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

Late Prosthetic Joint Infection and Bacteremia by Bacillus cereus Confirmed by 16S rRNA Sequencing and Hip Joint Tissue Pathology

Jihye Ha1, Yu Jin Park1, Yee Jeong Kim2, Hyun Cheol Oh3, Young Ah Kim4

1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Departments of 2Pathology, 3Orthopedic Surgery, 4Laboratory Medicine, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea

Corresponding to Young Ah Kim, E-mail: yakim@nhimc.or.kr

Ann Clin Microbiol 2016;19(2):54-57. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.206.19.2.54
Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology.

Abstract

Bacillus cereus is a widespread organism in nature and a member of the B. cereus group of catalase- positive, aerobic, spore-forming, Gram-positive bacilli. B. cereus found in blood is often dismissed as a contaminant in the absence of repeated isolation from multiple cultures. Soft tissue and bone infection due to B. cereus have been associated with trauma, intravenous drug use, and an immunocompromised state. We report a very late prosthetic joint infection of the hip joint and consequent bacteremia caused by B. cereus, which occurred 13 years after total hip replacement surgery in the absence of recent trauma or intervention. (Ann Clin Microbiol 2016;19:54-57)

Keywords

Arthritis, Bacillus cereus, Bacteremia, Prosthesis, 16S rRNA