Inoculation bartonellosis in an adult: a case report

Cat-scratch disease (CSD) and bacillary angiomatosis (BA) are caused by a gram-negative bacilli classified under the genus Bartonella (formerly Rochalimaea). Patient history, symptoms, and histopathology often fall along a continuum; therefore, both conditions should be considered in the differential diagnosis. We report a case of an 83-year-old immunocompetent woman who presented with a pyogenic granuloma-like lesion on her dorsal left wrist. The histologic differential diagnosis included an inoculation site from a cat scratch infected with Bartonella and BA. Because the patient had only 1 lesion at the site of a prior cat scratch, the lesion was diagnosed as inoculation bartonellosis. We also review the epidemiologic, clinical, and histopathologic features of CSD and BA.