BACKGROUNDThe increased incidence of pyogenic liver abscess caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae (K.pneumoniae) was reported in the recent literature. This study was conducted retrospectively to investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of these patients.

METHODSMicrobiological and medical databases of a medical center were searched from January 2000 to June 2003. Eighty-four patients with liver abscess caused by K.pneumoniae were analyzed.

RESULTSIn the 84 patients, 52 men and 32 women aged (58.2 +/- 13.3) years on average, 64.4% had concomitant diabetes mellitus and 23.8% had biliary disease. The most common clinical symptoms were fever (98.8%), chills (69.0%) and abdominal pain (58.3%). 85.7% of the 84 patients received catheter drainage for the abscess. The length of hospital stay was (17.4 +/- 8.7) days. The mortality rate was 7.1%. Older age and presence of biliary disease were associated with mortality.

CONCLUSIONSThe low mortality of our patients was probably related to the high proportion of patients who received catheter drainage. Older age and presence of biliary disease were associated with the mortality.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Klebsiella Infections ; complications ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Liver Abscess, Pyogenic ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

Objective: The impact of serotonergic system on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is well studied. However, the correlation between OC presentations and autonomic nervous system (ANS) is still unclear. Furthermore, whether the correlation might be modulated by serotonin is also uncertain. Methods: We recruited eighty-nine healthy subjects. Serotonin transporter (SERT) availability by [ 123 I]ADAM and heart rate variability (HRV) tests were measured. Symptoms checklist-90 was measured for the OC presentations. The interaction between HRV and SERT availability were calculated and the correlation between HRV and OC symptoms were analyzed after stratified SERT level into two groups, split at medium. Results: The interactions were significant in the factors of low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD). Furthermore, the significantly negative correlations between OC symptoms and the above HRV indexes existed only in subjects with higher SERT availability. Conclusion OC symptoms might be correlated with ANS regulations in subjects with higher SERT availability.