Victim of Deadly Infection Undergoes Surgery

An Encino computer executive underwent emergency surgery Saturday morning to remove a portion of his leg after he was afflicted with the so-called flesh-eating bacteria.

Lawrence Roberts, 50, is expected to survive, according to doctors at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital. Burn center director Dr. A. Richard Grossman said he cut away large sections of infected tissue from the knee to the foot on Roberts’ right leg.

“He should be fine,” Grossman said. “[Roberts] was very sharp in realizing he should get to the hospital, and the doctor [who made the diagnosis] was very sharp. If we hadn’t performed the surgery when we did, the outcome would have been much worse.”

Roberts, vice president of Venture Tech 2000, a software and consulting firm, had been suffering flu-like symptoms for several days. On Thursday, his right foot began to swell. It got so bad he was no longer able to stand on his foot, and he asked a friend to drive him to the emergency room, where Dr. Thane Blinman diagnosed the rare affliction.

Larry Weinberg, a hospital spokesman, said Roberts was listed in stable condition.

What is commonly known as “flesh-eating bacteria” is actually a combination of two kinds of bacteria teaming up to infect the body. In medical terms, the affliction is known as necrotizing fasciitis. In appearance, tissue covering muscle turns to a gray, mushy matter, Grossman said.

Grossman said the infection spreads so quickly that 85% to 90% of afflicted people die. Doctors often take too long to diagnose the infection because they see so little of it, he said.

“If you look at an infected area for a few minutes, you’ll actually see the infection spread right before your eyes,” Grossman said. “If a doctor sends you home, you probably won’t make it back to the hospital.”

Grossman said the bacteria entered Roberts’ body through a crack in the skin on his foot due to an athlete’s foot infection.

Although it can be fatal, necrotizing fasciitis is not contagious, nor is there any danger of a recurrence once the infected area is removed, Grossman said.

Despite increased coverage by the media, the affliction is no more common now than it ever was, Grossman said. There have only been four cases at the hospital since 1994. Grossman said he first saw the infection 30 years ago.