A Case of Catheter-Related Bacteremia by Arthrobacter woluwensis

Abstract

Arthrobacter woluwensis, a catalase-positive coryneform bacterium recognized as an opportunistic pathogen, was repeatedly isolated from the blood of a 56-year-old male patient with metastatic colon cancer. The isolate was identified by various phenotypic tests and by sequencing analysis of 16S rRNA. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by E-test; the MICs to vancomcyin, cefotamine, and penicillin were 1.5 microg/mL, >64 microg/mL, and 4 microg/mL, respectively. The patient was treated with vancomycin, and the subclavian catheter, which was presumed to be the source of the infection, was removed. Thereafter, repeated blood cultures did not grow the organism. The infections of human caused by A. woluwensis have not been reported previously in Korea, probably because of the difficulty of identifying Arthrobacter strains by conventional biochemical tests.