Community-acquired adult \(\textit {Escherichia coli}\) meningitis leading to diagnosis of unrecognized retropharyngeal abscess and cervical spondylodiscitis
- \(\bf Background:\) \(\textit {Escherichia coli}\) is a rare cause of community-acquired meningitis in adults unless predisposing factors are present (e.g., previous penetrating cranio-cerebral injury or neurosurgery, immunosuppression, chronic alcoholism, history of cancer, diabetes mellitus, advanced age). \(\textbf {Case presentation:}\) We describe the case of a 53-year-old woman, resident in Germany, suffering from community-acquired bacterial meningitis caused by CTX-M-9 type extended spectrum \(\beta\)-lactamase producing \(\textit {Escherichia coli}\). Because typical predisposing factors were not apparent, pathogen identification resulted in expanded diagnostics to exclude a distant or contiguous primary focus. By magnetic resonance tomography, a previously unrecognized large retropharyngeal abscess with cervical spondylodiscitis was detected. In retrospect, the patient had complained about neck pain for a few weeks prior to meningitis onset, but the symptoms were interpreted as being related to a herniated disk. Meningitis and osteomyelitis resolved completely under surgical treatment and meropenem therapy. \(\bf Conclusion:\) In case of adult \(\textit {Escherichia coli}\) meningitis, underlying diseases should always be carefully excluded, especially if predisposing factors are not apparent.
Author: | Rebekka KohlmannGND, Andrey NefedevGND, Martin KaaseGND, Sören GatermannGND |
---|---|
URN: | urn:nbn:de:hbz:294-58668 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-015-1310-4 |
Parent Title (English): | BMC infectious diseases |
Subtitle (English): | a case report |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of Publication (online): | 2018/07/05 |
Date of first Publication: | 2015/12/12 |
Publishing Institution: | Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsbibliothek |
Tag: | CTX-M-9 group ESBL; Escherichia coli; Gram-negative bacillary meningitis; Open Access Fonds; ST73; cervical spondylodiscitis; community-acquired adult meningitis; retropharyngeal abscess |
Volume: | 15 |
First Page: | 567-1 |
Last Page: | 567-5 |
Note: | Article Processing Charge funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Open Access Publication Fund of Ruhr-Universität Bochum. BMC infectious diseases, Artikelnummer 567 |
Institutes/Facilities: | Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, Abteilung für Medizinische Mikrobiologie |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Medizin, Gesundheit |
open_access (DINI-Set): | open_access |
faculties: | Medizinische Fakultät |
Licence (English): | Creative Commons - CC BY 4.0 - Attribution 4.0 International |