A Case of Arcanobacterium haemolyticum Sepsis.
- Author:
Kyung Ran JUN
1
;
Soh Hyun CHUN
;
Sook Ja PARK
;
Dong Jei KIM
;
Hae Gyung BAE
;
Mi Na KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. mnkim@amc.seoul.kr
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords:
Arcanobacterium haemolyticum;
Sepsis;
CAMP inhibition reaction
- MeSH:
Agar;
Amputation;
Arcanobacterium*;
Bacillus;
Ceftriaxone;
Central Nervous System Infections;
Ciprofloxacin;
Diabetic Foot;
Diffusion;
Emergency Service, Hospital;
Endocarditis;
Erythromycin;
Fever;
Humans;
Kansas;
Korea;
Middle Aged;
Osteomyelitis;
Penicillins;
Pharyngitis;
Pneumonia;
Sepsis*;
Skin;
Streptococcus pneumoniae;
Toes;
Vancomycin;
Wound Infection
- From:The Korean Journal of Laboratory Medicine
2005;25(1):56-60
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Arcanobacterium haemolyticum is a beta-hemolytic coryneform bacillus. It has been implicated as an etiologic agent of non-streptococcal pharyngitis and less frequently a cause of skin and wound infections, osteomyelitis, pneumonia, endocarditis, sepsis, and central nervous system infections. We describe a case of A. hemolyticum sepsis reported for the first time in Korea. A 61-year-old man with a diabetic foot was admitted due to a high fever. Three sets of blood cultures taken at the emergency room yielded coryneform bacilli. The organism was beta-hemolytic on blood agar plate, catalase-negative, and non-motile. It was identified as A. haemolyticum by Rapid CB Plus (Remel, Kansas, USA) and API Coryne (BioMerieux SA, Marcy l`Etoile, France) and confirmed by CAMP inhibition reaction. It was susceptible to penicillin, ceftriaxone, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, and vancomycin by the disk diffusion method using the breakpoint criteria of National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards for streptococci other than Streptococcus pneumoniae. The patient was improved with partial amputation of the right big toe and antimicrobial therapy with ampicillin/sulbactam. If Arcanobacterium is isolated from normally sterile sites or culture specimens properly collected from infected tissues, it should be identified to the species level. Commercial biochemical test kits specialized in corynebacteria and CAMP test are useful for species identification of A. haemolyticum.
