The BMJ , renowned scientific journal linked to the British Medical Association, published on May 20 an article by a group of specialists from Hospital Beatriz Ângelo (HBA), where it is reported a fatal and rare infection occurred in a patient with breast cancer under chemotherapy treatment. The authors of the article are João Moreira Pinto, Fábio Lopes and José Luís Passos Coelho , from the Oncology Service of HBA, Mónica Ataíde (Radiology) and Paulo Oliveira (Surgery). The last three also practise in Hospital da Luz network, Passos Coelho being the director of Hospital da Luz Lisboa Department of Oncology. The article is entitled “Fatal febrile neutropenia by clostridium septicum during adjuvant chemotherapy for precocious breast cancer”. Febrile neutropenia is a known infectious complication of treatment with cytotoxic chemotherapy, but usually temporary and rarely fatal, if adequately treated with antimicrobial, hence the relevance of the publication ascribed by the BMJ. The case occurred at HBA reports a 76-year old female patient who, eight days after the first chemotherapy cycle for the treatment of a breast tumour in early stage, went to the E.R. with vomits, chills, fever and seizures. Despite the prompt administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics, the patient passed away four hours after hospitalization. The laboratorial analyses identified a rare gas-producing bacterial agent, clostridium septicum , as the agent responsible for the infection, an extremely rare occurrence in patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy treatment. An emergency abdominal CT-scan revealed the presence of intravascular air in multiple organs. “Fatal Clostridium septicum febrile neutropenia during adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer” (PDF 552 KB)
