Clostridium septicum (C. septicum) aortitis is a rare condition frequently associated with colon adenocarcinoma and carries a poor prognosis. We report the case of a 66-year-old man who presented with abdominal pain, blood in the stool, fever and chills. Laboratory tests were significant for leukocytosis and microcytic anemia. Abdominal imaging revealed a right colon mass and aortitis. Colonosc...

A fulminant case of endophthalmitis due to Clostridium septicum is described. The patient presented with spontaneous gas gangrene panophthalmitis, with early visual loss and an air bubble in the anterior chamber. Death ensued, and necropsy revealed changes consistent with severe arterosclerotic cardiovascular disease, a relationship not uncommon in patients with clostridium sepsis. This associa...

TO THE EDITOR—Several of us have served in the military, and the recent cover of Clinical Infectious Diseases (The Treatment of a Gangrenous Leg, woodcut, 16th century) [1] intrigued us. We wondered how much aggressive surgical debridement and effective antibiotic regimens have improved survival of patients with gas gangrene since that time? Clostridialmyonecrosis (gas gangrene), a monomicrobia...

BACKGROUND We report the first known case of spontaneous, atraumatic Clostridium septicum gangrene occurring in a patient with recurrent endometrial adenocarcinoma. CASE A 63-year-old white female undergoing chemotherapy for recurrent endometrial adenocarcinoma presented with right "arthritis-like" shoulder pain. She denied fever, chills, or shoulder trauma. The patient was afebrile and her b...

An association exists between colon carcinoma and Clostridium septicum infection, especially bacteremia. We reviewed retrospectively all positive blood cultures for this organism at a 300-bed general hospital over 4 years. Four of 15 cases were associated with concurrent colon carcinoma. C. septicum infection was the presenting feature of previously undiagnosed large bowel malignancy in three p...