CHEST-WALL ABSCESS DUE TO CAT-SCRATCH DISEASE (CSD) IN AN ADULT WITH ANTIBODIES TO BARTONELLA-CLARRIDGEIAE - CASE-REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE THORACOPULMONARY MANIFESTATIONS OF CSD
Am. Margileth et Df. Baehren, CHEST-WALL ABSCESS DUE TO CAT-SCRATCH DISEASE (CSD) IN AN ADULT WITH ANTIBODIES TO BARTONELLA-CLARRIDGEIAE - CASE-REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE THORACOPULMONARY MANIFESTATIONS OF CSD, Clinical infectious diseases, 27(2), 1998, pp. 353-357
We describe a patient who presented with a massive chest-wall abscess
after a severe debilitating illness that lasted 3 months. Steroid ther
apy, administered for 4 weeks, masked the slow development of an exten
sive axillary and chest-wall abscess. After multiple negative tests, t
he patient's prolonged illness was diagnosed as cat-scratch disease (C
SD). An indirect fluorescent antibody test revealed that two convalesc
ent serum samples were positive for IgG to Bartonella clarridgeiae, bu
t no other Bartonella species. We also review 12 cases of severe chest
and pulmonary disease due to CSD that were reported in the English-la
nguage literature. Thoracopulmonary findings associated with CSD, path
ogenic mechanisms of bartonella infections, diagnostic criteria, and m
anagement of CSD are presented.