Lab Med Online.  2016 Apr;6(2):106-110. 10.3343/lmo.2016.6.2.106.

Bacteremia Caused by Eggerthella lenta in an Elderly Patient with an Intra-abdominal Abscess

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Inje University School of Medicine, Goyang, Korea. chocr@paik.ac.kr

Abstract

Eggerthella lenta is an anaerobic, non-spore-forming, non-motile, gram-positive bacillus that can be isolated from human feces and a few other clinical specimens. Bacteremia caused by the organism is rare but, when present, is always of clinical significance. E. lenta is an emerging pathogen that has been under-recognized because of difficulties with its laboratory identification. Few reports on E. lenta infections and the optimal treatment thereof are available. We describe a case of bacteremia caused by E. lenta in an elderly patient with an intra-abdominal abscess. We also review the current literature.

Keyword

Eggerthella lenta; Bacteremia; Identification

MeSH Terms

Abdominal Abscess*
Aged*
Bacillus
Bacteremia*
Feces
Humans

Figure

  • Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the patient's clinical course. Abbreviations: Hb, hemoglobin; PLT, platelet; PCT, procalcitonin.


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