Tannerella forsythia, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Suspected Actinomyces Causing Massive Empyema: A Case Report.

Division

South Atlantic

Hospital

Grand Strand Medical Center

Document Type

Case Report

Publication Date

11-1-2023

Keywords

actinomyces, anaerobes, empyema, fusobacterium nucleatum, tannerella forsythia

Disciplines

Bacterial Infections and Mycoses | Internal Medicine | Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

This report presents the case of a polymicrobial empyema due to Fusobacterium nucleatum, Tannerella forsythia, and suspected Actinomyces spp., presenting as several weeks of progressive shortness of breath and malaise. The patient had many risk factors for a lower respiratory tract infection, including chronic alcohol abuse, a flu-like illness months prior, and a recent invasive dental procedure. An admission CT scan showed a large right pleural effusion. Blood cultures were negative, but an aspirate from the pleural effusion showed abundant gram-positive rods that did not grow aerobically. Subsequent anaerobic cultures at a reference laboratory grew Tannerella forsythia and Fusobacterium nucleatum. This report will review the diagnostic difficulties associated with anaerobic causes of empyema in general and the specific organisms implicated in this case.

Publisher or Conference

Cureus

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