Annals of Clinical Microbiology, The official Journal of the Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology

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Indexed in KCI, KoreaMed, Synapse, DOAJ
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pISSN 2288-0585 eISSN 2288-6850
Case report

A Case Report of Tsukamurella pulmonis Infection Misidentified as Atypical Mycobacteria

Ah Ra Cho1, Hye Ryoun Kim1, Mi-Kyung Lee1, Seong Ho Choi2, Sin Weon Yun3

Departments of 1Laboratory Medicine, 2Internal Medicine and 3Pediatrics, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Corresponding to Mi-Kyung Lee, E-mail: cpworld@cau.ac.kr

Ann Clin Microbiol 2010;13(2):93-97. https://doi.org/10.5145/KJCM.2010.13.2.93
Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology.

Abstract

We report a case of catheter-related bacteremia due to Tsukamurella pulmonis. T. pulmonis is a rare cause of opportunistic infection in immunosuppressed patients and in cases of indwelling foreign materials. This infection was nearly impossible to identify using conventional phenotyping methods because of its similarities to the related genera Nocardia, Rhodococcus, Gordonia, Streptomyces, Corynebacterium, and Mycobacterium. This organism was initially misidentified as Mycobacterium aubagnense through PCR-RFLP analysis. We correctly identified this organism using 16S rRNA sequencing combined with phenotyping tests. (Korean J Clin Microbiol 2010;13: 93-97)

Keywords

Tsukamurella pulmonis, Catheter, Bacteremia, Korea, Misidentification, Mycobacteria