preview

Diabetes: A Case Study Essay

Decent Essays

The patient presented in this article was a 20 year-old diabetic female with a history of repeated hospital admissions due to diabetic ketoacidosis. It is well known that diabetes mellitus, with its complications, is an important risk factor for fungal urinary tract infections. Other risk factors include repeated hospitalizations, placement of urinary drainage devices and prior antibiotic treatment.
Primary renal candidiasis, although rare, is increasing in incidence. Among general population yeast are accounting in less than one percent of urine specimens but account for 5 to 10 percent of urinary culture in hospitalized patients and mostly those with indwelling bladder catheters and patients in surgical wards and ATUs [2,7]. Catheterised …show more content…

On the current admission, patient presented with symptoms and sings suggestive of systemic infection including fever, fatigue, and abdominal sensitivity. Persistent candiduria in diabetics should always prompt radiologic imaging of the kidneys with ultrasound or CT scans, to assess possible renal involvement [1]. Candida spp is one of the most common microorganisms in urine among hospitalized patients and its presence is followed by increased mortality [1]. However, regarding the frequency of candidemia, the results are controversial, some investigators describe candidemia in <5% of patients in ICUs, while others increase this number to 37% [10,11]. Abdominal CT scans and ultrasound sonographies in our patient revealed hydronephrosis and the presence of fungus balls in the right kidney. History of recent fungal infection and candidemia was indicative of a possible secondary kidney involvement due to systemic infection. At that previous episode, the patient had candidemia and candiduria, and although echinocandin was the appropriate treatment for candidemia, it was probably not sufficient to treat the urinary infection, as echinocandins have

Get Access