Hustache-Mathieu L, Brousse A, Lohse A, Michel F, Toussirot E, Dupond J L, Wendling D
Service de rhumatologie, hôpital Jean-Minjoz, CHU, Besançon, France.
Rev Med Interne. 2000 Jun;21(6):547-9. doi: 10.1016/s0248-8663(00)89231-0.
Propionibacterium acnes is an anaerobic germ, usually found as a saprophyte of the skin and the mucosa. It may be responsible for iatrogenic or spontaneous osteoarhritis.
We report two new cases of septic arthritis induced by P. acnes: a case of iatrogenic spondylodiscitis and a case of spontaneous septic arthritis of the lumbar facet joints. The two patients were immunocompetent, without acne.
Except for patients with criteria of the SAPHO syndrome (synovitis-acne-pustulosis-hyperostosis-osteomyelitis), osteoarthritis caused by P. acnes is increasingly described. The number of these infections is probably underestimated because of the technical problems involved in isolating P. acnes in the laboratory.
