Infectious Disease

A 32-year-old man who was seropositive for HIV presented with a tender lesion on his right foot of about 3 months' duration. The patient's only medication was zidovudine. His CD4+ cell count was 120/μL.

A 48-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with deep venous thrombosis of the right leg. She had a history of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which was in remission. The patient had been a heavy smoker for many years.

After 5 weeks of undulating fever, weight loss, and night sweats, a 22-year-old man presented to the emergency department. He reported no significant medical history. The patient had recently completed a course of tetracycline followed by another of azithromycin for a presumed upper respiratory tract infection.

After 4 days of fever and a very sore throat, an 18-year-old man requested medical treatment. The patient's speech was barely intelligible because of the fullness in his throat. He was able to communicate, however, that he had great difficulty swallowing because of the throat pain and fullness.

Five days before this 1-year-old girl was brought to her doctor's office, a rash had developed on her left shoulder and the left side of her chest. The abrupt onset of a high fever (temperature, 41°C [105.8°F]) and irritability accompanied the outbreak of the rash. The child had a history of asthma and eczema.

Painful eczematous lesions at the angle of her mouth and the base of her nostrils had been bothering a 52-year-old woman for 3 days. Some of the vesicles had ulcerated and left a crust over the region. The patient said she had had similar attacks in the past. The diagnosis of recurrent herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV 1) infection was made. The patient was treated with acyclovir for 1 week, and all the lesions disappeared.

A 47-year-old woman from Southeast Asia presented with erythematous, asymmetric, anesthetic, sharply marginated plaques on her lower arms and hands. Because this patient had emigrated from a tropical climate, leprosy was suspected.

A 45-year-old man sought medical advice after suffering for 6 months with recurrent pain and a purulent discharge at the sacrococcygeal region. Two weeks before this consultation, an abscess on the patient's right buttock had been drained by another physician. The patient had insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus for 5 years; his medical history was otherwise unremarkable.

A 32-year-old man who had no significant medical history complained of “something growing on the knuckles of my right hand.” He reported that a “bump” was forming on the site of a cut he sustained while slaughtering sheep 3 weeks earlier. There was no blister, discharge, or pain. The patient denied any fever, cough, or malaise. He also did not recall seeing any lesions or “bumps” on the sheep.

A 40-year-old dental assistant requested a prescription for antibiotics to treat the acute outbreak of painful, deep blisters that had recurred on her index finger. Prior eruptions of similar lesions had been diagnosed as staphylococcal infections and were treated with antibiotics.

Two enlarging, dry, tender lesions had developed on the right breast of a 62-year-old woman 2 years before she sought medical consultation. The patient had no other symptoms; she was taking metoprolol succinate for cardiac arrhythmias.

Following a cholecystectomy, an indwelling urethral catheter was placed in a 51-year-old woman with urinary retention. Five days later, the patient complained of a burning sensation at the site. A rounded, swollen, hemorrhagic area surrounding the catheter was noted, and a urinary tract infection was diagnosed.

This 27-year-old man complained that a facial rash of several years' duration had worsened during the past few months. Hypopigmented macules with scale were especially prominent on the eyebrows and in the nasolabial folds; a moderate amount of scale was noted on the scalp. The patient was seropositive for HIV.

A 32-year-old man who had HIV disease complained of headache, fever, and weakness on his right side. His history included intravenous drug use, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, and mucocutaneous candidiasis.

Bleeding gums for the past 2 days was the complaint of this 22-year-old woman. She is HIV-positive but has been clinically asymptomatic. Her CD4 lymphocyte count is 84/μL, and her viral load is 160,885 copies/mL. Despite maintaining good oral hygiene, she has a distinct fiery red band along the gingival margin.

During the assessment of an 83-year-old man who had an infected arteriovenous graft, chest films showed a masslike density in the lower right hemithorax.

For 3 days, a 23-year-old woman had been bothered by pruritic vaginal and vulvar lesions. A cheesy white vaginal discharge was associated with the itching.

The parents of a 2-year-old boy with a 3-day history of fever took him to the emergency department. The child's temperature fluctuated between 38°C (100.4°F) and 39°C (102.2°F). As part of the workup, chest films were taken.

A 32-year-old man was brought to the emergency department after being stabbed in the right side of the neck with a broken piece of glass. The patient immediately underwent carotid angiography; the findings were normal.

A 79-year-old nursing home resident was hospitalized for evaluation of hyperkalemia and leukocytosis. Her medical history included hypertension, respiratory failure with subsequent tracheostomy placement and ventilator dependency, and anemia. Both of her legs had been amputated above the knee secondary to complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

After 3 months of seeing this painless mass at the angle of the 3-year-old's left jaw, his parents sought medical advice for their son. The youngster had no constitutional symptoms. A Mantoux test was performed, and an erythematous, indurated area measuring 15 mm in diameter was found at the test site 48 hours later.

A 65-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with abdominal discomfort and constipation. A nontender mass was palpated in the right hypochondrium.

An irritable, lethargic, toxic-looking, and slightly cyanotic 2-month-old boy had a temperature of 40°C (104°F), malaise, and a cough for 2 days. The infant's heart rate was 98 beats per minute, and his respiratory rate was 55 breaths per minute. He had nasal flaring, sternal and subcostal retractions, diminished breath sounds, and scattered rales over the left lung, which was dull to percussion.

During a camping trip, a 7-year-old boy sustained a 1.5-cm laceration down to the bone above the left eyebrow. The laceration was clean and linear; it bled freely. The patient did not lose consciousness.

A mildly itchy, tender “red bump” on his eyelid concerned a 68-year-old man. Two years earlier, a basal cell carcinoma, which started as a “red bump,” had been removed from his cheek. This lesion had been present for 2 weeks; the patient noted a small amount of discharge at the site in the mornings.