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Actinomycosis

Sections Actinomycosis
Overview
Presentation
- History
- Physical
- Causes
- Complications
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DDx
Workup
Treatment
Medication
Questions & Answers
Media Gallery
References

Workup

Laboratory Studies

CBC count

Anemia and mild leukocytosis are common.

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels are often elevated.

Chemistry

Chemistry results usually are normal, with the exception of a frequently elevated alkaline phosphatase level in hepatic actinomycosis.

Organism cultures

Because actinomycosis is difficult to diagnose based on the typical clinical features, direct identification and/or isolation of the infecting organism from a clinical specimen or from sulfur granules is necessary for definitive diagnosis in most cases.

Acceptable specimen material is obtained from draining sinuses, deep needle aspirate, or biopsy specimens; swabs, sputum, and urine specimens are unacceptable or inappropriate.

Prompt transport of the specimens to the microbiology laboratory is necessary for optimal isolation of actinomycetes, preferably in an anaerobic transport device.

A Gram-stained smear of the specimen may demonstrate the presence of beaded, branched, gram-positive filamentous rods, suggesting the diagnosis of actinomycosis.

Cultures should be placed immediately under anaerobic conditions and incubated for 48 hours or longer; the isolation and definitive identification of actinomycetes may require 2-3 weeks.

Nucleic acid probes and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods are being developed for more rapid and more accurate identification.

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is not indicated in the management of actinomycosis, partly because of their predictable antibiogram.

Sulfur granules

The preliminary diagnosis of actinomycosis also can be made by examining sulfur granules. Granules should be crushed between 2 slides, stained with 1% methylene-blue solution, and examined microscopically for features characteristic of actinomycetes.

Serologic diagnosis

Current serologic tests have no role in diagnosing actinomycosis.

Papanicolaou test

The relationship between a Papanicolaou test that is positive for actinomycetelike organisms and the eventual development of pelvic actinomycosis is unclear.

The prevalence of smears positive for Actinomyces organisms in women who use IUCDs is approximately 7%.^[9]

Because of the lack of sensitivity and specificity and low positive predictive value, the prognostic significance of detecting Actinomyces organisms is minimal in the absence of concomitant symptoms.^[9]

Chest radiography

A chest radiograph may reveal a poorly defined mass or pneumonitis or cavitary lesion, with or without pleural involvement. Hilar adenopathy is uncommon.

The presence of a masslike lesion that extends across fissures or pleura, invades into the adjacent chest wall or thoracic vertebrae, or causes local destruction of the ribs or sternum suggests thoracic actinomycosis.

CT scanning

CT scanning (irrespective of the anatomic area of involvement) usually reveals an infiltrative mass with focal areas of decreased attenuation that enhance with contrast. This infiltrative mass tends to invade surrounding tissues. Surrounding lymphadenopathy is uncommon.

Procedures

CT scan or ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration and/or biopsy have been used successfully to obtain clinical material for diagnosis of actinomycosis.

Surgery (eg, thoracotomy with open lung biopsy, exploratory laparotomy) may be required for diagnostic purposes.

Histologic Findings

Actinomycosis is characterized by mixed suppurative and granulomatous inflammatory reactions, connective-tissue proliferation, and the presence of sulfur granules. The sulfur granules are nearly pathognomonic for actinomycosis, although similar findings have been reported with infections caused by Nocardia brasiliensis, Streptomyces madurae, and Staphylococcus aureus presenting as botryomycosis. The granules are approximately 0.1-1 mm in diameter and may be seen with the naked eye as yellowish particles.

Microscopically, the granules manifest a cauliflowerlike shape at low magnification; at higher magnification (X100), when the particle has been pressed between slide and cover slip, a clump of filamentous actinomycete microcolonies surrounded by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) can be observed. Gram stain renders these microcolonies visible as gram-positive, intertwined branching filaments, with radially arranged, peripheral hyphae. Coexisting with them are the companion bacteria, which are gram-positive and gram-negative cocci and rods. The images below are representative photomicrographs.

Actinomycosis in the endometrial tissue, low-power view. Image courtesy of Paul Gibbs, MD.

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Actinomycosis in the endometrial tissue, high-power view. Image courtesy of Paul Gibbs, MD.

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Treatment & Management

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Media Gallery

Actinomycosis in the endometrial tissue, low-power view. Image courtesy of Paul Gibbs, MD.
Actinomycosis in the endometrial tissue, high-power view. Image courtesy of Paul Gibbs, MD.

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Author

Jason F Okulicz, MD, FACP, FIDSA Director, HIV Medical Evaluation Unit, Infectious Disease Service, San Antonio Military Medical Center; Associate Professor of Medicine, F Edward Hebert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; Adjunct Clinical Instructor, Feik School of Pharmacy, University of the Incarnate Word

Jason F Okulicz, MD, FACP, FIDSA is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases Society of America

Disclosure: Serve(d) as a speaker or a member of a speakers bureau for: Gilead Sciences.

Coauthor(s)

Hari Polenakovik, MD, FACP, FIDSA Professor of Medicine, Wright State University, Boonshoft School of Medicine

Hari Polenakovik, MD, FACP, FIDSA is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Physicians, American Society for Microbiology, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Sylvia Polenakovik, MD Internist, Department of Internal Medicine, Sycamore Hospital; Internist, Miami Valley Hospitalist Group, MVH; Clinical Instructor, Wright State University, Boonshoft School of Medicine

Sylvia Polenakovik, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, Society of Hospital Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Received salary from Medscape for employment. for: Medscape.

Joseph F John, Jr, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FSHEA Clinical Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine; Associate Chief of Staff for Education, Ralph H Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Joseph F John, Jr, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FSHEA is a member of the following medical societies: Charleston County Medical Association, Infectious Diseases Society of America, South Carolina Infectious Diseases Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Michael Stuart Bronze, MD David Ross Boyd Professor and Chairman, Department of Medicine, Stewart G Wolf Endowed Chair in Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center; Master of the American College of Physicians; Fellow, Infectious Diseases Society of America; Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London

Michael Stuart Bronze, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Physicians, American Medical Association, Association of Professors of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Oklahoma State Medical Association, Southern Society for Clinical Investigation

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Additional Contributors

Daniel R Lucey, MD, MPH, MD, MPH

Daniel R Lucey, MD, MPH, MD, MPH is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Physicians

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.