Background
Kocuria kristinae is an aerobic Gram-positive coccus that is considered ubiquitous and non-pathogenic in healthy individuals. Furthermore, only 27 reports have described cases of critical infections with this microorganism, which is notoriously difficult to identify.
Case presentation
We report the case of a 61-year-old male hemodialysis patient with diabetes mellitus, who developed severe septic arthritis that was associated with infectious endocarditis, which was identified using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET-CT). K. kristinae was identified in two separate blood cultures. The patient recovered immediately after being treated using piperacillin followed by ampicillin/sulbactam and gentamicin.
Conclusions
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of K. kristinae septic arthritis associated with infectious endocarditis in a hemodialysis patient with diabetes mellitus. We suggest that physicians consider the pathogenic potential of K. kristinae, which can cause fatal infections, such as septic arthritis and infectious endocarditis, in immunocompromised patients. FDG-PET-CT is a useful and safe diagnostic tool for determining the cause of inflammatory disease in dialysis patients.