Rhabdomyolysis: An Unusual Presentation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection in an Adult—A Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common cause of community-acquired pneumonia, and many extrapulmonary manifestations have been described, but rhabdomyolysis is infrequently reported in adults. Of the few cases that have been reported in adults, it was almost exclusively seen when pneumonia was present. We report a case of a 30-year-old male who came in with complaints of fever and myalgia for three days. Immunoglobulin M antibodies for Mycoplasma pneumoniae were positive and trending up, despite having no radiographic evidence of pneumonia on chest X-ray or CT scan. He was treated successfully with levofloxacin and intravenous hydration. Later, his condition was clinically and biochemically improved, and he was discharged. Our patient did not present with typical respiratory tract symptoms of a mycoplasma infection. In addition, there was an absence of pneumonia on imaging, suggesting that rhabdomyolysis secondary to mycoplasma might be underdiagnosed and go untreated in the setting of low clinical suspicion. Upon review of the literature, there is only one other case of mycoplasma infection where rhabdomyolysis occurred in the absence of pneumonia. However, the degree of rhabdomyolysis in our case was much more severe. Although rare, when faced with rhabdomyolysis, Mycoplasma pneumoniae should be kept as a differential diagnosis even in the absence of pneumonia on radiological imaging.