Etiological study for a case of multi-bacterial synergistic gangrene

IN July of 1994, a 13-year old girl from Shandong Province, China, found a dark point on her middle finger of the right hand. She licked it with a needle, and washed clothes with pool water by hands afterwards. Intolerable pain was experienced about 10 h later. The gangrene was developed in a week and spread gradually up to the right forearm and two fingers of the left hand. In November of 1994, she visited Beijing Army General Hospital, and radical amputations of the right forearm and two fingers of the left hand were carried out after 3 d of admission. Even though extensive care was taken and antibiotics were used before and after the operation, gangrene re-appeared 7 days after the operation. The case was pictured as unusual symptoms, life-threatening, and no clinical response to long-term use of antibiotics. It was reported as Yang's gangrene by national as well as local newspapers and television stations. The possible etiological pathogens were investigated in this study. 1 Material and method 1.1 Materials