Saria Tasnim MD, Dhara Dave MD, Noor Dweik MD, Sinan Yaqoob MD, Naguib Tarek MD
Rhodococcus is a rare zoonotic infection that can cause cavitary pneumonia in immunocompromised humans. There have been very few reported cases of Rhodococcus osteomyelitis. Our patient is a 27-year-old man with human immunodeficiency virus infection who was diagnosed with Rhodococcus osteomyelitis and bacteremia. He initially presented with right hip pain and was diagnosed with osteomyelitis and abscess based on a computed tomography scan. An interventional radiology guided drainage of the abscess was done and the culture yielded R. equi. He failed antibiotic treatment multiple times and later was managed with surgical intervention. Although this clinical presentation is uncommon, physicians should consider Rhodococcus equi as a potential pathogen, especially in immunocompromised patients, when making management decisions.
Keywords: Rhodococcus equi, osteomyelitis, HIV
Article citation: Tasnim S, Dave D, Dweik N, Yaqoob S, Tarek N. A rare case of Rhodococcus osteomyelitis. The Southwest Respiratory and Critical Care Chronicles 2023;11(46):53–55
From: Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Amarillo, Texas
Submitted: 6/9/2022
Accepted: 12/12/2022
Conflicts of interest: none
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