is the oropharyngeal pathogen usually associated with Lemierre's syndrome, a pharyngeal infection which evolves to sepsis, septic emboli and thrombophlebitis of the adjacent neck vessels. It is an uncommon causative bacteria of a liver abscess, and an extensive workup should, therefore, be performed in order to rule out potential sources of the infection. This case report describes the workup that led to the diagnosis of a colorectal carcinoma, which was deemed to be the source of the bacteraemia.

No abstract

Lymphatic malformations, also known as lymphangiomas or cystic hygromas, are benign masses that typically affect newborns and infants and involve the head and neck regions. They are, however, rare in adults and even rarer in the axillary region. Although surgery is considered to be the treatment of choice, we present a rare case of a recurrent cystic hygroma 32 years after the first surgical operation. Due to the cosmetic concerns and the risks of a surgical approach, non-surgical therapy with percutaneous sclerosants was performed, with a good outcome after a 2-year follow-up period.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a severe condition with high morbidity and mortality, and it requires long-term suppressive antibiotic therapy. Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) has been used for a range of infectious diseases for more than 30 years, and in Spain it is used in hospital-at-home (HaH) settings. Our objectives were to describe and characterize the demographic, clinical, and microbiological features of patients admitted to an HaH setting and to assess the safety and effectiveness of OPAT. We conducted a retrospective study that included patients diagnosed with IE over a period of 8 years (2011-2018). We collected demographic and clinical features, length of hospital stay, antimicrobial treatment, microbiological profiles, and outcomes. We included 26 patients during the observation period. Their mean age was 66.5 years, and 88.5% were male. The mean hospital stay was 10.5 days, and the mean stay in the HaH setting was 31 days. A total of 6 patients required readmission due to deterioration, of whom 3 had severe mitral insufficiency. The 8 patients had symptoms of heart failure, but they were treated at home and did not require readmission. Ultimately, 12 patients recovered and were referred to a surgical unit for valvular repair and replacement on a scheduled basis. OPAT is a useful and effective tool for the management of patients diagnosed with IE in HaH settings.

Atypical pneumonia shows clinical features that are different from those of typical pneumonia, and it can mimic other entities. We report the case of a 42-year-old male with a solitary pulmonary nodule found in an X-ray for a preoperative evaluation. Our patient was asymptomatic, and a pulmonary neoplasm was the first diagnostic suspicion. The round-shaped nodule seen in the X-ray turned out to be a linear ground glass opacity in a thoracic CT scan. Viral pneumonia due to SARS-CoV-2 was diagnosed. We emphasize here the educational value of this case report. We do not report a new radiological finding because lung nodules resembling neoplasms have already been reported in the medical literature. However, some clinical features of COVID-19 are relatively new and can mimic other entities, and the results of some investigations and clinicians’ interpretations of them can be misleading. Atypical radiological findings make it necessary to widen the spectrum of alternative diagnoses.