An Immunocompetent Case of Capnocytophaga canimorsus Infection Complicated by Secondary Thrombotic Microangiopathy and Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation

• Published in: Internal Medicine Vol. 58; no. 23; pp. 3479 - 3482
• Main Authors: Tani, Naoki, Nakamura, Keiji, Sumida, Kosuke, Suzuki, Michio, Imaoka, Koichi, Shimono, Nobuyuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine 01.12.2019; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Antibiotics; Bites and Stings; Capnocytophaga; Capnocytophaga canimorsus; Case Report; Coagulation; Disseminated intravascular coagulation; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation - drug therapy; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation - microbiology; emerging infection; Female; Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections - complications; Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections - drug therapy; Humans; Immunocompetence; Infections; Internal medicine; Middle Aged; Plasma Exchange - adverse effects; Sepsis; Sepsis - diagnosis; Thrombotic Microangiopathies - microbiology; Thrombotic microangiopathy; Capnocytophaga canimorsus; thrombotic microangiopathy; disseminated intravascular coagulation; emerging infection; sepsis
• ISSN: 0918-2918; 1349-7235
• DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.3110-19

A 62-year-old woman with no previous history developed a Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection followed by thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). She was treated with antibiotics and plasma exchange (PE) and recovered. C. canimorsus sepsis sometimes causes not only DIC but also TMA. The mortality of TMA is extremely high, so we should not hesitate to perform PE when a patient shows TMA symptoms.