Open AccessA CASE OF NONTRAUMATIC CLOSTRIDIAL GAS GANGRENE OCCURRING IN A PATIENT WITH COLON ADENOCARCINOMA, LIVER CIRRHOSIS, AND DIABETES MELLITUS
Author(s) -
Takeyama Masami,
Mori Hiroshi,
Nagareda Tomohumi,
Kuroda Hideya,
Yamane Tetsumi,
Matsumoto Keishi,
Terada Nobuyuki,
Terai Chikanori,
Nishide Kazuyuki
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
acta patholigica japonica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 74
ISSN - 0001-6632
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1827.1986.tb01063.x
Subject(s) - medicine , gas gangrene , clostridium septicum , autopsy , cirrhosis , diabetes mellitus , gangrene , abdominal pain , gastroenterology , pathology , disseminated intravascular coagulation , surgery , endocrinology
An autopsy case of clostridial gas gangrene occurring in a 54‐year‐old man with colon adenocarcinoma, liver cirrhosis, and diabetes mellitus is reported. The patient died 4 days after the onset of symptoms with episodes of vomiting and abdominal pain. Gangrene of both hips and perineum, hemolysis, renal failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulation were the dominant clinical features. Clostridium septicum was isolated from the subcutaneous tissue fluid. Adenocarcinoma of the ascending colon with ulceration found at autopsy was supposed to be an entry of the organism. Histologically, lesions of subcutaneous tissue and muscles were characterized by the absence of inflammatory infiltrates in spite of extensive necrosis. A summary of 35 cases of gas gangrene hospitalized to the Osaka University Hospital for the past 16 years indicates that clostridial gas gangrene patients with underlying diseases such as malignant neoplasm, diabetes, liver cirrhosis or immunodeficiency have a relatively poor prognosis.