SEVERE INFECTION CAUSED BY STOMATOCOCCUS-MUCILAGINOSUS IN A NEUTROPENIC PATIENT - CASE-REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

A 24-year-old female, in neutropenic phase after chemotherapy for acut e myelogenous leukemia (on day 15) was admitted in intensive care unit for infectious pneumonia. Two strains of Stomatococcus mucilaginosus were isolated from peripheral blood cultures. No microorganisms were y ielded from bronchoalveolar lavage. Patient's condition improved with prompt instigation of effective antibiotic therapy. This was the first case of septicemia and pneumonia, due to Stomatococcus mucilaginosus, in our unit. Only 26 cases occurring in neutropenic patients with und erlying hematologic malignancies were reported in the literature and a mong these, only five cases with pneumonia were described. The complic ations of this normal inhabitant of the human oral cavity can be serio us and fatal: septic chock, meningitis, acute respiratory distress syn drome. This study illustrate the possible virulence of Stomatococcus m ucilaginosus in neutropenic patients.