Two Cases of Invasive Infections Caused by Arcanobacterium haemolyticum in Immunocompetent Adult

Seong Yeon Park; Ki Hyoung Koo; Hee Jin Huh; Seok Lae Chae

doi:10.3947/ic.2012.44.6.481

Journal List > Infect Chemother > v.44(6) > 1035205

Go to TopGo to Top Go to BottomGo to Bottom

TOOLS

Park, Koo, Huh, and Chae: Two Cases of Invasive Infections Caused by Arcanobacterium haemolyticum in Immunocompetent Adult

Case Report

Infection & Chemotherapy

Infection & Chemotherapy 2012; 44(6): 481-484.

Published online: 31 December 2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2012.44.6.481

Two Cases of Invasive Infections Caused by Arcanobacterium haemolyticum in Immunocompetent Adult

Seong Yeon Park¹, Ki Hyoung Koo², Hee Jin Huh³, Seok Lae Chae³

¹Department of Internal Medicine, University of Dongguk College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.

²Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Dongguk College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.

³Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Dongguk College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.

Correspondence to Seok Lae Chae. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Siksa-dong, Ilsandongu-gu, Goyang 410-773, Korea. Tel: +82-31-961-7890, Fax: +82-31-961-7902, rocky@dumc.or.kr

Received 20 April 2012 Revised 31 May 2012 Accepted 26 September 2012

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Arcanobacterium haemolyticum is a gram-positive bacillus that is most commonly implicated in pharyngitis and infections of the skin and soft tissue. Systemic and deep-seated infections caused by this organism are rarely reported in the literature. Recently, we encountered two cases of invasive infections caused by A. haemolyticum. We describe two cases, one with vertebral osteomyelitis with an epidural abscess and the other with a buttock abscess with bacteremia.

Keywords: Invasive infection, Arcanobacterium haemolyticum

Figures and Tables

Figure 1

Sagittal MRI images of case-1. (A) T1 weighted image. (B) Gadolinium-Enhanced image. Intervertebral disc is severely destroyed. Epidural abscess is visible in the T1 and enhanced T1 image (arrow).

Figure 2

Axial MRI images of case-1. (A) T1 weighted image. (B) Gadolinium-Enhanced image. Epidural abscess that compressed the dural sac is visible in the T1 and enhanced T1 image (arrow). (C) Gadolinium-Enhanced image shows an abscess on the right iliopsoas muscle (arrow).

Figure 3

CT images of case-2. A CT scan shows fluid collection with air bubbles in the right buttock (arrow).

References

1. Maclean PD, Liebow AA, Rosenberg AA. A hemolytic corynebacterium resembling Corynebacterium ovis and Corynebacterium pyogenes in man. J Infect Dis. 1946. 79:69–90.

2. Ceilley RI. Foot ulceration and vertebral osteomyelitis with Corynebacterium haemolyticum. Arch Dermatol. 1977. 113:646–647.

3. Skov RL, Sanden AK, Danchell VH, Robertsen K, Ejlertsen T. Systemic and deep-seated infections caused by Arcanobacterium haemolyticum. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 1998. 17:578–582.

4. Vargas J, Hernandez M, Silvestri C, Jiménez O, Guevara N, Carballo M, Rojas N, Riera J, Alayo E, Fernández M, Rodriguez-Morales AJ, Silva M. Brain abscess due to Arcanobacterium haemolyticum after dental extraction. Clin Infect Dis. 2006. 42:1810–1811.

5. Therriault BL, Daniels LM, Carter YL, Raasch RH. Severe sepsis caused by Arcanobacterium haemolyticum: a case report and review of the literature. Ann Pharmacother. 2008. 42:1697–1702.

6. Choi SM, Lee HK, Kim YR, Park KS, Jeon HK, Moon SW, Park YJ, Shin WS. A case of subactue infective endocarditis caused by Arcanobacterium haemolyticum in a patient with mitral valve prolapse. Infect Chemother. 2007. 39:104–107.

7. Jun KR, Chun SH, Park SJ, Kim DJ, Bae HG, Kim MN. A case of Arcanobacterium haemolyticum sepsis. Korean J Lab Med. 2005. 25:56–60.

8. Funke G, von Graevenitz A, Clarridge JE 3rd, Bernard KA. Clinical microbiology of coryneform bacteria. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1997. 10:125–159.

9. Miller RA, Brancato F, Holmes KK. Corynebacterium hemolyticum as a cause of pharyngitis and scarlatiniform rash in young adults. Ann Intern Med. 1986. 105:867–872.

10. Collins MD, Jones D, Schofield GM. Reclassification of 'Corynebacterium haemolyticum' (MacLean, Liebow & Rosenberg) in the genus Arcanobacterium gen.nov. as Arcanobacterium haemolyticum nom.rev., comb.nov. J Gen Microbiol. 1982. 128:1279–1281.

11. Fernández-Suárez A, Benítez JM, Vidal AM, Iglesias JM. Lemierre's syndrome and septicaemia caused solely by Arcanobacterium haemolyticum in a young immunocompetent patient. J Med Microbiol. 2009. 58:1645–1648.

12. Ouriemchi W, Jeddi D, Ziane Y, El Quessar A, Benouda A. Arcanobacterium haemolyticum brain abscess mimicking a brain tumor. Med Mal Infect. 2011. 41:397–399.

13. Wong V, Turmezei T, Cartmill M, Soo S. Infective endocarditis caused by Arcanobacterium haemolyticum: a case report. Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob. 2011. 10:17.

14. Lundblom K, Jung K, Kalin M. Lemierre syndrome caused by co-infection by Arcanobacterium haemolyticum and Fusobacterium necrophorum. Infection. 2010. 38:427–429.

15. Bae SY, Choi S, Kang SJ, Jang HC, Park KH, Jung SI, Shin JH. A case of Arcanobacterium haemolyticum bacteremia and osteomyelitis diagnosed by16s rRNA sequencing. Infect Chemother. 2010. 42:241–243.

16. Lee S, Roh KH, Kim CK, Yong D, Choi JY, Lee JW, Lee K, Chong Y. A case of necrotizing fasciitis due to Streptococcus agalactiae, Arcanobacterium haemolyticum, and Finegoldia magna in a dog-bitten patient with diabetes. Korean J Lab Med. 2008. 28:191–195.

17. Kim YC, Kim JS, Park JY, Kang SH, Cho HC, Bang JW, Kim EC. Five cases of Arcanobacterium haemolyticum isolated from skin ulcer and peritonsillar abscess. Korean J Lab Med. 2004. 24:392–395.

18. Tan TY, Ng SY, Thomas H, Chan BK. Arcanobacterium haemolyticum bacteraemia and soft-tissue infections: case report and review of the literature. J Infect. 2006. 53:e69–e74.

19. Parija SC, Kaliaperumal V, Kumar SV, Sujatha S, Babu V, Balu V. Arcanobacterium haemolyticum associated with pyothorax: case report. BMC Infect Dis. 2005. 5:68.

TOOLS

Similar articles