A life-threatening infection due to Corynebacterium striatum: a lesson learned

: Because the genus Corynebacterium colonize the human skin, detection of Corynebacterium striatum in a sterile blood specimen is sometimes considered as contamination. An 80-year-old man who underwent cardiovascular operation presented with high-grade fever postoperatively. Corynebacterium striatum was detected in the blood and wound exudate, and the patient was diagnosed with mediastinitis due to Corynebacterium striatum. One month earlier, a patient with similar symptoms due to C. striatum-related mediastinitis died in our care. The Corynebacterium striatum isolates from both patients had identical biochemical and genetic characteristics, suggesting that Corynebacterium striatum was acquired nosocomially. We have learnt a lesson from this negative experience: early diagnosis of Corynebacterium striatum-related infection and early administration of glycopeptide antibiotics could have saved this patient. It is notable that C. striatum can cause life-threatening infection after cardiovascular operation.