CORYNEBACTERIUM CDC GROUP JK (CORYNEBACTERIUM-JEIKEIUM) SEPSIS IN HEMATOLOGICAL PATIENTS - A REPORT OF 3 CASES AND A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE-REVIEW

We describe 3 patients with Corynebacterium jeikeium sepsis in neutrop enic phase during treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia. Fever was the first symptom, All had a central venous catheter which was removed, T wo patients developed subcutaneous nodules containing pus when the neu trophil count recovered; 1 had intracutaneous and pulmonary lesions, T hey were treated with vancomycin and recovered when the neutrophil cou nt started to rise. A review of 80 neutropenic patients with C. jeikei um sepsis reported in the literature, together with our 3 cases indica tes that risk factors for infection are the presence of a central veno us catheter, being an adult male or postmenopausal female, profound an d prolonged neutropenia and exposure to multiple antibiotics, Skin les ions are reported in 48% and pulmonary lesions in 36% of the patients, The overall mortality is 34% but in patients with recovery of the bon e marrow only 5%, Therefore haematopoietic: growth factors should be c onsidered in neutropenic patients with C. jeikeium infection.