Clinically Infrequent <i>Arcanobacterium haemolyticum</i> Bacteremia Complicated by Foot Decubitus Ulcer: An Educational Reminder for Primary Care Physicians

Abstract

An 81-year-old Japanese man with no history of diabetes mellitus was admitted to our hospital for a fever with a new ulcerative lesion on the left heel. Blood cultures on admission grew Arcanobacterium haemolyticum in aerobic bottles. He was therefore diagnosed with A. haemolyticum bacteremia and osteomyelitis complicated with foot decubitus ulcer. He was successfully treated with intravenous antibiotic therapy and debridement of the left heel. Our case and literature review show that it is important to recognize that A. haemolyticum is a systemic causative pathogen in immunocompetent patients in primary care practice.

Arcanobacterium haemolyticum: A case series

“…A.haemolyticum can exist be as a co-pathogen as demonstrated in our cases, as noted and same has been suggested by many studies. [8][9][10] Nonetheless in our case series, all patients had localized infections; all blood cultures showed no growth.…”

The skin microbiome of infected pressure ulcers: A review and implications for health professionals

“…The included studies were published between 2010 and 2020, mainly with a prospective cohort design. A diverse geographic distribution of the studies was found, with findings from the USA ( n = 3) 34,35 Japan ( n = 3) 27,28,36 and Brazil ( n = 1), 37 and several studies from European countries such as Spain ( n = 2), 24,38 Poland 39 and the Netherlands 26 . Study samples ranged from one (case reports) to 145 patients.…”