Journal of Infection and Public Health (Jul 2018)

Neurological disease may precede lymphadenopathies in Actinomyces europaeus infection

  • Silvia Corcione,
  • Antonio Curtoni,
  • Ivana A. Paolucci,
  • Giovanni Di Perri,
  • Francesco G. De Rosa,
  • Rossana Cavallo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2017.12.010
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 4
pp. 592 – 593

Abstract

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Actinomyces species are part of the commensal flora of the mucous membranes of the oropharynx, gastrointestinal tract and female genital tract. Actinomyces europaeus is a short, nonmotile, facultative anaerobic rod first described in 1997, susceptible in vitro to a wide range of b-lactam antibiotics which are regarded as first choice. In this report we described the case of A. europaeus infection in a young female patient admitted to Intensive Care Unit and the possible damage of vascular endothelium due to a chronic progressive actinomycosis that at first involved neck soft tissue, then cervical lymphnodes, and finally extended to the vascular structure. Keywords: Actinomyces, Actinomycosis, Vascular infections, Intensive care unit, Vasculitis, Neurological symptoms