Cutaneous infection caused by Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum: a microbiological report
Cantarelli, V.Vicente.; Brodt, T.Cristina.Z.; Secchi, C.; Inamine, E.; Pereira, F.de.Souza.
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo 50(1): 51-52
2008
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-4665 PMID: 18327488 Document Number: 620822
We report here a rare case of cutaneous infection due to Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum. The patient presented to the clinical laboratory with a skin ulcer oil his left leg. Gram-stained preparation of the purulent secretion revealed the presence of numerous rod-shaped Gram-positive organisms in the absence of any other species. The organism was grown in pure culture on sheep blood agar and was further identified as C. pseudodiphtheriticum using a commercial identification system (API-Coryne, BioMerieux, France). The infection was successfully treated with ciprofloxacin. This case emphasizes the importance of the clinical microbiology laboratory in correctly identifying Gram-positive organisms obtained in pure culture frorn skin ulcers.