[A case of fulminant psittacosis with rhabdomyolysis]

Abstract

We encountered a case of psittacosis accompanied with rhabdomyolysis in a 66-year-old woman admitted to our hospital because of myalgia, fever, diarrhea, and disorientation. A chest CT scan showed air-space consolidation and ground-glass attenuation in the left lung. Laboratory findings showed elevation of CPK, myoglobin, and aldolase, consistent with rhabdomyolysis. She recovered after administration of intravenous erythromycin and steroid pulse therapy. Psittacosis was diagnosed from the history of exposure to pigeons and from elevation of the IgG titer for Chlamydia psittaci. Rhabdomyolysis is associated with some kinds of viral or bacterial infections. But few case reports have been found in the case of psittacosis. The mechanism whereby rhabdomyolysis complicates psittacosis is unknown. We suggest that psittacosis should be added to the list for differential diagnosis, when rhabdomyolysis develops in a patient with pneumonia.