Bacillus Proteus Pyelonephritis With Thrombophlebitis of the Intrinsic Renal Veins and Septicemia

Comprehensive summaries of focal and systemic diseases in man caused by proteus organisms have been published by Meyerhof¹and Bengston.²Since then, other reports of specific tissue infections by proteus organisms, occasionally with septicemia, have appeared.³According to these sources of information, bacteria of the proteus group have recognized importance in infections of the urinary tract, the acute enteritides of children and adults, meat poisoning, Weil's disease, other icteric diseases, chronic otitis media, peridental abscess, meningitis, empyema of the chest, periurethral infection, and perinephric and peritonsillar abscesses. Septicemia secondary to infections of the kidney usually is caused by colon organisms; less frequently by streptococci or staphylococci. Although infections of the urinary tract are due to bacteria of the proteus group, a proteus septicemia secondary to pyelonephritis, in fact, from any primary focus, is unusual. Lenhartz⁴emphasized this in his report of proteus pyonephritis, accompanied