Nadir bir etken: Rhodococcus equi, immünkompetan hastalarda yumuşak doku enfeksiyonlarına ilişkin bir vaka sunumu ve literatür incelemesi

Abstract

Rhodococcus equi (R. equi) is a microorganism that was first identified in horses. Afterward, it was found to cause opportunistic infections in immunosuppressed patients. It causes especially pulmonary infections in immunocompromised patients while it rarely causes diseases such as septic arthritis and soft tissue infections. It is important to question epidemiological risk factors for the diagnosis of the disease. Also, the clinician-microbiologist relationship is important in the laboratory diagnosis of the microorganism because it is possible to be missed as part of normal flora or contaminant or to be confused with microorganisms with similar phenotypic features (Nocardia species or rapidly growing mycobacteria). Rarely, it has been reported in immunocompetent patients, as in our case. MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, and Cochrane searches were performed using the keywords Rhodococcus equi and Corynebacterium equi from 1945 to July 2021. A total of 582 articles were determined. Articles containing these keywords were then scanned for the words “humans”, “soft tissue infections”, and “cellulite” and a total of 42 articles were listed in the end. A total of 14 case reports of soft tissue infection/cellulitis in immunocompetent patients related to R. equi were detected in the literature. In our case, there was a soft tissue infection and R. equi was detected in the abscess culture. Obtaining culture and determining the factor is very important in the treatment of infections. In this report, soft tissue infections caused by R. equi in immunocompetent patients are reviewed.