Background: TOUR™ is a multicenter study designed to characterize the real-world population characteristics and clinical outcomes associated with telavancin (TLV) use through retrospective medical chart review. Telavancin is a lipoglycopeptide antibacterial active against gram-positive pathogens, including methicillin-sensitive and -resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA and MRSA). In the US, TLV is approved for hospital-acquired (HABP) and ventilator-associated [...]

Background: Guidelines by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the Infectious Disease Society of America recommend empiric antibiotics active against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) for certain patient groups but do not base their recommendations on systematic review or attempt to quantify the benefit on mortality. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using Embase, [...]

Case Presentation: This is a 52 year old Hispanic male with a history of bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement four years prior who presented with chest pain and abdominal pain. The patient was recently treated for aortic valve endocarditis with long-term intravenous antibiotic therapy lasting six weeks. The patient admitted to a one month history of [...]

Case Presentation: A 78 year old man with a past medical history of diabetes on insulin and chronic back pain initially presented with several days of diarrhea. On admission he was found to have Clostridium difficile colitis that improved slowly on oral vancomycin. On hospital day 7 he developed acute debilitating back pain and was [...]

Case Presentation: A 54 year old male with a history of intravenous drug use presented for three days of altered mental status, dyspnea, and low urine output. He was previously admitted a month ago for septic shock secondary to aortic valve endocarditis and underwent aortic valve repair, but left against medical advice before completing his [...]

Case Presentation: A 55-year-old woman with no known past medical issues is admitted with a 1-week history of weakness and two days of fever and chills. Workup showed WBC count was 15600/µL, C-reactive protein of 14.3 mg/dL, procalcitonin of less than 0.05 ng/mL, and lactate of 0.7 mmol/L. Since procalcitonin was negative and there was [...]

Case Presentation: A 71 year old man with a past medical history of end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus presented with 5 days of weakness, dry cough, and dyspnea after missing multiple dialysis sessions. His vitals were stable and his exam was notable only for trace lower extremity edema. Notable labs included [...]

Case Presentation: A 51-year-old woman with irritable bowel syndrome presented with abdominal distention, anasarca, and altered mental status. A few weeks prior to her admission, she received an intragluteal steroid injection at another facility for recently diagnosed sciatica. On admission to outside facility, vital signs were notable for hypertension (BP 171/88). Laboratory work was significant [...]

Case Presentation: A 56-year-old male with uncontrolled Type II diabetes presented to urgent care with back pain in the absence of urinary tract symptoms. Urine cultures were positive for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and he was diagnosed with pyelonephritis and treated with Bactrim. His back pain persisted and he re-presented to the outside hospital. Finally, [...]

Case Presentation: A 68 year old caucasian female presented to the emergency department with 1 week of fever, chest pain, and dyspnea. On exam, she appeared cachectic and toxic . Her temperature was 101F, heart rate was 124/min, and she was in Atrial fibrillation. Her BP initially was 100/66, and respiratory rate was 25/min. Pulsus [...]