First Report of Bacteremia Caused by Clostridium cadaveris in China

Xiangyun Li; Xiujie Wu; Yuanhong Xu; Yajing Liu

doi:10.2147/IDR.S344062

First Report of Bacteremia Caused by Clostridium cadaveris in China

Infect Drug Resist. 2021 Dec 17:14:5411-5415. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S344062. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Xiangyun Li¹, Xiujie Wu², Yuanhong Xu^#¹, Yajing Liu^#^{3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Laboratory Medicine, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, People's Republic of China.
⁴ NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Genetics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Bacteremia caused by C. cadaveris is an extremely rare infection that accounts for 0.5-2% of all positive blood cultures. C. cadaveris is an opportunistic agent that is highly lethal in immunocompromised or epithelial barrier disruption hosts.

Case presentation: A 74-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a high fever. The patient was diagnosed with an abdominal infection after a bowel invasion and recurrence of an ovarian tumor after surgery. Blood sample culturing yielded transparent, smooth, moist, slightly raised colonies without a hemolytic ring. C. cadaveris was identified by gram staining and MALDI-TOF MS. 16S rRNA gene sequencing confirmed a sequence homologous to C. cadaveris in the GenBank database. Drug susceptibility testing showed that C. cadaveris was sensitive to cefoxitin, clindamycin, imipenem, meropenem, metronidazole, and vancomycin. After treatment, the patient's body temperature was normal and she was discharged from the hospital.

Conclusion: This is the first case report of bacteremia caused by C. cadaveris in China and also the first report of identifying C. cadaveris in clinical specimens by MALDI-TOF MS. This case study could increase the awareness of these infections in China.

Keywords: C. cadaveris; bacteremia; drug sensitivity test; rapid identification.

Publication types

Case Reports