Published in:
01-10-2015 | Case Report
A rare case of Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome caused by Capnocytophaga canimorsus in an immunocompetent patient
Authors:
Joseph David Cooper, Robert Patrick Dorion, Joseph Lorenzo Smith
Published in:
Infection
|
Issue 5/2015
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Abstract
A 53-year-old Caucasian male with hypertension and active tobacco abuse presented to a community hospital with a 2-day history of vague abdominal pain, myalgia and increased lethargy after being bitten on his right hand by the family dog while camping just 3 days prior to symptom onset. He expired within 90 min upon arrival to our intensive care unit. Pre-mortem blood cultures grew a fastidious Gram-negative aerobic rod that was identified as Capnocytophaga canimorsus. Autopsy findings showed multi-organ disseminated intravascular coagulopathy with microthrombi along with bilateral adrenal hemorrhage and necrosis of the adrenal glands consistent with Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome. This case contributes to the medical literature as a rare presentation of Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection in an otherwise immunocompetent patient and stresses the importance of a thorough history taking and physical examination by clinicians along with prompt administration of appropriate antibiotics.