Appendiceal actinomycosis: a case series with clinical, radiologic and histopathologic correlation

Abstract

Abstract Background: Actinomycosis is an infrequent chronic infection caused by Actinomyces israeli. Appendiceal actinomycosis is a highly uncommon pathology, with isolated reports in the literature to date. Case report: We report 3 patients diagnosed of appendiceal actinomycosis. Two of our patients were male and one was female. The age range was 29-73 years. One patient presented as a complicated acute appendicitis (AA), other as a non-complicated AA and the last one followed a subacute course. Two of the patients received antibiotherapy for less than 2 weeks while one patient was treated for 12 months. All patients evolved favorably and did not present recurrences. AA was confirmed in two cases. Actinomyces colonies were identified and confirmed by different targeted stains in all cases. Conclusions: Appendiceal actinomycosis is an infrequent pathology whose clinical presentation can be very variable. Future studies that characterize this entity in diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic terms are required.