Case report of an unusual hepatic abscess caused by Actinomyces odontolyticus in a patient with human immunodeficiency virus infection

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 1 - 998
• Main Authors: Hsu, Shao-Lun, Wu, Chin-Ting, Chang, Yuan-Chen, Fan, Chia-Kwung, Lee, Yuarn-Jang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central Ltd 23.09.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Abdomen; Abscess; Abscesses; Actinomyces; Actinomyces odontolyticus; Ampicillin; Antibiotics; Bacteria; Candida albicans; Care and treatment; Case Report; Case reports; Causes of; Ceftriaxone; Complications and side effects; Diagnosis; Edentulous; Emergency medical care; Esophagus; Flora; Fluconazole; Gastrointestinal tract; HIV; HIV infection; Human immunodeficiency virus; Immune system; Infections; Infectious diseases; Intravenous administration; Liver; Liver abscess; Liver diseases; Metronidazole; Mucosa; Ostomy; Patients; Risk groups; Streptococcus constellatus; Streptococcus infections; Viruses; Taiwan
• ISSN: 1471-2334; 1471-2334
• DOI: 10.1186/s12879-021-06703-6

Actinomyces odontolyticus is not commonly recognized as a causative microbe of liver abscess. The detection and identification of A. odontolyticus in laboratories and its recognition as a pathogen in clinical settings can be challenging. However, in the past decades, knowledge on the clinical relevance of A. odontolyticus is gradually increasing. A. odontolyticus is the dominant oropharyngeal flora observed during infancy [Li et al. in Biomed Res Int 2018:3820215, 2018]. Herein we report a case of severe infection caused by A. odontolyticus in an immunocompromised patient with disruption of the gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa. This report is one of the first to highlight GI tract perforation and its clinical relevance with A. odontolyticus infection. A. odontolyticus infection should be diagnosed early in high-risk patients, and increased attention should be paid to commensal flora infection in immunocompromised individuals.