Journal of Mahatma Gandhi University of Medical Sciences and Technology

Register      Login

VOLUME 2 , ISSUE 1 ( January-April, 2017 ) > List of Articles

CASE REPORT

Pan Digital Gangrene: A Rare Phenomenon in Scrub Typhus

CM Agrawal, Manish R Pahadia, Shubham Gupta, Haritej Anand

Citation Information : Agrawal C, Pahadia MR, Gupta S, Anand H. Pan Digital Gangrene: A Rare Phenomenon in Scrub Typhus. J Mahatma Gandhi Univ Med Sci Tech 2017; 2 (1):35-37.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10057-0029

License: CC BY 3.0

Published Online: 01-12-2015

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2017; The Author(s).


Abstract

Introduction

Scrub typhus is an acute, febrile zoonosis, caused by an obligate intracellular bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi. The disease is of greatest public health importance in rural areas of Asia and in Western Pacific Islands. The clinical manifestations of the disease range from subclinical disease to an organ failure. The various complications known with this disease are jaundice, renal failure, pneumonitis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, myocarditis, vasculitis, and meningoencephalitis. The complications of scrub typhus usually develop after the first week of illness.

Case report

We report a case of a 70-year-old female, farmer by occupation, who presented with acute febrile illness and was diagnosed as scrub typhus. She subsequently developed vasculitis, which resulted in pan digital gangrene. After thorough workup for digital gangrene, it was established that scrub typhus is the cause of gangrene in this patient.

Conclusion

Thus, our inference is that vasculitis might be seen in very few cases of scrub typhus and it may progress up to gangrene of digits. Only one such case has been reported, thus making it a very rare phenomenon.

How to cite this article

Rijhwani P, Charan A, Agrawal CM, Pahadia MR, Gupta S, Anand H. Pan Digital Gangrene: A Rare Phenomenon in Scrub Typhus. J Mahatma Gandhi Univ Med Sci Tech 2017;2(1):35-37.


HTML PDF Share
  1. Scrub typhus and tropical rickettsioses. Curr Opin Infect Dis 2003 Oct;16(5):429-436.
  2. medscape.com/article/971797-overview#a3.
  3. Scrub typhus. In: Guerrant RL, Walker DH, Weller PF, editors. Tropical infectious diseases principles, pathogens and practice. 2nd ed. Philadelphia (PA): Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2006. Vol. 1. Chapter 52.
  4. Scrub typhus in South Vietnam: a study of 87 cases. Ann Intern Med 1973 Jul;79(1):26-30.
  5. Identification of the target cells of Orientia tsutsugamushi in human cases of scrub typhus. Mod Pathol 2001 Aug;14(8):752-759.
  6. Multiple organ failure complicating probable scrub typhus. Clin Infect Dis 2000 Jul;31(1):191-192.
  7. Acute hearing loss due to scrub typhus: a forgotten complication of a reemerging disease. Clin Infect Dis 2006 Jan1;42(1):e6-e8.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.