Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2015 Mar-Apr;26(2):105-7.
doi: 10.1155/2015/481076.

Empyema caused by Clostridium bifermentans: A case report

Safa Edagiz  1 , Phil Lagace-Wiens  2 , John Embil  3 , James Karlowsky  2 , Andrew Walkty  4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Empyema caused by Clostridium bifermentans: A case report

Safa Edagiz et al. Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol. 2015 Mar-Apr.

Abstract
in English, French

A case of pneumonia with associated empyema caused by Clostridium bifermentans is described. C bifermentans is an anaerobic, spore-forming, Gram-positive bacillus. This organism is infrequently reported as a cause of infection in humans, and older publications tended to regard it as nonpathogenic. However, in more recent reports, C bifermentans has been documented as a cause of septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, soft tissue infection, abdominal infections, brain abscess, bacteremia and endocarditis. The present case is the third reported case of empyema caused by C bifermentans, and it serves to further define the spectrum of illness due to this uncommon organism.

Les auteurs décrivent un cas de pneumonie associé à de l’empyème attribuable à un Clostridium bifermentans. Le C bifermentans est un bacille anaérobique sporulé Gram positif. Il est rarement signalé comme cause d’infection chez les humains, et les publications plus anciennes ont tendance à le considérer comme non pathogène. Cependant, dans des rapports plus récents, le C bifermentans est attesté comme cause d’arthrite septique, d’ostéomyélite, d’infection des tissus mous, d’infection abdominale, d’abcès du cerveau, de bactériémie et d’endocardite. Le présent cas, qui est le troisième cas déclaré d’empyème attribuable au C bifermentans, contribue à mieux définir le spectre de maladie causé par cet organisme peu courant.

Keywords: Clostridium bifermentans; Empyema; Pneumonia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1)
Figure 1)
Chest radiograph demonstrating a right-sided pneumothorax (white arrow) and right lower lobe consolidation (black arrow)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute . Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing; Twenty-Second Informational Supplement. M100-S22. Wayne: Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute; 2012.
    1. Stevens DL, Bryant AM, Berger A, Von Eichel-Streiber C. Clostridium. In: Versalovic J, Carroll KC, Funke G, Jorgensen JH, Landry ML, Warnock DW, editors. Manual of Clinical Microbiology. 10th edn. Washington, DC: ASM Press; 2011. pp. 834–57.
    1. Onderdonk AB, Garrett WS. Gas gangrene and other Clostridium-associated diseases. In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, editors. Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 7th edn. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2010. pp. 3103–9.
    1. Brooks ME, Epps HBG. Taxonomic studies of the genus Clostridium: Clostridium bifermentans and C. sordellii. J Gen Microbiol. 1958;21:144–55. - PubMed
    1. Vos PD, Garrity GM, Jones D, et al., editors. Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. 2nd edn. New York: Springer Science+Business Media; 2009. p. 758. Volume 3: The Firmicutes.

Publication types