Case Report
Granulomatous infection of the hand and wrist due to Azospirillum spp.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2013.04.010Get rights and content

Abstract

We report a case of Azospirillum infection manifestating as granulomatous tenosynovitis of the right hand, in an immunocompetent middle-aged female. We highlight the unusual source of the infection, the diagnostic workup, as well as the treatment approach.

Section snippets

Case report presentation

A 50-year-old Caucasian female presented to the outpatients department with signs and symptoms of inflammation of the right hand. She had been stung on her right thumb, while she was cleaning shrimps 6 weeks before.

Two weeks after the incident, a collection developed under the nail and progressed with redness and swelling of the right thumb. A 2-week course of oral ciprofloxacin (500 mg, bd) was unsuccessful in controlling the symptoms, and the patient deteriorated with pain, redness, and

Discussion

Granulomatous tenosynovitis may be infectious in origin, caused mainly by nontuberculous Mycobacterium spp. (Bartralot et al., 2005). It was first described in patients using swimming pools and often was called “fish-tank granuloma” (Swift and Cohen, 1962). Other infectious causes include histoplasmosis, sporotrichosis, Q-fever, and nocardiosis, while noninfectious associations include sarcoidosis and chronic tophaceous gout (Schwartz, 1989).

The patient described in this case report presented

Acknowledgments

The help of Drs Genovefa Chronopoulou, Konstantinos Tsitsikas, Ioanna Varela, and Maria Theodosaki is acknowledged in preparing the photographs of the slides and the cultures.

References (11)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

View full text