Diagnosis and Treatment to a Post-Craniotomy Intracranial Infection Caused by Corynebacterium

To explore the perioperative prophylactic medication, identification of Causative pathogen and the treatment strategy of post-craniotomy intracranial infection (PCII) caused by Corynebacterium.

A 47-year-old overweight male patient with hypertension, diabetes, cerebral hemorrhage and recalcitrant syphilis was clinically diagnosed with PCII based on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) routine examination (RT), biochemical test (BT), neuroimaging CT and MRI scans, bacterial culture and identification of CSF and clinical manifestations. The risk factors of PCII and perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis were analyzed based on some reviews. The identification of the Corynebacterium Jeikeium (C. Jeikeium) and Corynebacterium simulans (C. simulans) was confirmed by CSF bacterial culture, antibiotics sensitivity in vitro and Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of pathogenic microorganisms, respectively. In addition, individualized therapy schemes were modified according to antimicrobial susceptibility of pathogens and mNGS of pathogenic microorganisms combined with the pathologic and physiological conditions of patients. The efficacy was evaluated depending on the changes in patients' body temperature, clinical manifestation, CSF RT, BT, and other infection-related indicators.

The patient recovered after 5 weeks of individualized comprehensive treatment and was discharged home, no recurrence had been observed for three months.

This is likely the first reported case of chronic PCII caused by two species of Corynebacterium simultaneously in high risk patient. The PCII can not be prevented by the perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis recommended by the guidelines, prophylaxis need to be individualized based on the risk of infection and the colonization status of the patient. Causative pathogens can be identified by CSF culture and mNGS of pathogenic microorganisms. A judicious antimicrobial therapy plan should take into account not only the in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility, but also the penetration of the antimicrobial agent into the cerebrospinal fluid. It was an excellent choice to combine intrathecal vancomycin with intravenous linezolid to treat PCII resulted from Corynebacterium.