Pyogenic spondylodiscitis is a primary infection of the intervertebral disc and is a rare entity. Here, we describe the case of a 64-year-old male patient, a professional breeder, who attended the Emergency Department with sciatica and back pain that was worsening for a week. The patient had no history of surgery or trauma. The patient had poor oral hygiene. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan showed lumbar spondylodiscitis, and blood cultures revealed Streptococcus constellatus. The patient was initially treated with vancomycin but due to renal failure deterioration, the treatment was changed to daptomycin for 8 weeks. During hospitalization, he endured renal injury and nosocomial respiratory tract infection. The patient was discharged with no further complications. Follow-up revealed improvement of neurological signs. In our case, it seems that poor oral hygiene was the cause of bacteremia, which underlies the importance of a good oral health status in immunocompromised patients not only to prevent but also to successfully eliminate any dental source of infection. S. constellatus is an extremely rare pathogen and to our knowledge only two other cases of pyogenic spondylodiscitis are reported in the literature. Early diagnosis is very important for the prognosis of these patients.

Pyogenic spondylodiscitis is a primary infection of the intervertebral disc and is a rare entity. Here, we describe the case of a 64-year-old male patient, a professional breeder, who attended the Emergency Department with sciatica and back pain that was worsening for a week. The patient had no history of surgery or trauma. The patient had poor oral hygiene. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan showed lumbar spondylodiscitis, and blood cultures revealed Streptococcus constellatus. The patient was initially treated with vancomycin but due to renal failure deterioration, the treatment was changed to daptomycin www.videleaf.com for 8 weeks. During hospitalization, he endured renal injury and nosocomial respiratory tract infection. The patient was discharged with no further complications. Follow-up revealed improvement of neurological signs. In our case, it seems that poor oral hygiene was the cause of bacteremia, which underlies the importance of a good oral health status in immunocompromised patients not only to prevent but also to successfully eliminate any dental source of infection. S. constellatus is an extremely rare pathogen and to our knowledge only two other cases of pyogenic spondylodiscitis are reported in the literature. Early diagnosis is very important for the prognosis of these patients.

Since December 2019 mankind is agonized over the deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which is due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (Sars-cov-2). Methods: In this retrospective study, laboratory findings and demographic features form all confirmed COVID-19 patients who attended the Emergency Department of both branches of our hospital during the first semester of 2021 were collected and analyzed. The working hypothesis was that initial laboratory data at the time the patients seeked medical assistant for the first time, regardless of comorbidities and day of onset of symptoms, can help predict patients’ outcome. Demographic data and laboratory tests were compared between hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients. Results: Data of 270 patients were collected and analyzed retrospectively. 31 blood measurement parameters performed in both hospital branches were compared between hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients. Of those, WBC count (p=0.016), neutrophil percentage (p<0.001), lymphocyte percentage (p<0.001), platelet count (p=0.041), glucose (p<0.001), urea (p<0.001), creatinine (p<0.001), SGOT (p=0.024), CK (p<0.053), LDH (p<0.001), GGT (p<0.001), sodium (p<0.001), calcium (p<0.001), high sensitivity Troponin I (p<0.001), and ferritin levels (p<0.001), proved statistically significant. Regarding demographic data, age was significantly linked to patients’ survival. Conclusion: Our data suggest that common initial laboratory findings of COVID-19 patients who seek for the first-time medical assistant regardless of comorbidities and time from onset of symptoms can give clues to the patient outcome. Age is also important for patients’ survival. Especially in a Primary Health Care Setting, common blood parameters like WBC count, neutrophil and lymphocyte percentage, platelet count, glucose, urea, creatinine, SGOT, CK, LDH, GGT, sodium, calcium, high sensitivity Troponin I, and ferritin levels, could be really helpful to predict disease severity.