Francisella tularensis Periprosthetic Joint Infections Diagnosed with Growth in Cultures

Abstract

Tularemia caused by Francisella tularensis is a zoonotic infection of the Northern Hemisphere that mainly affects the skin, lymph nodes, bloodstream, and lungs. Other manifestations of tularemia are very rare, especially those with musculoskeletal involvement. Presenting in 2016, we diagnosed two cases of periprosthetic knee joint infections (PJI) caused by Francisella tularensis in Europe (one in Switzerland and one in the Czech Republic). We found only two other PJI cases in the literature, another knee PJI diagnosed 1999 in Ontario, Canada, and one hip PJI in Illinois, USA, in 2017. Diagnosis was made in all cases by positive microbiological cultures after 3, 4, 7, and 12 days. All were successfully treated, two cases by exchange of the prosthesis, one with debridement and retention, and one with repeated aspiration of the synovial fluid only. Antibiotic treatment was given between 3 weeks and 12 months with either ciprofloxacin-rifampin or with doxycycline alone or doxycycline in combination with gentamicin. Zoonotic infections should be considered in periprosthetic infections in particular in culture-negative PJIs with a positive histology or highly elevated leukocyte levels in synovial aspiration. Here, we recommend prolonging cultivation time up to 14 days, performing specific PCR tests, and/or conducting epidemiologically appropriate serological tests for zoonotic infections, including that for F. tularensis.

Keywords: Francisella tularensis; biofilms; periprosthetic joint infections; tick-borne pathogens; zoonotic infectiousness.

FIG 1

Histopathology of the knee PJI case in Zurich with acute inflammation with dominance of neutrophils at time of implant removal. (A) Tunica synovialis with florid granulocytic inflammation. Triangles indicate small clusters of neutrophils (hematoxylin and eosin [HE] staining, ×200 magnification). (B) Foreign body reaction to prosthetic material with diffuse histiocytic infiltration and multinucleated giant cells, indicated by asterisks (HE staining, ×200 magnification).