Pulmonary infection due to Eikenella corrodens: Report of three cases

Eikenella corrodens is a facultatively anaerobic gram-negative bacillus that is a normal inhabitant of the oral cavity, upper respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract. Recently, the pathogenic role of this organism has been proven, but pulmonary infection caused by this organism is still uncommon. We report three cases of pulmonary infection, lung abscess, secondary infection of pulmonary bulla with aspergillosis, and empyema, from which E. corrodens was isolated by percutaneous lung aspiration or puncture of pleural effusion. Care should be taken in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary infection by E. corrodens since this organism may easily be missed on routine sputum culture, and since this organism exhibits an unusual antimicrobial susceptibility pattern as a pathogen of lung abscess or empyema.