Open AccessLegionella pneumonia presenting with bilateral flank pain, hyponatraemia and acute renal failure
Author(s) -
Celia Birkin,
Chandra Shekhar Biyani,
Anthony J. Browning
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
canadian urological association journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.477
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1920-1214
pISSN - 1911-6470
DOI - 10.5489/cuaj.738
Subject(s) - medicine , legionella , pneumonia , hyponatremia , oliguria , abdominal pain , physical examination , community acquired pneumonia , intensive care medicine , flank pain , chest pain , surgery , genetics , renal function , bacteria , biology
Legionnaires’ disease (LD) is an often overlooked but a possiblecause of sporadic community acquired pneumonia. High fever,cough and gastrointestinal symptoms are non-specific symptoms.Hyponatremia is more common in LD than pneumonia linkedwith other causes. A definitive diagnosis is usually confirmed byculture, urinary antigen testing for Legionella species. Macolideor quinolone antibiotic is the treatment of choice. We describe acase of Legionella pneumonia presenting with high fever, bilateralflank pain and oliguria. It is important for clinicians to be awareof this diagnosis when managing patients with flank pain. Thecase highlights the problems in differentiating LD from renal colicand the importance of proper history, physical examination withlaboratory tests for appropriate management.