Saturday, February 27, 2016

Symptoms of Legionella pneumonia mnemonic

Happy weekend everyone!

The mnemonic for Legionella is in the word itself - LEGIONella.

L: Lungs - Atypical pneumonia.
Relatively nonproductive cough
Dyspnea
Pleuritic or non pleuritic chest pain
Confluent or patchy infiltrates on x-ray
Random fact: Interstitial infiltrates aren't seen often like in other atypical pneumonias.

E: Encephalon - Neurologic abnormalities.
Headache
Confusion or changes in mental status
Encephalopathy

G: Gastrointestinal symptoms.
Abdominal pain
Nausea
Vomiting
Watery diarrhea

ION: Na ion decreases.
Hyponatremia (serum sodium level of 131 meq/L)

Interesting fact: Even though medical textbooks list Legionella as a cause of SIADH, no evidence that increased ADH secretion would explain low sodium levels in Legionella patients was found in studies.

Did you know? Legionnaires’ disease is the designation for pneumonia caused by Legionella species.

That's all!

Quote for the day by Stephen Hawking: There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope.

-IkaN

Related post: Organisms covered by Azithromycin mnemonic

Sources:
Legionnaire's pneumonia: is there really an interstitial disease?
Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16987630
Is inappropriate secretion of anti-diuretic hormone (SIADH) the cause of hyponatremia in Legionella pneumonia?
 Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3363562/

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