No abstract

Acute liver failure (ALF) can be due to numerous causes and result in fatality or necessitate liver transplantation if left untreated. Possible etiologies of ALF include ischemia, venous obstruction, medications, toxins, autoimmune hepatitis, metabolic and infectious causes including hepatitis A-E, varicella-zoster virus (VZV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and adenovirus with VZV being the most rarely reported. Pathognomonic skin lesions facilitate diagnosis of VZV hepatitis, but definitive diagnosis is secured with liver biopsy, tissue histopathology, culture, and specific VZV polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Antiviral treatment with intravenous acyclovir can be effective if initiated in a timely manner; however, comorbidities and complications frequently result in high mortality, especially in immunocompromised hosts as exemplified in this case presentation.

We report the case of a 46-year old African American woman who presented to the emergency department with one week of progressive bilateral deafness associated with worsening gait abnormalities, visual changes, and confusion. She was diagnosed with Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) attributed to alcohol abuse; her symptoms, including hearing loss, improved with thiamine replacement. WE, a condition due to thiamine deficiency, commonly affects those with alcohol use disorder or gastric bypass history. Though traditionally associated with a triad of encephalopathy, ophthalmoplegia, and ataxia, it can be more rarely associated with auditory deficits or other neurologic findings. Though hearing loss has previously been reported as a rare symptom of WE, it has not been described in WE due to alcohol abuse. We performed a review of the literature to determine if WE associated with hearing loss had been previously reported.

Background Antibiotic exposure is a primary predictor of subsequent antibiotic resistance; however, development of cross-resistance between antibiotic classes is also observed. The impact of changing to a different antibiotic from that of previous exposure is not established. Methods This was a retrospective, single-center cohort study of hospitalized adult patients previously exposed to an anti-pseudomonal beta-lactam (APBL) for at least 48 hours in the 90 days prior to the index infection with a gram-negative bloodstream or respiratory infection. Susceptibility rates to empiric therapy were compared between patients receiving the same (repeat group) versus a different antibiotic from prior exposure (change group). Results A total of 197 patients were included (N = 94 [repeat group] and N = 103 [change group]). Pathogen susceptibility to empiric therapy was higher in the repeat group compared to the change group (76.6% vs 60.2%; P = 0.014). After multivariable logistic regression, repeat APBL was associated with an increased likelihood of pathogen susceptibility (adjusted OR = 2.513; P = 0.012). In contrast, there was no difference in susceptibility rates between the repeat group and the subgroup of change patients that received an empiric APBL (76.6% vs 78.5%; P = 0.900). Longer APBL exposure duration (P = 0.012) and chronic kidney disease (P = 0.002) were associated with higher non-susceptibility to the exposure APBL. In-hospital mortality was not significantly different between the repeat and change groups (18.1% vs 23.3%; P = 0.368). Conclusions The common practice of changing to a different APBL from that of recent exposure may not be warranted.