A fatal metastasis of Klebsiella pneumoniae to the lungs.

Abstract

To describe the relationship between a seemingly innocuous colonization in one organ and a fatal infection in another organ in a tetraplegic man. Case report. Veterans Administration Hospital, USA. A 61-year-old man, paralyzed at C7, American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale A for 31 years, presented with cough and negative sputum but urine positive for Klebsiella pneumoniae. After 2 days, he presented with sepsis and hypotension, received fluids and multiple antibiotics (blood and urine cultures taken after antibiotics were negative), and developed pulmonary failure 2 weeks after admission. Bronchial secretions obtained by bronchoscopy for mucous plugging revealed K. pneumoniae. The spectrum of antibiotic sensitivities for the organism from the initial urine and the later bronchial secretions was identical except for resistance to antibiotics administered between cultures. The subject developed an encephalopathy in association with respiratory acidosis, hyponatremia, hypoalbuminemia and renal failure and expired 36 days after presentation. The urinary and respiratory tracts were infected with the same organism, leading to fatal sepsis in a chronically paralyzed tetraplegic man, suggesting migration between the two sites.