed three weeks later. This case is noteworthy because of its clinical forensic context. In France, the public prosecutor orders a medico-legal assessment after an assault for all living victims in order to establish a causal relationship between the assault and its complications. In our case, the patient presented numerous risk factors for candidemia and the forensic specialist reasonably accepted that the causal relationship was certain but indirect. We have only found one published case of spondylodiscitis after an abdominal penetrating injury and the pathogenic agent was not mentioned. We have found no case reported in a forensic context. This unusual observation shows that it may be genuinely difficult to prove the causal relationship between an abdominal penetrating injury and an unusual infectious complication such as fungal spondylodiscitis.
Keywords
Adult, Candida albicans, Discitis/etiology, Discitis/microbiology, Forensic Medicine, France, Humans, Male, Risk Factors, Wounds, Stab/complications
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
12/01/2016 11:00
Last modification date
20/08/2019 13:10
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