From: Corynebacteria as a cause of pulmonary infection: a case series and literature review
Organism isolated | No. of cases | Age/Sex | Co-morbid conditions | Diagnosis | Methods of Diagnosis | Mortality N (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C. accolens [46] | 1 | 72F | DM, myocardial infarction, triple aortic bypass, heart failure | Pneumonia | Bronchoalveolar brush sample. Culture also yielded small numbers of P. aeruginosa | 1 (100%) |
C. afermentans [19] | 1 | 27F | HIV | Empyema | Pleural fluid and blood culture positive. Sputum culture reported “normal respiratory flora” | 0 (0%) |
5 | 48F, 28F, 29F, 76M, 77F | 2 Acute myelogenous leukemia, 1 Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Acute myelomonocytic leukemia, 1 old pulmonary tuberculosis, and 1 COPD | Pneumonia, (necrosis and hemorrhage in 1 case) | Positive gram stain and culture from 1 post-mortem pneumonia; 4 positive respiratory cultures (including 1 TTA). In 1 case, sputum yielded 106 C. jeikeium, > 107 S. aureus and 103 P. aeruginosa per ml; TTA culture yielded > 108 C. jeikeium, 104 P. aeruginosa, and 103 S. aureus; FNA yielded pure growth of C. jeikeium | 4 (80%) | |
C. macginleyi [28] | 1 | 73F | Metastatic lung adenocarcinoma, chemotherapy, intubated post-bronchoscopy | Ventilator-associated pneumonia | Sputum culture had 105 CFU/mL C. macginleyi | 0 (0%) |
C. mucifaciens [26] | 1 | 51M | DM | Cavitary pneumonia | Not described | 0 (0%) |
4 | 72F, 79M, 83M, 7F | 2 DM, 1 non-Hodgkin’s MALT lymphoma, 2 Rheumatoid arthritis, 2 COPD, 1 ataxia telangiectasia on inhaled corticosteroids | Pneumonia | 3 sputum culture; 1 case with bronchial aspirate and broncho-alveolar lavage yielding only C. propinquum and blood culture positive for S. pneumoniae | 0 (0%) | |
C. pseudo-diphtheriticum [12,13,14, 33,34,35,36,37,38, 49,50,51,52,53,54,55] | 40 | 91F, 40M, 79F, 70 M, 71M, 68M, 72M, 70F, 74M, 76F, 83M, 75M, 68M, 76M, 65M, 68F, 64M, 67M, 62M, 66M, 50F, 27F, 68F, 29M, 47M, 41M, 24M, 43M, 34M, 33M, 33M, 43M, 34M, 29M, 30M, 80F, 9F, 59M, 46M, 75M | 2 CKD, 3 CHF, 10 COPD, 4 DM, 2 asthma, SLE, 1 Adult T-cell lymphotrophic virus Ab+, 1 tracheostomy, 2 lung cancers, 1 epidermoid carcinoma, 2 autoimmune disorder on steroid therapy, 2 intubations, 1 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, 10 HIV/AIDS, 3 previous tuberculosis, 2 recent Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia, 1 cystic fibrosis | Pneumonia | 15 sputum Gram stains, 2 bronchial secretions, 1 bronchial wash; Cultures also yielded fewer numbers of other bacteria: S. aureus (2), H. influenzae (1), S. pneumoniae (3), S. maltophila (1), P. aeruginosa (1), E. cloacae (1) | 4 (10%); 9 status unknown, 27 resolved |
2 | 23F, 28M | 2 veterinary students (1 known exposure to sick horses) | Pneumonia | TTA or CT guided transthoracic biopsy | 0 (0%) | |
7 | 68F, 47F, 28M, 27M, 69M, 58M, 69F | 1 DM, 2 HIV/AIDS, 1 alcohol use, 1 COPD, 1 heart transplant, 1 RA on prednisone | 6 pneumonia, 1 empyema | 2 sputum, 2 BAL cultures (4 × 103 CFU/mL and > 105 CFU/mL), 1 bronchoscopy brush sample, 1 empyema, 1 pleural fluid +1 lung tissue culture | 1 (14%) | |
2 | 78M, 80F | 1 Metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, 1 HTN | Pneumonia | 2 positive sputum cultures, 1 confirmed by BAL | 2 (100%) | |
C. urealyticum [60] | 1 | 72M | CHF, COPD | Pneumonia | Transtracheal aspirate | 0 (0%) |
C. xerosis [20] | 1 | 63M | AML | Pneumonia | BAL culture yielded 105 C. xerosis /mL | 1 (100%) |
“Aerobic diphtheroids” [61] | 1 | 68M | Heavy smoking history, dental extractions | Empyema | Pleural fluid culture grew only “diphtheroids” | 0 (0%) |