Overwhelming Pneumococcal Infection Due to Congenital Hyposplenism or Asplenia in Adults
10.14442/general2000.7.21
- Author:
Toshio Naito
;
Keiko Kume
;
Kazunori Mitsuhashi
;
Tetsu Okumura
;
Hiroshi Isonuma
;
Takashi Dambara
;
Koichi Suda
;
Yasuo Hayashida
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
pneumococcal infection;
hyposplenism;
asplenia
- From:General Medicine
2006;7(1):21-24
- CountryJapan
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
We recently encountered a case of fatal pneumococcal infection in a previously healthy 19-year-old female. She had no history of splenectomy, but on autopsy she was found to have hyposplenism. It has been widely reported that life-threatening pneumococcal infection can occur after splenectomy, though cases of hyposplenic or asplenic adults, without a history of splenectomy, are very rare. We report this case and review the literature dealing with 6 similar cases.