Little is known about this effect in patients with acute bacterial pneumonia.Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of weekend and holiday hospital admission on the outcomes of acute bacterial pneumonia. Material and Methods:Retrospective analysis of adult patients (> 18 years) with acute bacterial pneumonia collected from a tertiary referral center database. Length of stay, total cost, admission to intensive care unit, development of sepsis and organ failure, and mortality were compared between patients admitted on a weekday and patients admitted during a weekend or holiday. Results: We analyzed 53 854 hospital admissions from 42 512 patients (median age 84.0 years, range 18 -118 years), corresponding to 30 554 admissions during weekdays, 21 222 at weekends and 2078 during public holidays. Weekend and holiday admission was not associated with increased costs, length of stay, intensive care unit admission, development of sepsis, organ failure, and mortality. Conclusion: A weekend/holiday effect in acute bacterial pneumonia was not evident in our series.

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The authors present a case of a man with Haemophilus parainfluenzae endocarditis complicated with embolisation to the central nervous system. The patient had no evidence of endocarditis by transoesophageal and transthoracic echocardiograms at baseline, but shortly after developed large mitral valve vegetations with valve rupture. The case highlights how rapidly structural valve damage can ensue despite good clinical and laboratorial antibiotic response.

We report the case of a 37-year-old man with a previous bone marrow transplantation presenting with abdominal pain, diarrhoea and jaundice. Laboratory evaluation showed marked elevated liver enzymes, amylase and lipase with ultrasonographic evidence of acute alithiasic pancreatitis. Liver biopsy was compatible with graft-versus-host disease and toxic hepatitis. The patient rapidly improved after increasing immunosuppression. Although gastrointestinal manifestations are common in graft-versus-host disease, clinical acute pancreatitis is rarely seen. Patients with graft versus host are seldom managed by gastroenterologists and hepatologists. An awareness of this condition is essential for the experienced clinician.