A study of nineteen immunocompromised patients with extensive skin lesions caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa with and without bacteremia.

Nineteen immunocompromised patients with extensive skin lesions caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa with or without P. aeruginosa bacteremia were analysed. Patients whose lesions originated in the skin were in the majority (14 patients). Skin lesions were located at the site of entry of bacteria (apocrine areas in 12 patients). Cutaneous lesions were pleomorphic but the typical picture of ecthyma gangrenosum was common in this group of patients. Only 2 of them developed P. aeruginosa septicemia and the prognosis was relatively good (7.5% mortality rate). These observations confirm that ecthyma gangrenosum may be a primary cutaneous disorder not systematically associated with bacteremia.