Total nephrectomy following urinary tract infection.

INTRODUCTION

is a Gram-stain-positive non-lipophilic coryneform rod first described in blood samples and pleural fluid. There is scarce information about the clinical relevance of and none on complicated urinary tract infections has been described so far.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 36-year-old woman with a history of chronic kidney failure, under thrice-weekly haemodialysis since 2014 due to polycystic kidney disease, presented with hypogastric pain, lower left quadrant pain and nausea. Since 1997, the patient had developed several episodes of urinary tract infection. On admission, the patient presented tenderness in the lower abdomen and fist positive lumbar percussion. Urine culture showed significant bacterial growth (>10 c.f.u. ml). Slightly glistening colonies of 1 mm in diameter were observed after a 24 h incubation. Gram staining showed coryneform Gram-stain-positive rods. The patient was diagnosed as having a complicated urinary tract infection. A bilateral nephrectomy was performed on the fourth day of hospitalization. Two samples of kidney tissue were sent for culture. Direct examination of the material revealed the presence of abundant inflammatory reaction and Gram-positive diphtheroid rods. The organism was identified using MALDI-TOF and conventional biochemical tests; in both isolates further identification was performed by PCR amplification and sequence analysis of the gene as .

CONCLUSIONS

is an infrequent species among the genus that should be considered as an emerging pathogen that can be involved in nosocomial infections and complicated urinary tract infections.