Helicobacter cinaedi is an emerging Gram-negative spiral bacillus that was first reported in 1984. It has been implicated as a cause of gastroenteritis and bacteraemia in immunocompromised individuals. Helicobacter cinaedi-associated bacteraemia is sometimes accompanied by skin lesions; however, the cutaneous manifestations of this pathogen are not widely known. To our knowledge, a comprehensive review with detailed analysis of skin lesions associated with H. cinaedi has not been conducted. This article summarizes the clinical appearance of H. cinaedi cellulitis and its management. In addition, we conducted a retrospective review of 73 patients with H. cinaedi bacteraemia at a single institution, to further clarify the characteristic cutaneous features. It was found that 30% (22/73) of the cases of H. cinaedi bacteraemia had sudden-onset erythema accompanied by high fever. The most common cutaneous symptom of H. cinaedi bacteraemia was found to be mild cellulitis, appearing as multiple painful infiltrated erythemas on the extremities. As H. cinaedi is not always detectable in routine blood culture techniques, evaluation of these characteristic cutaneous manifestations seems important in diagnosis. Helicobacter cinaedi infection should be added to the diagnostic list of unspecified fever with painful infiltrated erythemas.
© 2015 British Association of Dermatologists.