Estudo clínico de 35 pacientes com diagnóstico de erisipela internados no Hospital Central da Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo * Erysipelas: a clinical study of 35 pacients hospitalized at the São Paulo Central Hospital of Irmandade da

Summary: B ACKGROUND - Erysipelas and cellulitis are common skin infections.O BJECTIVES - The aim of this paper is to investigate the frequency, risk factors, clinical features, complications, prin-cipal drugs used for treatment and the disease course.M ETHODS - The authors studied 35 ward patients who had been diagnosed with erysipelas, and were admitted tothe Central Hospital of Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericordia de Sao Paulo between April and August 2002.R ESULTS - Among the patients in the ward during the study 0.87% had been diagnosed with erysipelas. The most com -mon local risk factor was lymphedema, followed by previous episodes of erysipelas. Among the general risk factors,diabetes mellitus, alcohol abuse and cancer were most frequently observed. Local inflammatory signs were foundin 97.8% of the patients. Four cases were observed to have complications, which were: necrosis, abscess, deepthrombophlebitis and septicemia. The course was satisfactory in more than 97% of patients.C