Therapeutic approach to actinomycosis: Experience gained at the Department of infectious and tropical diseases

Abstract

Introduction. Actinomycosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by anaerobic, gram-positive microorganisms from the order of Actinomyce or Propionobacterium. The disease manifests itself mostly in cervicofacial form and less frequently in thoracic and abdominal form. The study was aimed at reviewing clinical manifestations and therapeutic approaches in treatment of patients with Actinomycosis. Material and methods. The study sample consisted of four patients with different clinical manifestations of Actinomycosis, who had been treated at the Institute for Infectious and Tropical Diseases in Belgrade in 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2008. Results. Four patients with Actinomycosis were treated during the above mentioned periods of time. One patient had kidney Actinomycosis, which developed into generalized Actinomycosis. Two patients had the most common cervical form, while the forth one had abdominal form; all patients received Penicillin G followed by Ampicillin, during the period of four weeks to up to a year. Conclusion. Actinomycosis is a rare disease, which imposes great diagnostic dilemmas. The treatment of this disease requires long term use of antibiotics.