Isolation of Aggregatibacter aphrophilus from a patient with acute appendicitis.

Objectives: Acute appendicitis is a common surgical emergency. The etiology and pathophysiology of appendicitis have been well investigated. Aggregatibacter aphrophilus is a fastidious gram-negative coccobacilli. Detection of this organism in clinical samples and its differ- entiation from Haemophilus aphrophilus or from Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in rou- tine microbiology settings could be difficult. Methods: In this rare case, we report the iso- lation of Aggregatibacter aphrophilus from the appendix of a 14-year old boy presented with acute appendicitis. The genotypic method using 16S rRNA sequencing was used for identifica- tion of the organism at species level. Conclusion: This case highlights the impor- tance of detecting fastidious and rare microor- ganisms such as Aggregatibacter aphrophilus that could be associated with acute appendicitis.