Infect Chemother.  2010 Oct;42(5):319-322. 10.3947/ic.2010.42.5.319.

Pneumonia Caused by Corynebacterium macginleyi in HIV-infected Patient

Affiliations
  • 1The Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, The Yeungnam University of Korea, Daegu, Korea.
  • 2The Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. sarang7529@catholic.ac.kr

Abstract

Corynebacterium macginleyi is usually isolated from the eye surfaces and causes ocular infections such as conjunctivitis, keratitis, and endophthalmitis. However, cases that describe C. macginleyi as the causative agent for significant and life-threatening infections in immunocompromised patients are increasingly reported. Herein we report the first documented case of C. macginleyi pneumonia in a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patient. A 42-year-old homosexual man with HIV infection was hospitalized with a 1-month history of fever and dry cough. Chest radiograph revealed ill defined ground glass opacities in both lung fields. Methenamine silver stain of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was negative. He showed clinical improvement after treatment with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and prednisolone for three weeks, and was discharged. One month later, he presented with dyspnea and more progressive pulmonary infiltrations. Bronchial washing fluid culture yielded >100,000 colonies/mL of C. macginleyi, and he was given a 14-day course of antibiotic therapy with vancomycin, after which the patient fully recovered. This case suggest the importance of not overlooking the significance of positive cultures for C. macginleyi obtained from representative clinical samples in patients with signs and symptoms of bacterial infection.

Keyword

Corynebacterium macginleyi; Pneumonia; Human immunodeficiency virus

MeSH Terms

Adult
Bacterial Infections
Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid
Conjunctivitis
Corynebacterium
Cough
Dyspnea
Endophthalmitis
Eye
Eye Infections
Fever
Glass
HIV
HIV Infections
Homosexuality
Humans
Immunocompromised Host
Keratitis
Lung
Methenamine
Pneumonia
Prednisolone
Thorax
Vancomycin
Methenamine
Prednisolone
Vancomycin

Figure

  • Figure 1 The chest CT scan at the first admission shows ill defined ground glass opacity in both lungs with central and upper lobe predominance.

  • Figure 2 The chest CT scan at the second admission shows multifocal clusters of the ill defined small centrilobular nodular opacities with bronchial/bronchiolar wall thickening and linear branching opacities in both lungs.


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