Infect Chemother.  2012 Dec;44(6):481-484. 10.3947/ic.2012.44.6.481.

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

Affiliations
  • 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. rocky@dumc.or.kr

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.

Keyword

Invasive infection; Arcanobacterium haemolyticum

MeSH Terms

Abscess
Adult
Arcanobacterium
Bacillus
Bacteremia
Buttocks
Epidural Abscess
Humans
Osteomyelitis
Pharyngitis
Skin

Figure

  • 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).


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