The risk of cellulitis in cirrhotic patients: a nationwide population-based study in taiwan.

Oct 2012

Lin MN, Tsai CC, Hung TH, Tsai CC.

Source

Department of Family Medicine, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan. ; Tzu Chi University School of Medicine, Chiayi, Taiwan.

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS:

Cellulitis is a common infectious disease. However, the risk of cellulitis in cirrhotic patients is not well established, and whether liver cirrhosis is a risk factor for cellulitis remains unknown. This study evaluated the relationship between cellulitis and liver cirrhosis.

METHODS:

The National Health Insurance Database, which was derived from the Taiwan National Health Insurance program, was used to identify patients. The study group consisted of 39,966 patients with liver cirrhosis, and the comparison group consisted of 39,701 randomly selected age- and sex-matched patients.

RESULTS:

During the 3-year follow-up period, 2,674 (6.7%) patients with liver cirrhosis developed cellulitis, and 1,587 (4.0%) patients without liver cirrhosis developed cellulitis. Following a Cox's regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, and underlying medical disorders, the cirrhotic patients demonstrated a greater risk for the occurrence of cellulitis than the non-cirrhotic patients during the 3-year period (hazard ratio [HR], 1.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.55 to 1.77; Additionally, cirrhotic patients with complications also had a greater risk for the occurrence of cellulitis than those patients without complications (HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.14 to 1.33; ).

CONCLUSIONS:

We conclude that cirrhotic patients have a greater risk of cellulitis than non-cirrhotic patients.

NIH

Cellulitis and Bacteremia Caused by Bergeyella zoohelcum

Cellulitis and Bacteremia Caused by Bergeyella zoohelcum

J Formos Med Assoc. 2007 Jul

Lin WR, Chen YS, Liu YC.
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, and Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Keywords: Bergeyella zoohelcum, cellulitis, dog bite, liver cirrhosis

Bergeyella zoohelcum is a rod-shaped, aerobic, Gram-negative, non-motile and non-saccharolytic bacterium. It is frequently isolated from the upper respiratory tract of dogs, cats and other mammals. Clinically, B. zoohelcum has been known to cause cellulitis, leg abscess, tenosynovitis, septicemia, pneumonia and meningitis, and is associated with animal bites. In addition, food-borne transmission was considered in a recent case report. We report a 73-year-old man with liver cirrhosis who had no history of dog bite but had dog exposure, who developed cellulitis of the left lower leg and B. zoohelcum was isolated from blood culture. This patient, without evidence of polymicrobial infection, was treated with cefazolin and gentamicin with a good outcome. B. zoohelcum is a zoonotic pathogen that may cause bacteremia in patients with underlying disease such as liver cirrhosis; it can be treated with a beta-lactam or quinolone.

Elsevier